Still some wag left in the tail for US equity fund investors May 4, 2011 WE ARE in the middle of US earnings season and to date first quarter results have been very strong, with positive outlooks for the rest of the year. In its first quarter report, Marsh & McLennan announced yesterday that its net income had increased $77m to $325m. Earnings per share had increased 13 cents to [...]
HE’S BACK: RETURN OF THE DOT.COM GODFATHER April 5, 2011 ONE of Wall Street’s biggest players in the last dot.com bubble yesterday returned with a bang to advise on the biggest tech merger this year, as fears mount over a fresh Silicon Valley crisis. Former tech-banking heavyweight Frank Quattrone has been catapulted back into the limelight as adviser to National Semiconductor on its $6.5bn (£4bn) [...]
HE’S BACK: RETURN OF THE DOT.COM GODFATHER April 5, 2011 ONE of Wall Street’s biggest players in the last dot.com bubble yesterday returned with a bang to advise on the biggest tech merger this year, as fears mount over a fresh Silicon Valley crisis. Former tech-banking heavyweight Frank Quattrone has been catapulted back into the limelight as adviser to National Semiconductor on its $6.5bn (£4bn) [...]
Wolfson continues recovery February 8, 2011 Wolfson Microelectronics continued to recover in the fourth quarter as its chips were designed into more products in the fast-growing smartphone, gaming and ebook sectors. Wolfson, whose chips are in Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphone and Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader, reported underlying operating profit of $1.3m (£800,000), against a $4.3m loss a year ago, on revenue [...]
THE RISE OF THE BRAND ASSASSIN March 20, 2011 SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR AFTER receiving a healthy sum of birthday money from his rather indulgent grandparents, my son resolved to spend it on an Xbox 360. PC World was a full £25 cheaper than my usual first stop shop, Amazon. Deal done, order placed, but no item arrived. Days passed, phone calls were made, confusing emails [...]
THE RISE OF THE BRAND ASSASSIN March 20, 2011 SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR AFTER receiving a healthy sum of birthday money from his rather indulgent grandparents, my son resolved to spend it on an Xbox 360. PC World was a full £25 cheaper than my usual first stop shop, Amazon. Deal done, order placed, but no item arrived. Days passed, phone calls were made, confusing emails [...]
Ocado sales up 25pc March 4, 2011 Online grocer Ocado posted a 25 per cent rise in first-quarter sales and said it remained profitable, despite a challenging economic backdrop which has hit many retailers hard. The group, which mostly sells the products of grocer Waitrose, said it made gross sales of £146.2m in the 12 weeks to 20 February, in line with [...]
Ocado sales up 25pc March 4, 2011 Online grocer Ocado posted a 25 per cent rise in first-quarter sales and said it remained profitable, despite a challenging economic backdrop which has hit many retailers hard. The group, which mostly sells the products of grocer Waitrose, said it made gross sales of £146.2m in the 12 weeks to 20 February, in line with [...]
Amazon steps up ebook war July 22, 2010 Online retailer Amazon.com said yesterday it will exclusively publish digital editions of 20 classic books owned by the Wylie Agency, including authors such as Philip Roth, John Updike and Norman Mailer, for the first time on its Kindle electronic reader. Amazon’s move is a sign of intensifying competition in the crowded digital book format, including [...]
Steve Jobs returns to unveil the new iPad 2 March 2, 2011 APPLE surprised critics yesterday when its talismanic leader Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance to unveil the latest version of its iPad tablet computer. Despite being on medical leave, Jobs took to the stage in San Fransisco, saying: “We’ve been working on this product for a while – I didn’t want to miss this one.” [...]