IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 27 October
27-10-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Strong Arm results show market improvement | It's Frykhammar time for Ericsson
The Irish Times reports that mobile operator Three Ireland grew its turnover by 47 percent in 2008. Accounts for Hutchison 3G Ireland filed at the Companies Office show that turnover increased from EUR47.9 million in 2007 to EUR70.3 million last year. The firm also narrowed its operating loss from EUR75.6 million in 2007 to EUR56.5 million in 2008. Its pretax loss was EUR86.5 million, compared to EUR97.6 million in 2007. Hutchison 3G Ireland increased its average number of employees to 208 last year, up from 145 the previous year.
The paper also says that around 7 million people watched a U2 gig online as it was streamed on video-sharing website YouTube. This was the first time the site had streamed a full concert by a major act. The move is part of YouTube's ongoing efforts to boost advertising revenue by moving beyond hosting short video clips to streaming full-length films, television programmes and gigs. The website has also started streaming Hollywood films to US users and will offer a catch-up service for Channel 4 programming from early 2010.
In similar news, the Irish Independent says that trad sessions were streamed live on the internet during the Sligo Live roots-music festival. Organisers said that the webcam links will be expanded in the coming years. "It has never been done before in traditional music but we now see the demand that is there for it and hopefully it will encourage people to come to the Sligo Live festival in the future," said festival organiser Shane Mitchell.
The Irish Examiner says that an average of EUR9,000 per worker will be available as a retraining grant for the unemployed Dell workers, but it will have to be spent within two years. A special committee has been formed to oversee the process that includes FAS, the Enterprise Boards, third-level colleges and representatives of the Dell and Banta workers. Payment of the EUR14.8 million from the EU's globalisation fund has been delayed but Labour MEP Alan Kelly said he expects it will be available before Christmas.
The paper also says that Newry-based First Derivatives has made a major investment with a USD10 million purchase of New Jersey software firm Reference Data Factory (RDF). The acquisition will comprise an initial payment of USD2.5 million, with further payments totalling USD7.5 million payable on the back of sales generated by RDF over the next three years. The purchase strengthens First Derivatives' range of financial data management-related software products and follows the company's USD7.5 million investment in one of its US-based sales partners, Kx Systems. First Derivatives increased its stake in Kx from 5 percent to 20 percent last week.
According to the Financial Times, UK chipmaker Arm Holdings has furnished evidence of improving sentiment for the global semiconductor market after posting third-quarter figures ahead of market expectations. Revenues dropped 8 percent to USD123 million, but in sterling terms revenues grew 5 percent to STG75.2 million, while pre-tax profit fell 2 percent to USD24.3 million. Chief Executive Warren East said the group would "at least" meet rising market expectations for full-year dollar revenue projections amid signs of improved demand in the consumer electronics sector. Analysts are expecting Arm to make USD476 million in revenues for the year, ahead of earlier predictions of around USD450 million.
The Wall Street Journal reports that telecoms equipment maker Ericsson has said that Jan Frykhammar will become chief financial officer from 1 November. The current finance chief and executive vice president, Hans Vestberg, will succeed Carl-Henric Svanberg as chief executive when he steps down on 1 January 2010. Frykhammar, currently head of global services and senior vice president, will also become executive vice president from January. Frykhammar said he foresees no major changes to Ericsson's strategy, although the company will have to adapt to market developments.
The paper also says that the US optical disk drive operations of Japanese tech firms Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba have received subpoenas from the Department of Justice in a widening investigation into potential antitrust violations. The DoJ started a criminal antitrust probe into the optical disk drive market in recent months, investigating disk-drive makers for possible price-fixing, bid-rigging and allocation of markets, according to sources. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter. Officials at Hitachi and Toshiba said separately their optical disk drive businesses will fully cooperate with the investigation, but declined to disclose details of the subpoenas.
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