In the papers 23 July

23-07-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

SaonGroup acquires Localjobsgroup | BSkyB to launch online music service

The Irish Times reports that Vodafone Ireland's average revenue per user dropped 8.1 percent in its first quarter to EUR41.70, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.

The paper also says that SaonGroup.com, the online recruitment business controlled by Denis O'Brien, has doubled its number of UK regional websites with its latest acquisition. The company has bought Localjobsgroup.co.uk, which runs around 45 websites, for an undisclosed sum. The purchase means SaonGroup now has 90 regional websites throughout the UK, where it operates under Myjobgroup.co.uk, which it bought in May 2007.

The paper also says that Apple has warned its current-quarter earnings would be well below Wall Street targets. Read the full story on ENN.

The same paper reports that pay-TV firm BSkyB is to launch an online music subscription service, and has signed up Universal Music as its first partner. The service will offer MP3 downloads to keep, as well as unlimited listening through streaming, for a monthly subscription fee. BSkyB will form a new joint venture with Universal to launch the service in Britain and Ireland. Details of pricing, the name of the service and a launch date have yet to be released.

The Irish Independent says that Hotline.ie has reported a huge increase in the use of child pornography on the internet in Ireland, as noted by ENN.

According to the Financial Times, shares in Ericsson fell 11 percent on Tuesday after the telecoms equipment giant posted net income down 70 percent to SKR1.9 billion (USD318 million) in the second quarter and maintained its cautious market outlook. Sales were up just 2 percent year-on-year to SKR48.5 billion, with strong growth in the US offset by a slowdown in developing markets and a flat market in Europe. "With no major changes in the market environment, we still find it prudent to plan for a flattish mobile infrastructure market in 2008 and our focus on adjusting our cost base remains," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, Ericsson chief executive.

The same paper reports that Dutch telecoms group KPN has posted flat second-quarter core earnings, in line with forecasts. Second-quarter EBITDA slipped to EUR1.267 billion from EUR1.275 billion a year ago, in line with an average forecast of EUR1.27 billion, while revenue grew to EUR3.66 billion. The company raised its outlook for its home market, saying it now expects EBITDA for the Netherlands excluding acquisitions and exceptional items to be at least EUR3.31 billion in 2008, flat compared with 2007. Its previous forecast was for EBITDA to fall by EUR100 million at the most.

The Wall Street Journal reports that virtualisation firm VMware has recorded slower-than-expected second-quarter growth for its software products and predicted further slowdowns in the second half of the year. Revenue rose 54 percent in the second quarter to USD456.1 million, but VMware said it expects full-year revenue growth of 42 percent to 45 percent, short of the 50 percent growth it had forecast up until last week. VMware attributed the slowdown to large companies holding off on signing big, long-term deals.

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