WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
ASIAN SHIPPING LINES SUFFER FURTHER LOSSES
Two of Asia’s biggest shipping lines announced major losses for the June-September quarter in a further sign of the unprecedented severity of the crisis battering the industry. Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines said that it would lose money at least for the first half of 2010 as it announced $139m net losses for the three months to September 30. Hong Kong-listed China Cosco announced third-quarter losses of Rmb691m ($101m) on revenues down 52.4 per cent on the same quarter last year to Rmb15.8bn.
MOTOROLA SHARES REBOUND ON SMARTPHONE HOPES
Motorola’s co-chief executive predicted that more than two-thirds of all the profits in the US cellphone industry would come from smartphones by the end of this year, as the company geared up to bet its own future on the latest must-have mobile devices. Sanjay Jha was speaking after the struggling US mobile technology company revealed the depth of the collapse in its handset sales in the most recent quarter.
TFL TO KEEP CONTROL OF FORMER METRONET LINES
The London mayor’s transport organisation will retain almost complete control over maintenance and upgrade on two-thirds of the London Underground after it won a tussle with ministers over the future of lines once maintained by Metronet Rail. Transport for London and the Department for Transport have been negotiating since Metronet, which was responsible for maintaining and upgrading track, trains and stations on all but the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines, collapsed in July 2007.
THE TIMES
GOVERNMENT COST CUTTING LOOKS SET TO SCUTTLE £23BN SEVERN BARRAGE TIDAL PROJECT
Plans to build a ten-mile tidal barrage across the River Severn that could generate up to 5 per cent of Britain’s electricity are likely to be shelved under a government cost-cutting drive, The Times has learnt. The Severn Barrage project, which would cost up to £23bn to build, is set to be indefinitely postponed early next year
BUSINESS SOFTWARE HEADS FOR THE CLOUDS AS GOOGLE BEATS MICROSOFT TO LA DEAL
Google has won its highest-profile customer in its battle with Microsoft to provide e-mail and other internet services to businesses. Los Angeles City Council has approved a multimillion-dollar proposal to use Google’s range of office products.
The Daily Telegraph
OFGEM TO CONFIRM £300M OF EUROPEAN FUNDING TOWARDS OFFSHORE WIND FARMS
Ofgem will announce £300m of European funding for investment in power lines from offshore wind farms, as the regulator tries to encourage the “forgotten infrastructure” behind Britain’s green revolution. Lord Mogg, the chairman of the regulator, said he hoped money for six projects would encourage investors who are not currently involved in electricity transmission.
DIAGEO PLANS £150M TONIC FOR ITS VODKA BRANDS
Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits maker, is stepping up marketing of its vodka brands, including Smirnoff with an estimated £150m investment. The group’s idea is to capitalise on an area of the drinks market that is still growing despite the recession.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
SPRINT CONTINUES TO SHED CUSTOMERS
Sprint Nextel posted a wider third-quarter loss as subscribers continued to leave the mobile-phone service provider for other carriers despite the launch of some new handsets. The number of subscribers slipped 1 per cent from the prior quarter to 48.3m. The company lost a net of 545,000 wireless subscribers, including 801,000 customers on contracts, putting the total decline in the last eight quarters at about 7.8m.
SINOPEC PROFIT MORE THAN DOUBLES ON IMPROVED CHINESE OIL DEMAND, PRICING
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, posted third-quarter net profit more than double year-earlier level. Net profit at Sinopec jumped to 16.55 billion yuan.