IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 6 February
06-02-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
Biosensia raises EUR2m in funding | BSkyB swings to a loss
The Irish Times reports that the Shannon area is to get up to 250 new jobs after US-headquartered Zimmer Holdings confirmed it would establish an Irish manufacturing base there, as noted by ENN on Tuesday.
The paper also says that Irish tech firm Biosensia has raised EUR2 million in its latest funding round. The Cork-based company has been working on developing a roadside drug-testing kit. The latest round of funding was raised by a syndicate led by Seroba BioVentures, a new investor in the firm that specialises in the life-science sector.
The Financial Times reports that British Sky Broadcasting, the UK's biggest pay-TV operator, swung to a loss for the first half of its financial year, after writing down the value of its 17.9 percent stake in rival ITV. The satellite and broadband firm posted a loss of STG36 million for the six months to the end of December, compared with a profit of STG356 million a year ago, after taking a STG343 million write-down on the ITV stake. However, investors were encouraged by customer numbers indicating that BSkyB was proving resistant to a consumer slowdown.
The paper also reports that Japanese conglomerate Hitachi slashed its annual net profit forecast by 75 percent, owing to restructuring costs related to its struggling television business. Faced with severe competition from lower-cost Asian competitors and stronger Japanese rivals, Hitachi's operating loss for its digital media and consumer products division was JPY15 billion (USD140 million) in the latest quarter to the end of December. Overall operating profit in the third quarter rose 27 percent to JPY77.9 billion. For the full year, however, Hitachi cut its net profit forecast from JPY40 billion to JPY10 billion.
The paper also says that shares in ARM Holdings lost a fifth of their value on Tuesday after the microchip designer revealed a 15 percent fall in overall profits and a sharp decline in sales at its physical intellectual property division. ARM said revenues at the physical IP division fell to USD19.5 million in the fourth quarter, 30 percent down from the same period a year ago. Pre-tax profit fell from STG57 million to STG48.2 million and earnings per share came to STG0.027.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is preparing a joint venture with a Chinese online music firm that would permit it to provide free, licensed music downloads in China. The service, which is likely to offer access to tunes from three global music companies as well as dozens of smaller players, could start in several weeks time.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 