IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 6 January
06-01-2011
by Sylvia Leatham
Record entries to BT Young Scientist show | Eircom appoints interim CFO
The Irish Times says that standards at the annual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition are set to be higher than ever this year, with a record number of projects entered. Some 1,735 projects were put forward for consideration. Students involved in the 520 or so projects accepted for presentation will face the initial round of judging next Wednesday, with the Young Scientist for 2011 announced on Friday evening, 14 January. More details of the event are available at btyoungscientist.com.
The paper also reports that the global gadget market is expected to grow further in 2011, with sales set to reach the USD1 trillion mark for the first time. That's according to analysts from the Consumer Electronics Association, who made the prediction ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The increase in gadget sales is expected to be driven by smartphones, tablet devices and TVs.
The same paper notes that pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of US firm Xilinx plunged 92 percent to USD10.5 million last year. Accounts just filed by Xilinx Ireland to the Companies Office show that revenues fell 5 percent, to USD496.8 million, in the year ended 3 April 2010. The company paid a dividend of USD83 million to its parent during the period.
The Irish Independent notes that around 50 job losses are expected to be announced at Goodbody's Stockbrokers over the coming days after the Central Bank gave Fexco the green light to take over the brokerage. The EUR24 million deal, which will see Kerry-based Fexco take Goodbody's off AIB's hands, was agreed in September but has only been formally approved by the bank in recent days. Sources confirmed that the bank's approval would clear the way for a strategic announcement from Fexco "over the coming days".
The paper also says that Eircom has announced the appointment of an interim chief financial officer as it continues to hunt for a replacement for Peter Cross, who left the company just before Christmas. Mark Wilson will take up the role until a permanent replacement is found. He has held senior financial roles with companies including Arthur Anderson, Severn Trent and International Leisure Group.
The Irish Examiner says that teenagers are becoming so addicted to texting and surfing the net that they behave like recovering drug addicts when forced to switch their gadgets off, research has found. In the experiment, called Unplugged, volunteers at 12 universities around the world spent 24 hours without access to computers, mobiles, iPods, TV, radio and even newspapers. However, they were allowed to use landline phones or read books. They found the participants began to develop symptoms typically seen in smokers attempting to give up. Some of the subjects said they felt like they were undergoing "cold turkey" to break a hard drug habit, while others said it felt like going on a diet. The condition is being described as Information Deprivation Disorder.
The paper also says that online orders are proving a massive success for Domino's Pizza, with the company expecting full-year profit to be at the upper end of forecasts. More than a third of Domino's Pizza deliveries are now ordered online, while there was more than STG1 million in orders placed through Domino's iPhone app since it was launched in September last year. Domino's said e-commerce sales in Britain and Ireland hit STG128 million last year, up 63 percent from the STG78.5 million gained through online orders in 2009.
According to the Financial Times, shares in Arm Holdings rose 13 percent in early London trading on Thursday after Microsoft announced that the UK group's chip designs would feature in a new version of the Windows operating system. Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live division, revealed that Microsoft would be rolling out a new class of lower-powered chips based on Arm designs and made by Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments, as part of an effort to widen Windows beyond basic PCs to portable devices.
The Wall Street Journal reports that business networking site LinkedIn intends to file for an initial public offering within months. The company, whose members include more than 85 million business professionals, will likely file its S-1 registration statement during the first quarter, according to a source.
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