Cable & Wireless returns £1.8bn
The telecoms giant
Cable & Wireless is to return over £1.8bn of its cash pile to
shareholders, following pressure from institutional investors. The
company plans to spend £320m on a special dividend of 11.5p a
share, and has pledged to buy back up to 15% of its stock for
£15bn.
The
Times says that the company reported a sharp fall in
pre-tax profits to £83m for the six months to 30 September, and a
5% fall in revenues from the core Global business. The
Financial
Times reports that C&W saw few attractive acquisition
targets, and has decided to return the money to shareholders. The
Guardian says that C&W continued to play down rumours
that the company is poised to make an offer for Colt Telecom.
The
Daily Telegraph reports that the company tried to allay
fears about the future of its Global division with predictions that
the unit would stabilise in the second half, following a massive
redundancy programme. The
Independent reports chief
executive Graham Wallace's views on the company's acquisition
policy: "We've got millions of ideas. We've just got strict
criteria," he said.
Hutchison to create 600 jobs in Glasgow
The mobile
phone operator, Hutchison 3G UK, plans to set up a large customer
centre and headquarters in Glasgow. The move will create at least
600 jobs. The
Guardian reports that the move has been
welcomed by Scottish enterprise minister Wendy Alexander.
Best of the restThe Times reports
- The Internet service provider, Freeserve, has threatened to sue
the government unless it resolves a tax dispute that favours the
company's US competitors.
The Financial Times reports
- Dell Computer is the only major PC maker to see any growth
during the third quarter, according to a report by IDC.
- Hewlett-Packard announced that a strong performance from its
printing business and cost-cutting measures have helped the company
report slightly improved fourth quarter earnings of $361m. However,
this figure still marks a sharp downturn in profits from last
year.
- The Internet portal, Yahoo, has announced that it is to
diversify into broadband with a deal to provide premium co-branded
DSL Internet access.