Pace signals a healthy full year outlook November 4, 2009 SET-TOP box maker Pace said yesterday it was on track to meet expectations for the year as it continued to perform well in a strong digital TV market. The company, which makes devices for BSkyB and Comcast, said average selling prices were increasing in the second half compared with the first half of the year, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 4, 2009 THE FINANCIAL TIMES OPEL U-TURN LEAVES GERMANY ANGRYGermany and Russia reacted furiously to General Motors’ surprise decision to keep Opel rather than sell it, throwing up fresh uncertainty about the future direction of one of Europe’s biggest carmakers. The news that GM’s board had abandoned the sale of Opel/Vauxhall to Canada’s Magna and Russia’s Sberbank [...]
Sun, sea and Arabian Delights November 1, 2009 THERE are many parts of the world about which I am pessimistic but Dubai, despite its recent economic woes, is not one of them. Nobody else in the Middle East has pulled off what Dubai has achieved: a peaceful, capitalist, multi-ethnic state based on commerce, property, finance, entertainment and tourism. While it has been engulfed [...]
Virgin Media beats City expectations as users pay more October 29, 2009 VIRGIN Media yesterday beat analysts expectation to reveal a 1.3 per cent increase in third quarter revenue, narrowing its losses, as customers spent more than ever on its services. The cable operator said that average revenue per user (Arpu) rose to a record £44.24 per month, driven by demand for superfast broadband and video on [...]
Abbey banks on double digit growth October 28, 2009 ABBEY, the UK arm of Spain’s Santander, posted a 37 per cent rise in nine-month profit yesterday, leaving it well on track to meet its target of double digit profit growth in 2009. The group – which includes the brands Abbey National, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester – said profits totalled £1.16bn in [...]
Johnson calls up uncapped trio for Tests October 26, 2009 CAPTAIN Steve Borthwick has urged the unfamiliar faces in England’s party for the autumn internationals to grab the opportunity with both hands. Manager Martin Johnson last night included uncapped trio David Barnes, Richard Blaze and Courtney Lawes in a patched-up 32-man squad for the upcoming Tests against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. With injuries ruling [...]
Why next year will be critical for London’s army of M&A dealmakers October 18, 2009 WHEN Tim Jones, the London managing partner of global law giant Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, walks into a room, one is immediately struck by the fact that he still looks every inch the Wales B rugby prop forward he used be. However, as he settles down in one of his firm’s sixth-floor, oak-panelled meeting room, he [...]
Range of large cap firms set to give markets an overview October 18, 2009 THERE is a mixed bag of companies reporting this week, but the diverse selection will give investors plenty to digest. FTSE 100 software company Autonomy will post its third quarter results tomorrow, though its management have already signalled that it will be another strong performance. It said earlier this month that it expects to report [...]
Range of large cap firms set to give markets an overview October 18, 2009 THERE is a mixed bag of companies reporting this week, but the diverse selection will give investors plenty to digest. FTSE 100 software company Autonomy will post its third quarter results tomorrow, though its management have already signalled that it will be another strong performance. It said earlier this month that it expects to report [...]
Maybe ITV would do better without a chief exec October 14, 2009 CRISIS? What crisis? That was the line that Michael Grade, the outgoing executive chairman of ITV, took when being questioned by a House of Lords committee yesterday. Hitting out at media coverage of the broadcaster’s bungled attempts to find a replacement chairman and chief executive, he said ITVwas a business in fine fettle. In a [...]