IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 19 August
19-08-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Eircom faces LLU charge reduction | MySpace may buy iLike
The Irish Times reports that the Irish unit of Carphone Warehouse grew its profits almost fourfold last year, according to accounts just filed with the Companies Office. Carphone Warehouse Ltd posted a profit of EUR1.87 million in the year to the end of March 2008, compared with a surplus of EUR447,758 the previous year. A note to the accounts said this reflected "improved trading conditions". Revenues increased 22 percent to EUR114.06 million, while operating profit trebled to EUR2.76 million. The rise in the phone retailer's bottom line is due partly to an investment impairment charge of EUR1.28 million booked in the year to the end of March 2007, which dragged down profits that year.
The paper also says that Eircom will be forced to reduce its monthly charge for local loop unbundling, the fee for allowing competitors to access its phone lines, from EUR8.41 to EUR0.77 under a new decision by ComReg. The regulator arrived at the new price following an analysis of Eircom's costs for providing the service. Eircom proposed an alternative pricing model, but ComReg said it felt this would not achieve its regulatory objectives, "namely compliance with the cost orientation obligation and protecting consumer welfare". Eircom now has one month to appeal the decision before it becomes binding.
The paper also notes that LearnVantage has improved the terms of its bid for e-learning group ThirdForce, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The Irish Independent reports that social network MySpace is rumoured to be nearing a deal to buy iLike for USD20 million. The deal is expected to close this week. iLike is a social recommendation music service with over 50 million registered users. MySpace declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft has filed a motion to stay an injunction which, if upheld, could stop the software giant from selling its flagship word processing app, Word. Microsoft filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC, arguing that the injunction could cause "irreparable harm" to its business. Last week, a US district court in Texas issued the permanent injunction, which bars Microsoft from selling recent versions of Word because it violates a patent held by i4i, a Toronto-based tech firm.
The paper also says that Sony has cut the price of its PlayStation 3 by 25 percent, a move the consumer electronics firm hopes will boost demand for its console. Sony said the PlayStation 3 will come in a new slim version and cost USD299, down from USD399 for the current model. Meanwhile, the price of currently available PlayStation 3s has been cut by around USD100.
According to the Financial Times, Hewlett-Packard has announced a 19 percent plunge in profits, on the back of continued weakness in the European economy and a reluctance to upgrade among corporate buyers. For the three months ended 31 July, net income dropped to USD1.64 billion, or USD0.67 a share, from USD2.03 billion, or USD0.80 per share. Sales fell to USD27.5 billion, down from USD28 billion. The declines had generally been expected, and using the non-GAAP numbers HP prefers, the company exceeded consensus profit estimates.
The paper also reports that pressure is building on the major US search engines to stop displaying ads from overseas drug retailers who deliver potentially counterfeit and dangerous products to consumers, in violation of federal laws. The US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration are concerned that the practice is continuing despite the deaths of consumers who ordered drugs without examination by a doctor. Microsoft this month began reviewing pharmacy ads by hand after a research report revealed that many sellers on its Bing search engine boasted that no prescriptions were required and that they shipped from overseas. Yahoo has also begun checking ads manually.
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