Four-play isn’t enough: Virgin should make this deal February 5, 2013 JOHN Malone’s bid makes good sense for Virgin Media. Born of the pioneering consolidation of UK cable and mobile firms to build Britain’s first quadruple-play media firm (providing broadband internet, fixed-line telephone, mobile telephone and television services), the resulting company has acknowledged it remains vulnerable to a larger-scale consolidation by its rivals. Joining a global [...]
It’s Davos, but not as you know it February 3, 2013 DESPITE being a 30-something supposed grown-up, I must confess to still suffering from the occasional nightmare. While on duty as a night editor of this newspaper, for example, my sleep can be disturbed by a recurring dream in which I’m culpable for printing over 130,000 front page headlines of “UK ECOMONY DIPS AGAIN” (yes, reread [...]
New TV services lift Sky’s profits as rivals circle January 31, 2013 AN IMPRESSIVE showing from BSkyB’s new on-demand internet streaming service, Now TV, helped it to a 10 per cent rise in profits, the broadcaster said yesterday. Sky said that half of the 50,000 new TV customers it signed up during the last six months of 2012 were for Now TV, which charges customers £15 a [...]
Bank bonuses chopped back after year of scandal January 29, 2013 BARCLAYS and RBS are expected to slash bonus payouts in the coming months after a series of scandals hit the industry. The deepening payment protection insurance crisis has hit both banks to the tune of several billion pounds and shows no sign of ending, while Barclays was hit by a £290m Libor fine last year. [...]
Teenage intern has sights set on rising the ranks of the City January 28, 2013 THERE are certainly no shortages of age going hand-in-hand with wisdom in the City, or so we are led to believe. However The Capitalist has news of perhaps the youngest worker in the heart of the Square Mile. Jake McMullen, who is a whipper-snapping 17 years old, has been taken on by the City of [...]
Mitie on track for strong second half as contract wins pay off January 28, 2013 OUTSOURCING company Mitie said yesterday it expects total revenue growth to be higher in the second half on the back of its recent Lloyds Banking Group contract win and acquisition of healthcare group Enara. Mitie, which bought Enara last October for £110.8m, said it remained focused on the healthcare, local authority and social housing markets [...]
Banks brace for new wave of swaps claims January 27, 2013 THE FINANCE watchdog will this week lay out the process for firms to apply for compensation if they think they were mis-sold interest rate swap products, opening the door for potentially billions of pounds of claims. Small firms argue they have lost out, sometimes to the tune of millions of pounds, by splitting a fixed [...]
Lords to quiz Ofcom chief exec January 27, 2013 Ofcom’s plans for media regulation could be revealed tomorrow as the regulator’s chief executive Ed Richards is grilled in the House of Lords. The Communications Committee will quiz Richards as part of an inquiry into media convergence, which has become an increasing issue with BSkyB selling internet connections and BT and Virgin Media entering the [...]
UK firms set for busy week of trading reports January 27, 2013 THE UK’s corporate calendar is packed this week as many of Britain’s biggest companies deliver their results before the month’s end. Both AstraZeneca and Royal Dutch Shell are set to give full-year results on Thursday, while British Sky Broadcasting, Haynes Publishing and Rank Group will give interim reports. Trading announcements are also expected that day [...]
Wiggins targets Giro and Tour January 24, 2013 CYCLING: Britain’s Bradley Wiggins is set to bid to become only the eighth man to win the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia in the same year. Team Sky have confirmed that Wiggins will ride the Giro in May as well as defending his Tour title in June and July. The Olympic time trial [...]