BSkyB beats forecasts with record profits May 2, 2012 BSKYB yesterday shrugged off the furore surrounding its parent firm News Corp to post a record profit for the nine months to March. As rumours swirled about the firm’s future following a parliamentary report criticising News Corp and owner Rupert Murdoch, BSkyB delivered operating profit of £908m. Pre-tax profit rose 27.5 per cent to £899m. [...]
Oodles of cash: no wonder Murdoch wanted to buy May 2, 2012 SO that’s what all the fuss was about. Anyone wondering why Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy BSkyB outright, and why he will not sell down his 39 per cent stake without a fight, need only look at the satellite broadcaster’s third quarter results. Although the 15,000 new TV subscribers added in the quarter is nothing [...]
Brailsford sets Wiggins target May 1, 2012 ■ CYCLING: Team Sky’s team principal Dave Brailsford says Bradley Wiggins’ priority is to defend his Criterium du Dauphine title before he targets the Tour de France. “Our intention is for Bradley to defend his title,” he said.
FLYING TRADER TAKES TO THE SKIES April 30, 2012 Greg Secker, the foreign exchange trader and coach, is taking to the skies again to raise money for childrens’ charities. Secker is holding six more Flying Trader days (he’s already had one) with a view to raising around £250,000. Secker flies above London while trading and passing on tips to an audience of traders, with [...]
RBS exec: sale of stake soon April 29, 2012 THE taxpayer’s stake in Royal Bank of Scotland could be sold off in as little as two years, according to outgoing bank executive Brian Hartzer. “My sense would be that we are probably a couple of years away now,” he told Sky News’ Murnaghan show, adding that selling the shares would make people more willing [...]
A riot of flowers and fish in Gauguin’s paradise April 29, 2012 What’s in Bora Bora?” I asked a frequent visitor there. “Sharks – but in a good way”, was the answer. Did that justify twenty hours flying time to French Polynesia, I wondered. A few weeks later, swimming in a lagoon so blue it looked digitally enhanced and watching grey-tipped reef sharks, I had my answer. [...]
WIGGINS MAKES HISTORY WITH ROMANDIE VICTORY April 29, 2012 BRITAIN’S Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de Romandie yesterday after edging the 16.5km time trial in Crans-Montana by a second, winning the overall race by 12 seconds with a time of 28 minutes 56 seconds. The victory makes the Team Sky man the first Briton to win the race through Switzerland in its 65-year history. [...]
Ofcom deepens probe into BSkyB’s broadcast licence April 26, 2012 OFCOM has stepped up its probe into whether BSkyB remains “fit and proper” to hold a broadcast licence, it emerged yesterday. The investigation into whether News Corp is an appropriate dominant shareholder of the satellite broadcaster has focused so far on publicly available information, such as from newspaper reports and the Leveson inquiry. But last [...]
Wiggins maintains first place April 26, 2012 ■ CYCLING: Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins remains first in the Tour de Romandie after the race’s second stage, which was won by Saur-Sojasun’s Jonathan Hivert. Three stages remain for Wiggins to retain the yellow jersey.
Wiggins continues Team Sky success April 25, 2012 ■ CYCLING: British rider Bradley Wiggins leads the Tour de Romandie after overcoming a puncture to win the first road stage yesterday. His victory followed Team Sky colleague Geraint Thomas’s success in the prologue.