ALSO OUT THIS WEEK FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES August 4, 2011 FILM THE TREE Charlotte Gainsbourg stars in this traumatic family drama set in the Aussie outback. KNUCKLE Hard-as-nails documentary about bare knuckle boxers. FRENCH CANCAN Reissue for one of the finest films from French cinematic pioneer, Jean Renoir. DVD LIMITLESS Bradley Cooper is an unexpected success in this strange tale of power and excess. SUBMARINE [...]
It must be time for another holiday August 2, 2011 If the UK’s economy was really as severely dented by the numerous bank holidays in April as some say, let us hope the nation as a whole doesn’t follow David Cameron in his holidaying habits. Never mind the UK’s faltering growth, the US debt deal or the worsening of the Eurozone crisis. The Prime Minister, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LIVING SOCIAL SET TO BUY TICKET MONSTER LivingSocial, the world’s second biggest group discount website by customers after Groupon, has agreed to buy Ticket Monster, a South Korean equivalent site, to strengthen its presence in Asia. It is the latest acquisition by the US company, which has this year announced three deals to [...]
Pandora pain lands a fresh blow to IPOs August 2, 2011 JEWELLERY maker Pandora was deserted by investors yesterday just ten months after it listed as it admitted spiralling sales had caused it to rip up its profit forecasts for the year. Shares in Pandora, known for its charm bracelets, plunged a record 65 per cent after it said sales had slumped 30 per cent in [...]
Zappia gets Sky Italia job August 1, 2011 NEWS Corp has appointed Andrea Zappia as chief executive of Sky Italia, replacing Tom Mockridge, who left the broadcaster to fill the vacant top job at News International. Zappia will leave his job as a director at former News Corp takeover target BSkyB with immediate effect. He will take on the running battle with Italian [...]
Twitter confirms significant investment from Russian firm August 1, 2011 TWITTER yesterday confirmed it has completed a “significant round of funding” led by Russian technology investor Digital Sky Technologies (DST). The microblogging site said the new funds, in which several other investors were involved, would be used to “aggressively innovate, hire more great people and invest in international expansion”. It is understood DST took a [...]
Prudential hopes bumper profit will help investors forget AIA July 31, 2011 PRUDENTIAL is set to increase its half-year dividend to 7.95p when it announces robust results later this week. The firm will hope bumper profits of around £970m will help investors move on from its collapsed £22bn bid for rival AIA last year. The second quarter results will build on a strong performance in Pru’s first [...]
Rivers, Buddhas and temples: SE Asia minus the beaches July 31, 2011 SOUTH East Asia is intimidatingly rich in temptations, fascinations and possibilities. As someone who had never been, and had ten days for the inaugural journey, I had to make some tough decisions. The first one was to steer clear of the beaches and focus on culture and rivers. This may sound a bit unsexy. But [...]
Sky’s $1bn bid to placate City July 28, 2011 JAMES Murdoch survived a boardroom debate about his chairmanship of BSkyB yesterday as the satellite broadcaster agreed a share buy-back plan of up to $1bn (£611.2m), which will be unveiled today. It is the first time in BSkyB’s history that its dominant shareholder, the Murdoch-controlled News Corporation, has agreed to sell shares in a buy-back [...]
Broadband drives profits at BT up 20pc July 28, 2011 BT yesterday reported a 20 per cent leap in pre-tax profit, sending its shares up more than four per cent. Its revenues continued to fall, with a five per cent decrease to £4.7bn narrowly beating analysts’ forecasts. Its performance was driven by a surge in uptake for its superfast internet services, with 141,000 new customers [...]