Fears of profit wipeout dent Amazon stock January 31, 2012 SHARES in Amazon plunged more than nine per cent last night after the world’s largest online retailer warned it could make a first-quarter loss. The firm forecast quarterly operating performance ranging from a loss of $200m (£126.9m) to a profit of $100m, below Wall Street expectations. The figures include $200m for stock-based compensation and other expenses. [...]
Random House agrees merger with Penguin October 29, 2012 PEARSON and German media giant Bertelsmann have agreed a deal to merge their respective book publishing units Penguin and Random House, creating the world’s largest company of its kind as they grapple with a growing threat from digital book sellers such as Amazon. The firms have inked a deal despite a late bid from Rupert [...]
UK technology darling’s rocky road to HP deal November 20, 2012 WHEN Autonomy was sold to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11bn (£6.9bn) in October 2011, the deal was hailed as a defining moment for Cambridge’s technology scene and chief Mike Lynch was made a poster boy for British entrepreneurship. But seven months later, Lynch was out of HP, fired by the US giant’s new boss Meg Whitman. [...]
iPhone 5 supply threatened by Foxconn strikes October 7, 2012 FOXCONN workers went on strike over the weekend at one of the Chinese factories supplying Apple’s iPhone 5, in a blow to the US firm as it struggles to keep up with demand for the device. More than 200 workers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant refused to work on Friday, in the latest round of unrest [...]
HP weighs on Wall St despite strong data October 3, 2012 WALL Street ended modestly higher yesterday on stronger-than-expected US labor and service-sector data, but the Dow industrials were hobbled by a slide in Hewlett-Packard. Shares of Hewlett-Packard dropped sharply after the company warned yesterday of a darker outlook for 2013 earnings, reflecting slow progress on CEO Meg Whitman’s turnaround plan while technology spending sputters and [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs October 9, 2012 NGBI Private Equity David Turner has joined NGBI’s UK team as an investment manager. He qualified as an accountant with Grant Thornton before transferring into its corporate finance team, and was most recently a member of Experian’s corporate development office. Chadbourne and Park The law firm has announced that Silvia Fazio has joined the firm as an [...]
What the other papers say this Morning October 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Apple set to unveil iPad Mini Apple hopes to maintain its dominance in the tablet market despite competition from Microsoft, Google and Amazon with a cheaper, smaller iPad, which is expected to be unveiled next week. The California-based technology group has sent out invitations to a press launch next Tuesday. Months of leaks [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CIC sells bulk of its BlackRock stake China Investment Corp has sold most of its stake in BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, as part of a wider strategy by the sovereign wealth to cut its holdings in global financial institutions. CIC bought just under 3 per cent of BlackRock’s shares, worth about [...]
Bango lifted by mobile tie-up with Facebook September 25, 2012 SHARES in British mobile payments firm Bango soared yesterday as it launched a tie-up with Facebook to let the social network’s users make purchases on smartphones. The service, which allows people to purchase extra content on Facebook – such as game extensions and virtual gifts – and charge it to their monthly network bill, will [...]
Bango lifted by mobile tie-up with Facebook September 25, 2012 SHARES in British mobile payments firm Bango soared yesterday as it launched a tie-up with Facebook to let the social network’s users make purchases on smartphones. The service, which allows people to purchase extra content on Facebook – such as game extensions and virtual gifts – and charge it to their monthly network bill, will [...]