IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 1 February
01-02-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
Dept of Transport defends integrated ticketing system | Motorola says it may sell handset division
The Irish Times reports that Vodafone Ireland's average revenue per user (ARPU) decreased 3.6 percent year-on-year in the quarter to the end of December. Read more on Vodafone's key performance indicators and financial results on ENN.
The paper also says that Tralee IT firm Donseed has secured a EUR1.2 million investment, as reported by ENN on Thursday.
The same paper says that five of Payzone's shareholders have submitted a request to the company to hold an extraordinary general meeting that would seek to remove Chief Executive John Nagle and Chief Financial Officer John Williamson from their posts. It is not clear which shareholders are pushing for the meeting but a number of large investors are thought to have backed chairman Bob Thian's decision to remove the pair from their posts.
The paper also says that a High Court decision means the Digital Hub Development Agency can buy for EUR58,100 a site of less than one acre in south inner city Dublin. The site is said to have a potential value of EUR3.5 million given its development potential as part of the Digital Hub area.
The paper also notes that the Irish Blood Transfusion Board has confirmed it has abandoned plans to upgrade a computer system that monitors the progress of blood products, a move which has led it to write off around EUR740,000 of taxpayers' money. The computer system was to be an upgrade of its Progresa system, which was introduced in 2003 following a number of blood-related scandals. A spokeswoman for the board said that due to technical difficulties, the decision had been taken last March not to proceed with the upgrade.
The same paper says the Department of Transport has defended its management of the plan to introduce integrated ticketing on Dublin's public transport services, which is running four years late and EUR20 million over its original budget. Department secretary general Julie O'Neill said she was satisfied money had not been wasted and the latest deadline for implementation would be met. She said Dublin Bus would launch its interim smartcard ticket this summer, and Irish Rail would follow suit next year. Integrated ticketing would begin as planned in September 2009.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo's former CEO Terry Semel has resigned as non-executive chairman of the board, effective immediately. He has been succeeded by Roy Bostock. The company said Bostock, a member of its board since 2003, was unanimously elected by the board.
The paper also reports that Motorola, facing pressure from activist shareholder Carl Icahn, may spin off or sell its flagship handset division. In the past year Motorola's market share has tumbled to its lowest levels since 2001, and last week the company said it couldn't predict when it would halt its market-share slide, sending its stock plunging 19 percent. The announcement that it may sell the handset unit pushed Motorola shares up more than 10 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday.
The Financial Times reports that Electronic Arts, the world's biggest video game publisher, has posted a third-quarter loss and lowered expectations for the full year. The Silicon Valley firm said revenues in its biggest holiday-season quarter were a record USD1.503 billion, up 17 percent on a year earlier. Net losses were USD33 million compared with a profit of USD160 million, due to increased marketing costs and restructuring charges of USD78 million.
The paper also reports that Wal-Mart is aiming to emulate Amazon's global online expansion, saying it will invest "millions of dollars" in a global e-commerce technology platform that can be readily deployed by its subsidiaries in China, Japan and Latin America. The retailer is increasingly looking to overseas sales to offset slowing growth in the US, and says the global internet project will be "a multi-billion-dollar opportunity over the next three to five years."
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 