Twitch – what is it and why has Amazon just spent nearly $1bn on it? August 26, 2014 Back in May the word was that Google was eyeing up games social platform Twitch, but last night Amazon emerged as the triumphant bidder, nearly four times what Jeff Bezos paid for The Washington Post. Just what is Twitch and why does everyone want a piece? Essentially, it's video-game voyeurism: Twitch is currently the centre of [...]
Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United set to continue for “at least five years” August 20, 2014 The Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United is set to continue for at least another five years, it has been reported. The news will disappoint disgruntled United fans staging an anti-Glazer protest ahead of a home fixture against QPR next Saturday afternoon. Large sections of the United fanbase have long been opposed to the ownership of [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 August 2014 August 5, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BSKYB Numis keeps its “buy’ rating for BSkyB and raised its target price by 41p to 982p following last week’s strong full-year results and the purchase of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia from 21st Century Fox. BSkyB forecasts synergy benefits at £200m by [...]
Duke of Edinburgh falls for Cowes Week magic as City seafarers set sail August 4, 2014 It's that time of year again, when the City’s yachting enthusiasts get to spend the week brushing sea spray out of their windswept locks instead of sweating it out in the Big Smoke. Yes, it’s Cowes Week. King of the City seafarers Martin Gilbert, chief executive of lead sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management held not [...]
Fans join legal fight to have European football’s financial fair play rules thrown out July 28, 2014 European football’s financial fair play (FFP) rules face a fresh legal challenge after English supporters joined forces with fans on the Continent to oppose the regulations. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, the English and French champions, have suffered the toughest sanctions under FFP. Both were handed fines of €60m (£49m) and reluctantly accepted limits on [...]
Sky Europe: What will BSkyB’s new TV empire look like? July 25, 2014 Sky Europe, as BSkyB has now been dubbed after buying up its Italian and German counterparts for between £5bn and £7bn, will span six countries and reach 20 million customers. With the purchase, total revenue across the new company will exceed the £10bn mark, largely driven by UK operations, and “synergies” as they say (read [...]
UK car production up 3.5 per cent so far this year July 24, 2014 Car manufacturing in the UK rose by 3.5 per cent in the first half of the year to hit nearly 800,000 units produced, helped by the launch of a range of new models, with more anticipated in the months ahead. The figures from the industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), showed [...]
London property market: So you think you know Chelsea? July 24, 2014 Everyone thinks they know Chelsea. Even if you don’t live there, you have an idea of it. The term Sloane Ranger was used in the 80s to describe a certain breed of socialite that lingered around the King’s Road, and reality TV show Made in Chelsea has brought the stereotype back into the public eye. [...]
Sports Direct and Adidas score a deal to sell kits July 17, 2014 SPORTS DIRECT said yesterday that it had held “encouraging talks” with Adidas, after the iconic German sportswear brand refused to provide it with key kit for the teams it sponsored at the World Cup. Adidas withdrew replica shirts for countries including winners Germany – and Premier League teams such as Chelsea – because it was [...]
Sports Direct share price down despite 15.6pc rise in profits, with no shareholder dividend July 17, 2014 Sports Direct has seen its share price drop two per cent following initial gains. The sportswear retailer reported its end-of-year results today, showing £239.5m in profit before tax, a 15.6 per cent rise on the 2013 figure. Revenue came in at £2.7bn, a rise of 23.8 per cent and underlying EBITDA was up 15 per [...]