In the papers 14 May

14-05-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Carphone's telecoms business could become acquisition target | Investor Icahn may try to unseat Yahoo board

The Financial Times reports that European competition authorities are to look into allegations made by Becta, the UK agency for information and communications technology in education, that anti-competitive practices by Microsoft have restricted choice and driven up costs. Becta said its complaint that there were significant obstacles to using rival products in conjunction with the software giant's Office 2007 product had been sent to the European Commission. The allegations will be investigated as part of the latest probe by Brussels into possible antitrust breaches by Microsoft.

The paper also says that Spanish mobile operator Telefonica has posted a 22.4 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to EUR1.54 billion, in line with expectations. Operating income before depreciation and amortisation (OIBDA) -- Telefonica's core profit measure -- rose 5.3 percent to EUR5.38 billion, while revenues increased 1.1 percent to EUR13.9 billion, hit by the sale of two European units last year. The company reiterated its 2008 earnings guidance, expecting group OIBDA to grow by between 7.5 percent and 11 percent and revenues by 6 percent to 8 percent this year.

The paper also reports that Carphone Warehouse's telecoms business could become an acquisition target if it fails to buy Tiscali, the Milan-listed internet company, according to industry analysts. Mark James of Collins Stewart and Mike Jeremy of Daniel Stewart said Carphone could become a bid target because the UK broadband provider was excluded from a shortlist of would-be buyers of Tiscali. Tiscali's board has decided to open its books to six companies, including Vodafone and BSkyB, but it excluded Carphone from the sale process.

The Wall Street Journal says that billionaire investor Carl Icahn has purchased around 50 million Yahoo shares since Microsoft withdrew its offer to buy the company, and he is leaning toward launching a proxy contest to unseat at least part of Yahoo's board, according to a source. Icahn is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to launch a proxy contest. A Yahoo deadline for board nominations looms on Thursday. The source said Icahn was unsure whether he would nominate a full or partial slate of candidates to try to replace Yahoo's ten-person board.

The same paper says that Sony swung to a net profit in its fiscal fourth quarter, aided by increased sales of flat-screen TVs, PCs and digital cameras. The Japanese consumer electronics firm, which makes PlayStation game consoles, said its net profit in the January-to-March period came to JPY29.04 billion (USD277.1 million) compared with a JPY67.56 billion loss a year earlier. Sony said revenue fell 2.9 percent to JPY1.831 trillion from JPY1.887 trillion and it posted an operating loss of JPY4.67 billion, compared with a year-earlier operating loss of JPY113.37 billion.