IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 4 December
04-12-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
Infineon set to post loss for 2009 | Sage sees strength in Europe
The Irish Independent reports that BSkyB plans to offer advertisers a way of targeting Sky+ homes based on subscribers' personal and demographic details. The service will rely on data from Sky's 20,000-strong audience panel. Ads relevant to subscribers will be aired in breaks. BSkyB hopes to have the Sky+ service up and running in 2011.
According to the Financial Times, European chip firm Infineon is bracing itself for a major decline in revenue and an operating loss for its 2009 fiscal year. The firm blamed the drop mainly on falling demand from the automotive industry, and said it expects sales to drop at least 15 percent in 2009 compared with the previous year. Infineon also reported fourth-quarter results widely below expectations, posting an operating loss of EUR220 million. Analysts had predicted a loss of EUR53 million.
The paper also reports that strong demand in Europe has helped Sage Group, the UK's largest software maker, weather a slowdown in customer demand in Britain and North America. The accounting software firm said growth in revenues from its support and maintenance services would compensate for weakness in new software sales. About 70 percent of the firm's revenues come from services based on recurring maintenance of the group's software. Pre-tax profit for the year ending in September rose 8 percent to STG241 million on revenues that were up 11.9 percent to STG1.3 billion. Basic earnings per share grew 7.4 percent, and Sage raised its full-year dividend by 3 percent.
The Wall Street Journal says that Research In Motion has slashed its quarterly profit and sales goals, as delayed product rollouts and limited supplies undermined the BlackBerry maker's ambitious push into the consumer market. The Canadian firm warned that its sales growth slowed in the quarter ended 29 November and profit margins narrowed. RIM said its profit would be USD0.81 to USD0.83 a share on revenue of USD2.75 billion to USD2.78 billion. In September RIM had projected per-share profit of USD0.89 to USD0.97 on revenue of USD2.95 billion to USD3.1 billion.
The paper also notes that Adobe Systems has announced plans to lay off around 600 staff, about 8 percent of its workforce. The layoffs are intended to help Adobe better focus on its growing online video and internet software business, according to Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen. The layoffs will result in charges totaling between USD44 million and USD50 million, most of which will be taken in the company's November quarter. The software firm said preliminary results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended 28 November show revenue of between USD912 million and USD915 million, below the USD925 million to USD955 million it was targeting.
The paper also reports that IBM is hoping to convince corporate customers that they no longer need Microsoft, through the launch of a 'Microsoft-free' virtual desktop -- a complete suite of applications that run on a backroom server and do not require Microsoft software or costly desktop hardware. The software package uses the Linux operating system and a set of IBM office applications that can be displayed on thin clients, which do not have processing units or hard drives. IBM said pricing for the Virtual Linux Desktop would range from USD59 to USD289 per user. IBM estimates that a corporate customer licensing the software would save USD500 to USD800 a year per user, compared with buying a licence for Microsoft's Vista, Office suite and collaboration tools.
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