This is hands down the least technical quote that'll you probably ever hear on this blog (you can hold me to that) but I recently asked an Ipad buyer the advantages of the new Apple device and their exact quote was 'well, it's just like a big Iphone isn't it.'
Make no mistake, if the draw of an I-PHONE was to make phone calls, bigger would certainly not be better. Apps are compatible for the Iphone, and are therefore easy to use, so that's not the 'needs to be bigger' issue. So that leaves web access being the key reason as to why bigger is better in this respect. Using the Internet on the Iphone has always been clunky and the IPad provides a greater platform on which to browse whilst on the move.
Apple yesterday announced 2 million unit sales since the launch of the IPad. And that's before it's released in many countries. That doesn't bode well for print media. The message here is that people are happy to consume web news on the go and with automated web search now able to hone in on news relevant to the user, this trend is only going to go one way.
Readwriteweb.com posted an interesting article yesterday concluding that Facebook has the numbers advantage when it comes to subscribing to news feeds. It also commented on the favourable way it encourages people to 'become a fan' of the feed as apposed to subscribing to an RSS which they rightly claimed sounds costly and more confusing than a simple click of a Facebook button.
News publishers of course prefer Facebook as well due to the way it lends itself to the idea of sharing and linking with very smooth methods. So will Facebook's live feed eventually becoming nothing more than a glorified, diverse RSS feed tailored to the users favourite sources? It's certainly very possible. I've noticed a growing tendency amongst friends to link to stories, videos and photos they like and I almost always click through and see what the fuss is about.
What I found really enlightening about the argument though was this friendly way of using news that Facebook has so successfully adopted. It's so funny how just the word 'subscribe' can instantly turn a users nose up. Once upon a time news was news, consumers consumed it and that was that. But the web has changed that. The need for interaction has changed that. Subscribing to an RSS feed is for the professional who wants information. Becoming a fan of a news publisher is for those who want to shape the news, comment, be part of a community around a certain topic or theme. There is a very obvious difference and whilst I agree with Readwriteweb that Facebook is in a very strong position for the future I can't help but feel like the need for business news has again been missed from the argument.
UK Coal runs Kellingley and Thoresby in Yorkshire, Welbeck in Nottinghamshire, and Daw Mill in Warwickshire. (full story)
Recession may be over, says Bank of England chief Mervyn King - The recession could be over, according to Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England.
There are signs that economic growth "has resumed" between July and September, Mr King told the influential House of Commons Treasury Select Committee. (full story)
Next lifts forecasts a second time on sales growth - Next, the high street fashion chain, today raised its full-year profit forecast for a second time after reporting better than expected interim growth.
Profits for the six months to July 31 rose by 7 per cent to £185.5 million and total sales rose £1.5 billion, up 0.7 per cent. Shares in Next rose 3.2 per cent, or 55p, to £17.54. (full story)
Climate Exchange swings to profit - Carbon emissions exchange operator Climate Exchange (CLIE.L) swung to a first-half profit as trading volumes almost doubled, but said it expected growth rates to moderate in the second half.
"Whilst we are delighted with the growth achieved in the first half of 2009, political and regulatory uncertainty may moderate our rates of growth during the second half of the financial year and we have observed lower volumes in August," the company said on Wednesday. (full story)
Ministers fear recovery will fail to reduce unemployment - Ministers are urgently drawing up measures to try to prevent a "job-lite recovery" in which unemployment continues to rise even when the economy starts to grow again.
Official figures due out today are expected to show that unemployment has risen to about 2.5 million. There are growing fears that it will remain above two million by the end of 2010. (full story)
Store Space Reshuffle Hits Debenhams Sales - Department store group Debenhams has reported a 3.8% drop in like-for-like sales in the last six months compared to the same period last year.
The group blamed the decline, which saw sales for the full year slip 3.6%, on disruption caused by a major store revamp. (full story)
Bank crisis lessons 'not learned' - A year after Lehman Brothers collapsed, a think-tank has warned the lessons of the crisis have not been learned.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says the rapid return to the City's bonus culture shows real reform has been "very limited". (full story)
Drugs market uncertainty costs 5,500 Eli Lilly jobs - President Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms have made a swift impact on Eli Lilly, the pharmaceuticals group, which believes that the programme could depress the price of drugs. Faced also with the loss of key patents, the company said yesterday that it was to cut 5,500 jobs, or 13.6 per cent of its global workforce.
Eli Lilly, which employs 40,500 staff worldwide, of which 1,600 are based in Britain, plans to cut $1 billion (£600 million) from its annual costs in the face of what it describes as the “most challenging period” in its history. (full story)
MG Rover £100,000 'bribe' under investigation - A quango that was invoiced for a £100,000 alleged "bribe" relating to the redevelopment of MG Rover's Longbridge site has launched an investigation into the payment.
Taxpayer-funded Advantage West Midlands (AWM), a Regional Development Agency, was invoiced for the money by St Modwen Properties, the listed company, when it bought the site for redevelopment from a third company. (full story)
Warning over holiday sick leave ruling - A landmark legal ruling allowing workers to claim back holiday time lost to illness will expose employers to exploitation, it was warned today.
The CBI said the European Court judgment, in a case involving a Spanish council worker, was "open to abuse". (full story)
In a speech to mark one year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank, he will also mount a vigorous defence of his administration's economic policies. (full story)
ITV product placement 'is worth millions' - Troubled ITV stands to reap tens of millions of pounds in new revenue under Government plans to allow US-style product placement on television.
In a watershed week for the struggling broadcaster, the Competition Commission is also poised to publish its provisional findings into the contract rights renewal (CRR) system that dictates how much the company can charge advertisers, while Tony Ball , the former chief executive of BSkyB, is likely to be confirmed as ITV chief. (full story)
Cadbury seeks to bolster investors against Kraft - Cadbury will this week bolster its defences against a £10.2 billion takeover offer from America's Kraft Foods as management prepare to urge shareholders on Wednesday to reject the deal.
In a robust letter published in full today, Roger Carr, chairman of the Dairy Milk-maker, tells Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive of Kraft, the proposal is “unappealing” and a threat to Cadbury's plan of becoming the world's preeminent pure play confectionery and chewing gum company. (full story)
Union Boss: Hands Off Public Sector Jobs - A union leader is expected to tell colleagues that a true economic recovery will only be evident when public services are safe from cuts.
A key battleground has opened up ahead of the next General Election - and all sides seem to agree it is public spending that will decide the winner. (full story) London retail sales tumble to cast doubt on the sector's recovery curve - London's retailers will today create shockwaves by posting their worst monthly sales for four years, ahead of results this week from some of the UK's biggest store groups that will provide a health check for the high street leading up to the critical Christmas trading period.
The department stores Debenhams and John Lewis, the fashion retailers Next and French Connection, the DIY group Kingfisher, and the furnishings chain Dunelm will all update the market this week. Further August sales data will be unveiled by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday. (full story)
What a busy week it's been for the online world, I think all I can do is provide a catch up service, summing up some of the highlights, because to comment on just one thing would seem extremely blinkered, so:
In response to Rupert Murdock's plan to charge for online news content Google has admitted it is working on technology to help newspapers make money from their website readers. Twitter however have gone against the tide completely and decided their going to rely on advertising revenue 'leaving the door open' to advertisers to access the 45 million tweeters out there.
Facebook have decided to expand further by coming up with 'Facebook Lite' a new site that cuts down on unnecessary applications to provide quicker speed for those with slow or poor Internet connections. Although currently only available in the US and India if it cuts out things like the 'what kind of vegetable are you?' application I personally can't wait to ditch the old and bring in the new.
The PM has apologised to WWII code breaker Alan Turning over the terrible treatment he received from the British government, a statement long overdue and Steve Jobs is back to a standing ovation after his recent liver transplant.
On the lighter side of things Google Maps have announced they are launching the World's 'biggest' game of online Monopoly which will see gamers being able to purchase real streets (does that mean you really have to go to jail too?) and apparently in South Africa a carrier pigeon has beaten the countries ADSL service in the delivery of data. 'Winston the pigeon' took just two hours to fly a memory stick 60 miles, in the time the ADSL had sent 4% of the data.
Right, time for a lie down I think, must fly (that's for you Winston)
Britain's fourth-biggest grocer, which had raised earnings expectations in an unscheduled trading update in July, said on Thursday it made profit before tax and one-off items of 359 million pounds in the six months to August 2. (full story)
Bank set to hold interest rates - The Bank of England is widely expected to hold interest rates at 0.5% for the sixth month in a row, when it announces its decision later.
It is also likely to maintain its programme of pumping money into the economy - called quantitative easing - but is not tipped to extend it. (full story)
FTSE soars through 5,000 mark for first time in a year but Mandelson warns of second economic dip - The FTSE 100 index of Britain's top companies surged through the 5,000 mark today for the first time since October, as City investors leapt on increasing belief that an economic recovery is under way.
Investors also piled back into shares after being encouraged by the recent revival in takeover activity, such as Kraft's £10.2bn bid for Cadbury and the mega-merger between T-Mobile and Orange's UK. (full story)
Apple Boss Back In Charge With New iPod - Apple's CEO has returned to the spotlight after lifesaving surgery to announce the new iPod Nano range will have in-built video cameras.
Steve Jobs received a standing ovation when he took to the stage at a news conference in San Francisco. (full story)
Dixon leads M&S race after board promotion - Marks & Spencer reignited speculation about who will be its new chief executive by promoting John Dixon, its head of food, to the board yesterday.
Mr Dixon was only appointed director of food in July 2008, but has emerged as the main internal contender to succeed Sir Stuart Rose. The retailer's executive chairman, who has been lambasted for his dual role – which breaches best practice on corporate governance – will step down as chief executive no later than July 2010. (full story)
The Chancellor sought to draw the battle lines for the next election, suggesting Labour will cut costs but not services once the economy is growing again. (full story)
UK is Europe's 'easiest economy' - The UK is the fifth easiest economy in the world in which to conduct business, according to the World Bank.
It has moved up one place from last year in the bank's annual "Doing Business" survey, making it the best placed country in Europe. (full story)
China's Geely eyes bid for Ford's Volvo cars - China's Geely Automotive (0175.HK) said on Wednesday its parent wants to bid for Ford's (F.N) Volvo Car Corp, becoming the latest Chinese automaker to chase a foreign brand in a global industry overhaul.
The move could boost the profile of Geely, a small, home-grown car maker and, more importantly, give it access to Volvo technology it needs to upgrade its cars, analysts said, though some doubted it could manage an international brand. (full story)
Sports Direct upgrades profits on sales boost - Sports Direct today revealed revenues rose 10 per cent in the early summer and upgraded its profit forecasts as the retailer began to lift itself out of the recession.
Ahead of the company's annual meeting today, turnover at the sports retailer, owned by entrepreneur Mike Ashley, rose from last year’s £336 million to £375 million in the 13 weeks ending July 26. (full story)
Orange and T-Mobile merger could see 1,000 jobs cut - More than 1,000 British jobs could be lost as a result of Orange and T-Mobile's merger to create the UK's largest mobile phone company.
The companies confirmed on Tuesday that they are planning to merge their British operations to create a new jointly-owned business with more than 28.4m customers. (full story)
T-Mobile and Orange may merge in JV - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and France Telecom (FTE.PA) are in exclusive negotiations to combine their UK mobile operations into a new 50-50 joint venture, the German company said on Tuesday.
The move follows an announcement by Deutsche Telekom earlier this year that it was considering its options for the UK unit, which has struggled in the highly competitive market, in which five operators and several smaller players compete. (full story)
Google facing European challenge to digital library - Google was forced to offer concessions to European publishers yesterday as it came under pressure over its plans to digitise the world’s books.
The internet search engine said that it would remove all books still on sale in Europe from its US online market, which offers millions of titles currently out of print in the United States. Google instead plans to negotiate agreements with European publishers and authors. (full story)
High Street sales fall back again - Retail sales fell in August after two months of increases, casting doubt on a prolonged recovery in High Street consumer spending.
UK like-for-like sales - which do not include new stores - fell 0.1% compared with the same month last year, said the British Retail Consortium (BRC). (full story)
'Zombie' insurer Pearl to appoint Ron Sandler as executive chairman - Northern Rock chairman Ron Sandler has been lined up as the new executive chairman of insurance group Pearl, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
Mr Sandler, who was appointed to oversee the bank's rehabilitation last year, will join the "zombie" insurer – so-called because it consolidated closed life businesses – to oversee its restructuring. (full story)
Aquascutum returns to British ownership - Fashion brand Aquascutum is to return to British ownership after entrepreneur Harold Tillman today announced a deal to buy the business.
Mr Tillman, who is best known for the transformation of upmarket retailer Jaeger, has acquired the Aquascutum brand from Japan's Renown. (full story)
Whitbread hires ex-Boots boss as sales slide - Whitbread has hired Richard Baker, the former chief executive of Boots, as a non-executive director, sparking speculation he may succeed John Parker as boss.
The company announced Mr Baker’s appointment as it revealed a 2.6 per cent fall in like-for-like sales during the first half of the year, following a steep 7.7 per cent slide in revenue at Premier Inn, the budget hotel chain. (full story)
Cadbury shares soar after £10.2bn takeover approach from Toblerone maker Kraft Foods - Cadbury, the company behind Dairy Milk, has rejected a £10.2bn takeover offer from Toblerone-maker Kraft Foods, which the US company says would create jobs in Britain.
Shares in Cadbury soared more than 30pc after the surprise statement from Kraft this morning. The American company said that it had approached the board of Cadbury's with an offer to pay 745p a share, split between 300p in cash and 0.2589 of Kraft's shares for each of Cadbury's. (full story)
Rivals 'in battle for T-Mobile' - Vodafone and O2 have both tabled bids of about £3.5bn to buy T-Mobile UK from owner Deutsche Telecom, the Sunday Times has reported.
The report says a decision was likely to be made within weeks. (full story)
Discount web vouchers prove big hit - Recession-scarred consumers are embracing a thrifty habit that is likely to outlast any economic recovery: the use of online discount vouchers to save money on retail, food and other purchases. (full story)
AB Foods ups forecast on strong Primark - Associated British Foods (ABF.L) nudged up its full-year earnings forecast on Monday thanks to a strong performance at its Primark discount fashion chain and its sugar business.
The London-based group, 55-percent-owned by the family of Chief Executive George Weston, said it now expected "some progress" in adjusted earnings for the year ending September 12, compared with its previous forecast for a flat outcome. (full story)
Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations are meeting in London on Friday and Saturday to discuss the next steps in fighting the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. (full story)
Google China chief leaves company - The man who led Google's expansion into China is leaving the company to start his own business.
Lee Kai-Fu, who joined from Microsoft in 2004, will step down as president of Google in greater China in September, the company said. (full story)
easyJet to close base and cut flights after Air Passenger Duty row - A row over landing fees and the Government's "blunt holiday tax" in the form of Air Passenger Duty (APD) have prompted easyJet to cut 20pc of its flying programme at Luton and close its small East Midlands base.
Andy Harrison, the low-fare airline's chief executive, said he would be diverting the aircraft to lower-cost continental airports as he attacked Luton's failure to "recognise the commercial realities of the recession" and the Government's inability to see that £10 APD on short-haul flights "costs jobs". (full story)
Financial customers deliver 9 million complaints - The UK financial services industry has been hit by nine million formal customer complaints in the past three years, new figures revealed yesterday.
The Financial Services Authority figures, which have not been published before, reveal the scale of customer dissatisfaction within the UK and indicates that it is worsening. Complaints in the second half of 2008 grew by 5.8 per cent compared with three years ago to 1.48 million — equivalent to more than 8,000 every day — with banks on the receiving end of two out of every three complaints. (full story)
Oracle’s Sun deal snagged in Brussels - Oracle’s $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems hit an unexpected and potentially damaging obstacle in Brussels on Thursday as European antitrust officials opted to break with Washington in order to scrutinise the deal more closely.
The more stringent stance in Brussels breaks with recent efforts by competition authorities on either side of the Atlantic to align their investigations, and is particularly notable since the deal has already been given the green light by a new US administration that has taken a tougher line on competition issues, particularly in the tech industry. (full story)
HMV strikes deal to grab digital music sales - HMV is attempting to become a major player in the downloadable music market by taking a 50 per cent stake in the technology specialist, 7digital.
The retail chain said that the deal would boost sales at HMV and Waterstone's, the book store which it also owns. (full story)
Bovis unveils placing for land buys - House builder Bovis Homes (BVS.L) unveiled a placing to raise 60 million pounds on Thursday to take advantage of opportunities in the residential land market.
Bovis said it is placing up to 12.1 million shares, which represent approximately 10 percent of the group's share capital. (full story)
Jobs boost with new Mini models - Two new models of the Mini are to be built at BMW's plant in Oxfordshire creating up to 1,000 jobs, sources suggest.
Two concept cars - one a coupe - will be unveiled on 15 September and will be produced at the company's factory in Cowley, near Oxford. (full story)
Strike 'Could Threaten Choccie Supplies' - Chocolate supplies could come under threat if 1,200 Cadbury workers go ahead with their threat to strike.
Unite union officials said industrial action was "certain to hit supplies of some of the most popular chocolate products in the country". (full story)
Tax haven attempts to stave off crisis - The Cayman Islands, the Caribbean territory that is home to most of the world’s hedge funds, on Wednesday pledged to protect its financial sector in spite of considering harsh measures to stave off a budget crisis.
The overseas territory, which is facing a ballooning deficit in the wake of the economic downturn and rising public spending, suffered a setback last week when Britain refused to allow it to take on more debt. (full story)
When Ebay took on Skype four years a go they had big plans to revolutionize their marketplace platform, plans which never really took off. The idea was to provide video trading to users, allowing them to bargain and negotiate more openly. In amongst the finer detail of these outlines, close comparisons with the aforementioned News Corp can not be ignored.
Although they probably wouldn't admit it, the ultimate ambition of the project was to rake in endless advertising money through "pay-per-call" services which could see advertisers paying between $2 and $12 per telephone call each time someone clicked on their link." This business model (relying on advertising) is all too close to the reason why Rupert Murdock has taken the bold decision to start charging for online content.
The new investors in the online communication service can only have parallel ambitions (you don't pay $1.9 billion for something unless you plan to make a lot of money). With 481 million registered users the potential is endless. But, as Ebay have shown, without a successful way to monetize, the investment is doomed to failure. Although, of course, there may be differing plans in the minds of the investors, I don't think it'll be too long before charges start creeping into the Skype network somewhere along the line.
Murdock has cushioned the blow for everyone else thinking along the same lines and once a trend has started, it's not to long before everybody jumps on the bandwagon. With their staggering number of users, Skype's demands can afford to be small, but the ring fence has been hurdled, and I suspect it's only a matter of time before there's no ring fence at all.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will make the announcement at a Backing Young Britain summit in Birmingham. (full story)
DSG first-quarter sales fall less than expected - DSG International, Europe's second-biggest electrical goods retailer, posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly sales drop on Wednesday and said it had agreed to sell its Polish operations.
The group, which runs Currys and PC World in Britain, Elkjop in the Nordic region and UniEuro in Italy, said sales at stores open at least a year fell 6 percent in the 16 weeks to August 22, as double-digit percentage falls in UK electricals and computing sales were partly offset by strong sales in Nordic countries. (full story)
eBay Raises Billion Pounds In Skype Sale - Internet auction site eBay is selling a 65% stake in its online phone business Skype for £1.2bn.
A group of private equity investors have agreed to buy the controlling shareholding in the company. (full story)
Sony plans to put 3D TVs in homes by end of 2010 - Sony will announce today that it is aiming to put 3D televisions in homes by the end of 2010.
Sir Howard Stringer, its chief executive, is due to announce that consumers will be able to buy 3D Bravia television sets, Vaio laptops, Playstation3 games consoles and Blu-Ray disc players that are compatible with 3D technology. (full story)
Make mine a half: Majestic cuts minimum purchase of wine - Majestic Wine, the chain of warehouse outlets, hopes to raise the spirits among its customers by halving their minimum purchase to six bottles per visit.
The move, which was introduced yesterday, follows a successful year-long trial in its Newcastle and Darlington stores, where "customer feetback has been very positive". (full story)
Brown calls for cap on bankers' bonuses - Gordon Brown has turned up the heat on bankers by calling for an international debate on a possible cap on bonuses in the financial sector.
Mr Brown said that the countries attending the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh this month would debate whether "bonuses are, in general, too high a proportion of company revenues and profits". (full story)
Disney to buy Marvel in $4bn deal - Entertainment giant Walt Disney is to buy Marvel Entertainment in a shares and cash deal valued at $4bn (£2.5bn).
The deal means Disney will take over ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men. (full story)
Manufacturers Worried By Lack Of Credit - Low interest rates and efforts by the Government to free up liquidity in the banking system have failed to significantly improve credit conditions, new research says.
A survey of 560 companies by the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) found that credit conditions remain "very tight". (full story)
EBay to sell Skype to private investors - Internet auction and services company EBay Inc (EBAY.O) has reached a deal to sell its online telephony unit Skype to a group of private investors, the New York Times said, citing two people briefed on its plans.
Andreessen Horowitz, a new venture capital firm headed by the Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, is likely to be among the investors in the group, the paper cited the people as saying. (full story)
Losses at Jaguar Land Rover send parent Tata into red - Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) suffered from the continued slump in the automotive industry in the three months to the end of June, which drove parent company Tata Motors into a loss for the quarter. Yet the group is confident that with new funding and aggressive cost-cutting, it will be in a good position when the market returns to growth.
Tata, which bought JLR from Ford last year in a deal worth $2.3bn (£1.4bn), swung to a 3.2bn rupee loss (£41.6m) in its first financial quarter after posting net profits of 7.2bn rupees in the corresponding period in 2008. (full story)
News today that the Independent's advertising revenue was down 19.6% and predictions that the paper's advertising will not recover this year has added more fuel to the fire in regards to charging for online content. Recently Artesian Solutions CEO Andrew Yates had an article published on Utalk Marketing discussing the positives of fee based material for the consumer. Some of the key points included:
"Murdoch was able to win consumers over by providing unique, premium content, such as sports and movies and provided subscribers with advanced technology through Sky’s set-top boxes. This approach revolutionised television and who’s to say history can’t repeat itself when Murdoch adopts a similar model online."
"his argument for charging for content is based around ‘quality’ and this is a commodity that people are prepared to pay for. Additionally, we pay for a printed copy of our favourite newspaper, so why not an online copy."
"The natural progression by charging for content is that through targeted information and the learned behaviours of the subscribers, newspapers will be able to build a 24 hour, 7 days a week relationship (rather than once in the morning) and therefore tailor content to the demands of those paying for the service."
What do you think about the proposed changes? Are they good or bad for the consumer? I'm really intrigued to get some opinion on this.
"We are discussing our plans with our people and their union representatives and no final decisions have been made," The Times quoted a spokesman for the company as saying. (full story)
Hamleys is hit by £6.9m loss as parents feel an icy credit squeeze - Parents who spent less on their children in the wake of the financial crisis and the fallout from the Icelandic banking collapse resulted in Hamleys, the Regent Street toy shop, swinging to a £6.9 million loss last year.
Sales at the company fell 12 per cent between October and the end of March, flying in the face of the conventional wisdom that parents are reluctant to let their children go without during a downturn.(full story)
Independent wary over ad outlook - Newspaper group Independent News & Media has reported a loss and says advertising will not recover this year.
It made a pre-tax loss of 48.5m euros ($69.6m; £42.7m) for the first six months of 2009, compared with a 96.6m euro profit in the first half of 2008. (full story)
Fed chairman Bernanke falls victim to identity theft - Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, has become the latest victim of identity theft.
Mr Bernanke's personal bank account became entangled in an elaborate identity-theft scheme after his wife Anna's purse was stolen last August at a Starbucks coffee shop in Washington DC. According to a police report, it contained her Social Security card, cheque book, credit cards and IDs. (full story)
Facebook Set For Changes After Threat - Facebook has announced it will overhaul its privacy policies after being threatened with legal action.
In July, a report by Canada's privacy commissioner said there were serious gaps in the information given to the site's users and some of their practices may break the country's laws. (full story)
Lower fares hit Aer Lingus hard - Irish Airline Aer Lingus has reported a big increase in losses for the first half of the year as it was forced to cut fares during the downturn.
The company lost 73.9m euros ($105.3m; £65m) in the six months to the end of June, more than three times the 21.6m euros it lost a year earlier. (full story)
German state to lend directly as second credit crunch looms - Germany could directly intervene in the credit insurance and lending markets as soon as September to head off a looming credit crunch, as it fears the economic recovery may soon falter as banks refuse to roll over loans.
The finance minister, Peer Steinbrück, said broad sectors of the German economy are in trouble even if the country has avoided a full-blown lending crisis so far. (full story)
Diageo earnings rise 10 percent - Diageo, the world's biggest spirits group, met forecasts on Thursday with a 10 percent rise in annual earnings but cut its profit target for this year due to concerns about the strength of any recovery.
The London-based maker of Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness beer posted basic earnings for the year to end-June of 65.2 pence a share compared to a range of 57.6 to 72.6 and a consensus of 64.6p in a Reuters survey of 7 analysts. (full story)
Microsoft Sorry Over Race Row Photo Blunder - Microsoft is embroiled in a race row after the software giant Photoshopped a black person's face out of a company photograph.
The picture of three racially different people sitting in a boardroom was published on the firm's US website. (full story)
Fujitsu to cut 10% of UK workforce - Fujitsu Services, the UK arm of of the Japanese technology company, has announced plans to cut around 1,200 jobs, about 10 per cent of its workforce, in one of the largest rounds of redundancies in the IT industry in the recession.
The cuts indicate that IT, which has hitherto avoided widespread redundancies affecting other industry, is being affected by the slowdown and undermined recent reports that suggested the IT sector was helping to lead the UK out of the downturn. (full story)
Business leaders seen more upbeat - Business leaders are more upbeat about the prospects of economic recovery at any time since the recession began, a ComRes poll for the Independent showed on Wednesday.
The survey of 170 leading businessmen showed that 38 percent detect signs of recovery in their sector, up from last month's 33 percent. (full story)
London bike scheme firm profit up - Serco, which has been awarded the contract to operate London's new bike hire scheme, said profits have surged as it won a record amount of contracts.
Pre-tax profit rose 33% to £83.4m in the first six months from the same period last year. (full story)
BT and Virgin Media attack Government plans to curb illegal downloading - BT and Virgin Media have launched an attack on the Government following the announcement of plans to punish illegal file-sharers by cutting off their internet connections.
Both have expressed objections to the latest plans to by Stephen Timms, the minister for Digital Britain, which go against previous proposals announced at by his predecessor Lord Carter as part of his Digital Britain report two months ago. (full story)
WPP warns of bleak year ahead as profits dive 47% - WPP, the world's largest advertising group, today gave warning of bleak market conditions next year despite a string of large sport-related marketing opportunities, as the “severe” recession almost halved its first-half profits.
The acquisitive advertising group, which owns the Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide public relations company, said that underlying revenues for the first six months of the year fell 8.3 per cent, as it felt the effects of a stagnant market. Shares dropped more than 5 per cent in early deals, losing 27p to 493p. (full story)
PartyGaming seals first US deal since settlement - PartyGaming has struck its first deal in the US since agreeing a $105m (£64m) settlement to avoid prosecution, with the acquisition of a TV producer specialising in poker, but remained cagey over further plans to return to the market.
The Gibraltar-based company yesterday announced it was to buy WPT Enterprises – known as World Poker Tour – for $12.3m. The deal also included a revenue sharing agreement that will see it pay out at least $3m to WPT's owners for the next three years. (full story)
Yahoo to compete with Bing despite Microsoft deal - Yahoo Inc said on Monday it has revamped its search to compete against Microsoft Corp's Bing, even as it relies on the Redmond giant to power its queries.
The announcement of plans to put a new face on Yahoo Messenger and Mail and add functions to its search engine came after news that Google and Yahoo each lost a fraction of a point of U.S. search share to Microsoft last month. (full story)
Unmasked blogger Rosemary Port to sue Google for $15m - Google is to be sued for $15 million (£9 million) by an anonymous blogger who was unmasked by the internet search company.
Rosemary Port said that Google had failed to protect her right to privacy when the company obeyed a court order to reveal her name after she used her blog to accuse a former Vogue model of being a "psychotic, lying, whoring ... skank". (full story)
Rail firm optimistic despite loss - Railway operator Grand Central says it remains optimistic about its future, despite posting an £8m loss last year.
Although double the 2007 figure, the loss was "fully in line with the board's expectations", the firm said. (full story)
CBI sees graduate jobs freeze continuing - A quarter of large employers are likely to freeze their hiring of new university graduates for the coming year, according to the CBI employers’ organisation.
A survey earlier this year showed about a quarter of large CBI members had halted graduate recruitment, and Susan Anderson, the group’s education and skills policy director, said: “We would probably envisage a similar number to be frozen in the next graduate round.” (full story)
Obama to reappoint Bernanke as Fed chairman - US President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday a second term for Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, following months of joint combat against the financial crisis.
A White House official said on condition of anonymity that Obama would break his vacation on well-heeled Martha's Vineyard off the US east coast to re-appoint Bernanke to a second four-year term beginning in January. (full story)
