AOL’s co-founder Case quits Time Warner November 1, 2005 The curtain came down yesterday on what some consider to be one of the biggest corporate mistakes of recent times as Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, quit the board of Time Warner. Case was instrumental in brokering a deal in 2000 that saw AOL merge with Time Warner creating the world’s largest media company in [...]
£1.7m success for Rooney’s off-field team October 28, 2005 The success of footballer Wayne Rooney seems to be reflected in his management company Formation Group, which reported a strong set of full-year results. The sports marketing and management business reported an 11 per cent increase in pre-tax profits before amortisation to £1.7m for the 12 months to 31 August on sales of £14.9m compared [...]
Bad news as poor growth hits Reuters October 28, 2005 Shares in Reuters fell by more than 5 per cent yesterday as City followers were unimpressed with the media company’s failure to raise its second half growth forecasts. The company’s stock fell as much as 20p to 346p in early trading before recovering slightly. The data and news provider reported an underlying 1 per cent [...]
Record profit warnings October 21, 2005 The number of British companies issuing profit warnings in September surged to a four-year record due to difficult market and trading conditions. According to research by Ernst & Young, 103 firms listed on the London Stock Exchange issued a warning in the three months to 30 September. This represents a rise of 39 per cent [...]
The Phone War October 25, 2005 Richard Branson and Charles Dunstone lead our troops into battle over mobile networks in France. Precisely 200 years after Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar, a new Anglo-French battlefront has opened up, this one over mobile telephone networks. Sir Richard Branson is leading the troops in this latest skirmish. Yesterday, he announced a joint venture with Carphone [...]
Stressbusters November 1, 2005 Stress is the invisible killer and we need to find ways to manage it or suffer the consequences. The Government is so concerned about the endemic that it has designated tomorrow National Stress Awareness Day. Britain workforce is suffering from a stress endemic that is so serious in some sectors that the Government’s Health and [...]
Alas Sugar and Jones October 19, 2005 Sir Alan Sugar teamed up with Griff Rhys Jones to save the Hackney Empire. Now they have reunited to lay on a fundraising extravaganza involving teams from the Square Mile. Sir Alan Sugar and Griff Rhys Jones are an unlikely double act. One left school at 16 and, following a short stint as a civil [...]
Firms’ shock at tips October 26, 2005 Reporting by City Slickers James Hipwell and Anil Bhoyrul at the Daily Mirror caused companies to put out apologetic statements, a court heard yesterday. The former Mirror financial journalists are accused of using their City Slickers column to manipulate share prices. On day six of the trial at Southwark Crown Court jurors were told how [...]
Eutelsat’s IPO abandoned October 28, 2005 Eutelsat, the world’s third largest satellite operator, dramatically abandoned its planned initial public offering (IPO) on the Paris Euronext late last night, citing volatile European stock markets. The news comes after Eutelsat was forced to slash its IPO valuation by 20 per cent to around €2.7bn (£1.83bn) on Tuesday, because investors thought its price was [...]
More upheavals at Highbury House October 19, 2005 Mike Frey has left troubled magazine publisher Highbury House Communications just 18 days after his appointment as chief operating officer. In a brief statement yesterday the company, headed by former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, said Frey, who had at one stage been due to take over as chief executive, had “left the company by mutual [...]