IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 4 February
04-02-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Lenovo swings to net profit | Chip execs arrested on theft suspicions
The Irish Times reports that Bell Labs Ireland is to create more than 70 new high-calibre tech jobs. Read more on this story on ENN.
The paper also says that First Derivatives is in talks with the receiver of Cognotec Holdings with a view to acquiring the business, as noted by ENN on Wednesday.
The Irish Independent reports that Imagine Communications, the telecoms company headed by Sean Bolger, posted a EUR9.2 million loss in 2008, adding to an EUR8.8 million loss recorded in 2007. According to new accounts just filed for the company, accumulated losses stood at EUR30.8 million at the end of 2008. Turnover grew to EUR94 million from EUR68.7 million the year earlier. Revenue from ongoing operations was 66 percent higher at EUR82.5 million, while turnover from acquisitions fell from EUR18.8 million to EUR11.4 million.
The paper also notes that RTE was at the top of the Irish iTunes charts last weekend with its newly launched 'News Now' iPhone app gaining more than 23,500 downloads in its first fortnight. Publishing Director Muirne Laffan hopes to eventually have the app on 50,000 Irish devices. She says there is potential to add more apps, "hopefully around the entertainment side, possibly the RTE Guide", and she says an RTE app that would allow people to watch their favourite shows is "on the road map".
The Irish Examiner reports that a nine-year-old Limerick boy whose wrists are too weak to write due to a rare bone disease cannot get funding to buy a special light-touch laptop to keep up with school work. Darragh Hogan's mother believes funding is not being sanctioned because her son's condition cannot be easily categorised. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said they could not comment on individual cases but that special educational needs organisers assess the need for extra technologies for pupils.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese PC maker Lenovo swung to a net profit in the fiscal third quarter, thanks to greater demand for its products. Net profit for the three months ended 31 December came in at USD79.5 million, compared with a net loss of USD96.7 million a year earlier, beating analyst expectations of USD35.4 million. Lenovo said revenue for the period surged 33 percent to USD4.78 billion, up from USD3.59 billion a year earlier.
In other results news, the paper says that AOL eked out a small fourth-quarter profit, although steep subscription declines and an uncertain advertising environment indicated challenges ahead for the company. In its first earnings report since spinning off from Time Warner, AOL reported a decline in revenue of 17 percent to USD809.7 million. Income was USD1.4 million, or USD0.01 per share, compared to a loss of USD1.96 billion a year ago, when it absorbed a non-cash impairment charge.
The paper also says that South Korean prosecutors have arrested two executives of Applied Materials and an executive from Hynix Semiconductor, on suspicion of stealing chip-making technology from Samsung Electronics. Another 14 people from Applied Materials and Hynix, and one from Samsung, are under investigation in the matter, prosecutors said. The employees were allegedly involved in taking documents from Samsung concerning several process techniques and giving them to Hynix officials. Applied Materials disclosed the arrests in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Financial Times says that Sony has cut its forecast loss for the year to March 2010 after a strong Christmas quarter. In the third quarter, Sony made an operating profit before restructuring costs of JPY146.1 billion and a net profit of JPY79.2 billion. The Japanese electronics firm now expects to make a net loss of JPY70 billion (USD770 million), down from its October forecast of a JPY95 billion loss. Excluding restructuring costs and income from affiliates, Sony expects to make a full-year operating profit of JPY140 billion, up from its previous forecast of JPY110 billion. The results appear to vindicate an aggressive cost-cutting programme that included job cuts, factory closures and internal restructuring.
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