In the papers 18 July

18-07-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

RegTel investigates Kung Fu Panda promo | Intel faces new EU antitrust charges

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The Irish Times reports that US tech firm Xilinx posted record net revenues of USD488.2 million for its first quarter fiscal 2009, up 9 percent on the year-ago quarter. The company, which employs 400 people at its European headquarters in Dublin, recorded net income of USD83.9 million for the period. That included pre-tax restructuring charges of USD19.5 million and a pre-tax charge of USD4.6 million related to impairment losses on equity investments.

The paper also says that mobile handset maker Nokia reported April-to-June results roughly in line with forecasts, and was upbeat on the rest of 2008. Nokia slightly raised its forecast for the mobile phone industry, saying volume would grow 10 percent or more in 2008, having previously forecast growth of about 10 percent. Nokia shares in Helsinki rose 8 percent on the back of the release of its results to EUR17.05, although they are still 35 percent down this year. Read the details of Nokia's results on ENN.

The same paper reports that Zamano chairman Rod Matthews says he is comfortable with analysts' estimates for full-year earnings for the Irish company, despite a trading statement from the mobile data services provider which said its financial performance in the first half of the year would be below the board's expectations. Analysts are forecasting around EUR5.2 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the full year. Speaking after the company's annual general meeting on Thursday, Matthews said that first-half profits would miss expectations this year due to sterling weakness.

The paper also notes that Fineos, the Irish insurance software provider, has won another contract to provide claims management services for a public insurer. The company has been appointed by the Lifetime Care Support Authority (LTCSA) of Australia to deliver disability claims management for catastrophic personal injuries arising from motor accidents. The deal is the fourth contract Fineos' claims division has won so far this year, and the firm has hired an additional 80 employees over the past year.

The same paper says the European Commission is threatening to close down nearly 20 Irish websites that offer mobile phone ringtones and wallpapers over suspected breaches of consumer protection rules. Of the 18 Irish sites checked as part of an EU-wide sweep, 17 were found to need further action and 14 were considered to be potential cases for action under EU consumer protection legislation. Among the problems identified were the provision of unclear or incomplete price information, and a lack of awareness by customers that they were signing up to a subscription.

Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner says that an investigation is under way into claims that a highly inappropriate adult text promotion became linked to one of the summer's biggest children's films. RegTel, the regulator of premium rate telecoms services, confirmed it is investigating how an adult message service became linked to Kung Fu Panda. The issue came to light after a cinema-goer reported that she received inappropriate and unsolicited text messages after texting a five-digit number displayed on a Kung Fu Panda poster at Mahon Point Omniplex in Cork.

The paper also says that financial services firm Citi is to base its EUR35 million investment in its next generation e-banking platform in Dublin, as noted by ENN on Thursday.

According to the Financial Times, chip maker AMD has replaced Hector Ruiz, its chief executive, as it posted its seventh successive quarter of losses and fell further behind rival Intel. Ruiz, who has led the company for the past six years, has been succeeded by Dirk Meyer, who was president and chief operating officer. Ruiz will retain his other post as chairman of the board. AMD shares last week fell to levels not reached since 1992, after announcing a second writedown from its 2006 acquisition of Canadian graphics chipmaker ATI.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the European Union has launched new antitrust charges against Intel, saying the chip giant paid rebates to a major retailer to encourage it not to carry PCs using chips from AMD. In addition, the EU antitrust regulator said Intel paid a computer manufacturer to delay the launch of a line of AMD-based machines and gave the manufacturer rebates that were conditional on its using only Intel chips in its laptops.