In The Papers 6 November

06-11-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Banta Global Turnkey cuts Limerick jobs | ChangingWorlds purchased by Amdocs

The Irish Times reports that Banta Global Turnkey, based in Limerick, is to shed 65 jobs. The loss of jobs at the Raheen-based firm has been linked to the growing uncertainty over the future of PC maker Dell in Limerick, as Banta is a major supplier to Dell. Staff were informed by company management earlier this week that 65 voluntary redundancies were being sought. Last week, Flextronics, another one of Dell's suppliers also based at the Raheen Industrial Estate, announced that at least 100 jobs were at risk. Fine Gael's Limerick East TD Kieran O'Donnell called on Tanaiste Mary Coughlan to seek a direct meeting with Michael Dell, and for the Government to establish a taskforce on employment and re-training in Limerick.

The paper also says that Dublin software firm NewBay generated a pretax profit of EUR2.9 million in 2007, following a 223 percent jump in revenues to EUR14.3 million. Documents just filed with the Companies Office show that while turnover grew from EUR4.4 million in 2006, cost of sales only rose from EUR1.2 million to EUR2.3 million. Europe accounted for sales of EUR8.9 million, with EUR5.3 million coming from the US. The company now has retained profits of EUR2.4 million. NewBay provides software to mobile operators that enables their subscribers to write blogs, engage in social networking and upload photos from their handsets.

The same paper reports that Irish software company ChangingWorlds has been acquired by US-quoted technology group Amdocs for an initial cash consideration of USD60 million (EUR46.2 million). In a statement, Amdocs said the deal was "subject to post-closing adjustments", which means the ultimate price paid could be higher. Amdocs announced the deal after the US stockmarket closed.

The Irish Examiner says that computer recycling firm Camara has won the 2008 David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Award, as noted by ENN on Wednesday.

According to the Financial Times, Rupert Murdoch has sharply cut forecasts for his media empire, predicting that News Corp will suffer double-digit declines in operating income for this fiscal year, rather than the 4 to 6 percent growth previously forecast. The group, which owns social networking site MySpace along with other media properties, blamed adverse currency swings, "a pretty grim picture" at its local US television stations and deteriorating advertising revenues at its UK and Australian newspapers. News Corp expects a low to mid-teens percentage drop in operating profit from the USD5.13 billion it recorded last year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Cisco Systems' profit in its latest quarter was nearly flat, amid an 8.1 percent rise in revenue. Net income for period ended 25 October was USD2.2 billion, or USD0.37 a share, compared with USD2.21 billion, or USD0.35, a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose because Cisco repurchased some of its shares. Revenue rose to USD10.3 billion from USD9.5 billion. The telecoms equipment maker described the world economy as "very challenging", saying it will begin to feel more severe effects from the impact of the slowing economy on demand for high-tech products. Cisco chief John Chambers said revenue in the current quarter would likely decline 5 to 10 percent from a year earlier.

The paper also notes that AMD is reducing its workforce by 500 employees, or 3 percent, the latest in a series of steps by the chipmaker to make its operations consistently profitable. The company had about 15,500 employees before the new job cuts, said Michael Silverman, an AMD spokesman. It had largely completed a 10 percent workforce reduction that was announced in April, he said. Silverman said the job cuts are part of an effort to reduce the company's expenses so that it can break even at USD1.5 billion in quarterly revenue.

The same paper reports that Time Warner posted flat third-quarter earnings, as another dismal performance by AOL muted profit gains in the television and movie businesses. Time Warner's cable TV networks defied the economic slowdown to deliver strong advertising gains. But AOL, coupled with weakness at the Time Inc publishing unit, weighed on earnings and the company cut its full-year profit forecast. Time Warner recorded net income of USD1.07 billion, or USD0.30 a share, down slightly from USD1.09 billion, or USD0.29, a year earlier. Time Warner scaled back its 2008 profit outlook to earnings per share of between USD1.04 and USD1.07, down from USD1.07 to USD1.11.

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