IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 29 October
29-10-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
LHC on track for collision | Nintendo profits plunge
The Irish Times reports that Geneva scientists are gearing up for the re-starting of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and Irish researchers from UCD are already in place at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern). Cern staff have almost returned to the point where the LHC was in September 2008, when the EUR4 billion machine broke down. The LHC will send beams of broken-up atoms around a 27km ring in opposite directions and collide them to release huge energies. "It would be a great Christmas present" to get collisions in December, said Dr Ronan McNulty, who heads UCD's high energy particle physics group.
The Irish Independent says that new company Refund.ie is promising to win back thousands of euro for people who have been ripped off by banks and other financial institutions. Refund.ie claims thousands of people could be entitled to significant refunds in relation to products such as payment protection insurance which were mis-sold to them. Refund.ie takes a commission of 22.5 percent of any settlement it agrees with a financial institution and an upfront fee of EUR242, although this will be refunded if a claim is successful.
According to the Financial Times, Japanese console maker Nintendo posted a 52 percent plunge in quarterly profit, on the back of slowing demand for its Wii games console and the strong yen. The company, facing competition from Sony, Apple and Microsoft, reported an operating profit of JPY64 billion (USD709 million) in the July-to-September quarter, compared with JPY133 billion a year earlier. Nintendo slashed its full-year forecast, cutting its operating profit outlook for the year to March 2010 by a quarter to JPY370 billion. Read more on Nintendo's results in our Weekly Digest later on Thursday.
In more results news from Japan, the Wall Street Journal reports that electronics maker Sharp has reported a wider-than-expected net loss in the first half of its fiscal year. It posted a net loss of JPY17.7 billion (USD192.6 million) for the six months ended 30 September, compared with a net profit of JPY28 billion in the year-ago period. The loss was greater than its own previous forecast of JPY15 billion, and came on the back of the strong yen and falling prices for liquid crystal display televisions. Revenue fell 17.5 percent to JPY1.29 trillion from JPY1.56 trillion in the same period a year earlier.
The paper also says that France Telecom's third-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) dropped 8 percent due to the economic crisis and regulatory pressures to EUR4.56 billion, down from EUR4.95 billion a year ago. This figure came in slightly below the average analyst estimate of EUR4.57 billion. Revenue declined 6.4 percent to EUR12.69 billion in the quarter, below analyst expectations of EUR12.85 billion. The French telecommunications firm said it still aims to generate EUR8 billion in free cash flow this year and said it is keeping its dividend distribution policy.
Finally, the paper says that Google will limit the number of phone numbers its internet call service blocks, in a partial bow to US regulators' concerns that it was skirting rules designed to ensure that consumers' phone calls are connected seamlessly. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the search giant said its Google Voice call management service will only block a limited number of phone numbers, instead of all calls to some rural areas where it costs more to connect calls. An FCC spokesman said the agency was reviewing Google's letter but had no comment. It is not yet clear if Google's actions will settle the FCC inquiry.
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