Don’t let City living dull your good looks June 7, 2010 A FRIEND visited from the country this weekend and claimed to have blown dirty snot into a tissue after spending just two days in London. Like most long-term Londoners, I’m in denial about black phlegm, but she had a point. Living between the office, the Tube, the fumes of the street and the boozy, salt-and-sugar [...]
Sky worried despite likely revenue boost March 23, 2010 BSkyB could generate additional revenue of more than £700m if it is allowed to sell Premier League football through Freeview. In a move described by Sky as a “sop”, Ofcom is likely to allow the broadcaster to go ahead with a project dreamed up in 2007 codenamed “Picnic”. This would involve setting up a subscription [...]
Mergers can give you stellar profits March 14, 2010 THE financial rumour mill went into overdrive on Friday after whisperings that Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, the global media group, was thinking about buying back BSkyB, the broadcaster he helped to found in 1990. It was mooted that Murdoch might even be willing to pay up to 735p per share, a 20 [...]
Axed Moody’s reassured as Worsley gets nod for Scots March 9, 2010 ENGLAND coach Martin Johnson insists the door is not closed on Lewis Moody after the Leicester flanker was dropped for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland. Moody was withdrawn after just 55 minutes of Saturday’s defeat to Ireland, and has now been replaced in the starting line-up by Joe Worsley, who returns for the first [...]
Ofcom rules will allow BT to offer free football TV March 15, 2010 BT is allowed to offer free Premier League football as Ofcom has already withdrawn restrictions preventing the firm offering “bundle” deals. The former state operator was governed by strict laws aimed at improving competition. But recent changes mean BT would be allowed to tie up Premier League matches with its broadband and fixed-line services. The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GAZPROM TO LAUNCH RUSSIA’S BIGGEST BOND ISSUE Gazprom will seek to raise Rbs300bn ($10.2bn) in Russia’s biggest bond issue programme to date, as the gas export monopoly tries to take advantage of a booming domestic bond market to restructure its debts and raise funds for upcoming investments. Gazprom said it had mandated Gazprombank, [...]
Media gets through its toughest trial yet March 7, 2010 THE X Factor winner for 2010 is… ITV. The broadcaster has managed to survive the economic crisis, albeit with a slimmed down staff base, and actually managed to turn a £25m profit at the end of last year, after losing £2.7bn in 2008. There could be more good news to come for the UK’s media [...]
Sales jump at M&B as deals cheer punters September 24, 2009 Pubs and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers yesterday said that it expected its full year earnings to beat current forecasts, after a return to bargain dining and cheap boozing boosted sales. The owner of All Bar One and O’Neill’s pubs chains reported a like-for-like sales growth of 2.6 per cent in the 10 weeks to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EUROZONE DIVISIONS HIT SINGLE CURRENCY The euro came under heavy pressure yesterday, falling to a 10-month low against the dollar, as doubts intensified about the 16 eurozone member states agreeing on financial assistance for Greece – and Portugal suffered a credit downgrade. Sentiment soured towards the European single currency after Fitch, the rating [...]
Go hide away in the sun-drenched valleys of Jordan May 9, 2010 THE afternoon sun is browning our sweaty pink skin as we lie by the pool at Evason Ma’in, nudged between a massive yellowstone fortress-style hotel and a water-spewing rock face. Well, it may be all lemonade, glossy magazines, dramatic scenery and sun-tanning poolside, but just a few kilometres away on the Dead Sea’s south-east coast [...]