IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 21 July
21-07-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
GTA claims USD4m loss from 1800Hotels fallout | Apple posts strong sales, profit
The Irish Times reports that London-based travel firm Gullivers Travel Agency (GTA) claims it has lost USD4 million to 1800Hotels and will lose USD2 million more unless a Florida bankruptcy judge allows it to break its contract with the firm. GTA, which was paid to manage 1800's reservations, said that 1800's mismanagement was to blame for its own bankruptcy. Under US bankruptcy law, an automatic stay is placed on certain contracts once a company seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. However, GTA said the law allowed contracts to be broken if a party can show adequate cause, and argued that it had more than ample cause because of 1800's history of non-payment.
The Irish Independent notes that a Facebook tribute page to the eight victims of a Donegal car crash has attracted over 35,000 hits. Mayor of Buncrana Padraig MacLochlainn likened the page to an online book of condolences.
The Irish Examiner reports that Bank of Ireland has begun refunding EUR3 million to customers who failed to take their money from ATM machines when making a cash withdrawal. During a four-year period ending in October 2009, Bank of Ireland ATM users who completed a transaction but left their cash and/or card behind in the machine had their account debited for the withdrawal amount. A spokesperson for Bank of Ireland confirmed that the bank has already refunded EUR1.3 million to 14,000 customers, and that a further EUR1.7 million in refunds to 29,000 non-Bank of Ireland customers will be distributed through their own banks as soon as possible.
The paper also says that O2 will be charging Irish customers 40 percent more than those in Britain for the daily use of the Apple iPad. O2 will charge EUR3.97 a day for 500MB worth of data. In Britain it charges STG2 (EUR2.36) for the same package. An O2 spokesman said the British market is "significantly larger" than the Irish market, giving British mobile operators greater scope for economies of scale. On the monthly data plan, prices are more competitively priced when compared with Britain. For 3GB of data, O2 charges British customers STG15 per month (EUR17.70), while O2 customers in Ireland can avail of 5GB of data each month for EUR19.90.
The same paper reports that William Hill is to launch a dedicated Irish website in the next three months, to capitalise on an increase in revenues from its internet operations here. While the establishment of such a site will boost job levels at the company, it remains unclear if any of the new positions will be based in Ireland or entirely in Gibraltar, where the company's online gaming division is headquartered for tax purposes. The British bookmaker is due to publish its first-half results next month and has said that group revenue had grown by about 3 percent on a year-on-year basis.
The Financial Times reports that solid demand for the latest iPhone and iPad tablet helped Apple report surprisingly robust sales and earnings. Apple posted revenues of USD15.7 billion for the quarter, a 61 percent increase and well ahead of analyst expectations of USD14.74 billion. Net income soared 78 percent to USD3.25 billion. Earnings of USD3.51 a share came in higher than an analyst estimate of USD3.10 a share. Apple reported a 62 percent jump in iPhone sales compared to a year before.
The Wall Street Journal says that handset maker Nokia has launched a search for a new chief executive, according to sources. The move comes as current CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo struggles to find a strong position for the company in the high-end smartphone market. Laurie Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Nokia, said the company would not comment on speculation.
The paper also says that Yahoo's second-quarter profit jumped by about 50 percent, although revenue grew only marginally. Yahoo posted net income for the period ended 30 June of USD213 million, or USD0.15 a share, compared with profit in the year-earlier period of USD141 million, or USD0.10 a share. Revenue rose 2 percent to USD1.6 billion. Yahoo projected revenue in the current quarter of USD1.57 billion to USD1.65 billion. Tim Morse, Yahoo's finance chief, said the company was hurt by an unexpected pullback by some advertisers in display advertising in June.
The paper also notes that Google's Nexus One smartphone will soon be discontinued in the US. Google says it has received its last shipment of Nexus One phones. In May, Google said it would close the webstore that sells the handset once supplies were exhausted. After Google discontinues online sales, the Nexus One still will be sold through mobile retailers in Europe, Korea and possibly elsewhere, Google said in a blog post.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 