IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 27 January
27-01-2011
by Sylvia Leatham
Cork's SensL raises EUR1.5 million | Market speculates on Eircom debt plans
The Irish Times reports that Cork-based SensL has raised EUR1.5 million to expand its product portfolio and hire 25 engineers. AIB Seed Capital Fund, co-managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital, invested EUR500,000. Delta Partners and Enterprise Ireland also invested.
The paper also says that LG Electronics has posted a a record quarterly loss for its mobile handset and TV businesses. The company reported October-to-December operating losses of KRW246 billion (USD219.8 million), its second consecutive record quarterly loss and worse than a consensus forecast of a KRW165 billion loss. The loss compares with a KRW114 billion profit a year ago and a KRW185 billion loss in the preceding quarter. Koo Bon-joon, who took over as chief executive in October, is betting on turning around the South Korean firm's fortunes with its premium Optimus smartphone models.
The paper also notes that Xerox's profit fell due to restructuring charges in the fourth-quarter. Revenue for the document management company rose 42 percent to USD5.98 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of USD5.978 billion for the quarter. Fourth-quarter net income fell to USD171 million, or USD0.12 a share, from USD180 million, or USD0.20 a share, a year earlier. The company confirmed its chief financial officer plans to retire next month. CFO Lawrence Zimmerman will be replaced by Luca Maestri, the current CFO of Nokia Siemens Networks.
The Irish Independent reports that Eircom has appointed Chris Hutchings as managing director, wholesale. He begins the role next week. Hutchings previously worked with NTL and British Telecom.
Separately, the paper reports that the cost of insuring loans to Eircom against default fell on Wednesday, prompting speculation in the market that a debt restructuring proposal could be imminent. But sources involved with the company say the rumours are wide of the mark. One creditor said speculation in London was focused on the possibility of Eircom's owner, STT, injecting up to EUR40 million in cash into the company so that it avoids breaching the covenants on its loans. However, a source at Eircom said there was no evidence that a proposal on the debt was ready to be announced.
According to the Financial Times, a strong first-half performance led to double-digit revenue and profit growth at British Sky Broadcasting. In the six months to 31 December, BSkyB saw pre-tax profit jump 26 percent to STG467 million, up from STG371 million in the same period a year ago, on revenue that rose 15 percent to STG3.18 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony has said it will debut a powerful successor to its PlayStation Portable hand-held videogame system later this year. The new device, code-named "Next Generation Portable", will come with a five-inch organic light-emitting diode touch-screen display, front and rear touch panels and 3G wireless connectivity. Sony also announced it was creating an application for a suite of older PlayStation games to be played on mobile phones and tablet computers running Google's Android operating system.
The paper also notes that internet telephony firm Skype won't hold its initial public offering until the second half of the year, according to sources -- later than some investors had expected. The company's recent hiring of a new chief executive and uncertainties in the IPO market and economy have slowed the offering process, the sources said. The earliest Skype would go public is July, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 