Laird cuts payout on profit fall March 10, 2010 Electronics group Laird yesterday posted a 56 per cent fall in 2009 profits and cut its dividend after a year in which customer demand slumped and it was forced to carry out a rights issue. The FTSE 250 firm, which supplies companies such as Samsung and Nokia, reported underlying pre-tax profit from continuing operations of [...]
Apple leads the way on mobile phone design February 17, 2010 Apple is casting a long shadow over this year’s Mobile World Congress. The iPhone maker isn’t in attendance – it is far too cool for an annual trade fair – but its name is still on everyone’s lips. For a firm that has just 2.5 per cent of the mobile handset market, its ability to [...]
Public turns against Kraft over Cadbury deal February 16, 2010 Peter Mandelson has expressed his “disappointment” at the manner of Kraft’s take-over of Cadbury, and the public, as measured by BrandIndex, seems to agree. Graph one shows what has happened to perceptions of the Kraft and Cadbury brands – measured as the proportion that are positive out of all those with a view, here with [...]
Mobile firms unite to offer apps platform February 15, 2010 A GROUP of 24 telecom companies are clubbing together to build a mobile phone application platform in a bid to compete with Apple. The alliance – which includes O2, Orange and Vodafone – is hoping that its combined customer base of 3bn will allow it to steal market share from Apple’s App Store. Mobile applications [...]
ARM men sell £8.5m shares February 15, 2010 SENIOR figures at ARM Holdings, the Cambridge-based microprocessor designer, have cashed out £8.5m worth of shares after the stock soared on speculation its technology is used in Apple’s new iPad. Chief executive Warren East raised £1.8m by selling 937,000 shares last week, leaving him with around 1m shares. Other members reducing their stakes included finance [...]
Sony returns to profit after cutting costs February 4, 2010 Sony’S first profit in five quarters yesterday showed a restructuring at the electronics maker is starting to pay off as it halved its annual loss forecast on a rebound in its flat-TV business and cost cuts. Third quarter to December profit was also driven by its insurance division, whose investments were buoyed by a recovery [...]
E-book readers, 3D TVs and tablet PCs compete to be top dog of 2010 January 10, 2010 HYPE and prototypes dominated the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. From the Ford car that lets you send Twitter messages while driving, to the scuba diving mask that can shoot high definition video at depths of 130 feet, the vast majority of products on display will not hit the mainstream. The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 15, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MYNERS TO BOOST PROTECTION OF BANK CLIENTS PLANS to increase protection for clients and counterparties of failing investment banks will be unveiled by the Treasury today in an effort to prevent a repeat of the legal wrangling around the collapsed Lehman Brothers. The move is aimed at ensuring an orderly wind-down of investment [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BARCLAYS RETAIL CHIEF WARNS NEW ENTRANTSThe new head of global retail banking at Barclays has joined the backlash of traditional bankers against the entry into banking of supermarkets and other consumer companies. Antony Jenkins said the new competitors may be under-estimating the difficulties of breaking into the market. APOLLO SETS SIGHTS ON NYSE [...]
Former Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon to join Beckham talent management firm November 9, 2009 PETER Kenyon, the former chief executive of Chelsea Football Club, has joined one of the world’s biggest talent management firms, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), to boost its work in sports. Kenyon, 55, who left Chelsea last month after five years and also previously led Manchester United, said the agency had established itself as a “leader” [...]