Orange SA misses expectations but gets profit boost from EE sale July 26, 2016 Orange SA – France's largest telecoms company – has posted a sharp rise in its first-half profits due to the sale of its UK network EE to BT. Net profit climbed to €3.17bn (£2.65bn) in the first half, pushed higher from the £12.5bn EE sale. Revenue also climbed thanks to strong sales growth in Spain. It rose by 2.7 per cent to €20.8bn. [...]
Yah-ooh dear: Verizon reports five per cent revenue fall July 26, 2016 Verizon Communications, the US company that yesterday announced a $4.83bn (£3.7bn) deal for the internet business of Yahoo, has reported a more than five per cent drop in revenue. The figures Total operating revenues for the second quarter of 2016 were $30.5bn, down 5.3 per cent on the same period in 2015. Analysts had expected the [...]
Veri-hoo? The $4.83bn Verizon Yahoo deal is go – here’s what you need to know July 25, 2016 It's official: the US telecoms firm Verizon has snapped up the messy internet business of Yahoo in a deal worth $4.83bn (£3.7bn). That includes such things as Yahoo's online search, Yahoo Mail and instant messaging, and – perhaps most importantly – its ad business. Yahoo first announced it was on the chopping block earlier this year several firms [...]
The surprise winners and losers from Pokemon Go July 25, 2016 Who's the biggest winner from the Pokemon Go craze? Who wouldn't be saying Nintendo at this point in time? But, it's more like Pokemon No… The Japanese games firm today revealed that the hottest game in town will only have a limited impact on its profits after all. Say what? Yep, read on to find out why [...]
Digital metrics for analogue media: TVSquared’s Calum Smeaton explains how second-screening has spawned TV analytics July 25, 2016 The attribution question is one which has always puzzled advertisers. It has been answered only in part by digital advertising, through the ability to monitor click-through rates on digital ads, advocacy on social media and other trackable forms of engagement. But the true value of TV advertising remains an unknown quantity. Despite advertisers’ inability to [...]
Why marketers need humans behind the programmatic steering wheel July 25, 2016 Automation has transformed the marketing industry. Last year, programmatic trading reached an all-time high, making up 60 per cent of the £3bn of transactions around UK display advertising, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. Programmatic can be a more efficient and cost-effective method for both buyers and sellers of online advertising. But as with any [...]
F1 accelerates to record valuation of £6.4bn on back of Sky deal and new race in Mexico City July 24, 2016 THE value of Formula One accelerated 8.8 per cent to a record £6.4bn in the first three months of this year according to an independent valuation commissioned by Ferrari. It sets a high barrier for potential suitors of the sport which are understood to include investment firm China Media Capital and RSE Ventures, owner of [...]
Exclusive: Walkie Scorchie, more like: City A.M. uses the rays of the Walkie Talkie building to fry an egg | City A.M. July 22, 2016 The developers of the Walkie Scorchie skyscraper – aka 20 Fenchurch Street – had hoped their building would be known for its striking design and its blue chip clients. But instead City A.M. has revealed how the building has begun emitting a curious ray of light, started melting cars, set a carpet on fire and [...]
Smooth sailing: Risk Capital Partners set to sell Cruise.co.uk to Bridgepoint Development Capital July 22, 2016 Online cruise booking firm Cruise.co.uk is about to set sail from one private equity firm… to another. Risk Capital Partners, of which serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson is chairman, is in talks to sell Cruise.co.uk to Bridgepoint Development Capital for a reported £50m. A deal could be struck and made public as soon as next week, Sky [...]
Brexit boost for Fleet Street: Extra 2.7m papers sold in referendum month July 22, 2016 There has been a fair amount of doom and gloom business news reported in national newspapers over the last month. But Fleet Street itself has emerged as one of the winners of the EU referendum – at least in the short term. The majority of national newspapers experienced an uplift in circulation in June, according [...]