MOTOROLA, the world’s second largest maker of mobile phones, has posted a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit of $489 million (Pounds 270 million) but sales in the company’s core businessfell due to delays in new products with 3G features, such as digital cameras. Orders rose 64%.
Nintendo takes wraps off new videogame system JAPANESE games giant Nintendo, after months of hinting it would roll out a new product in 2004, today unveiled Nintendo DS, a portable videogame system with dual side-byside screens. The firm has begun talks with game publishers around the world about developing software for it.
Woodside sees revenue and production slide AUSTRALIAN oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum, in which Shell has a 34% stake, saw its fourth-quarter sales fall short of forecasts, with revenue down 22% to A$435.4 million (Pounds 184.5 million).
Production fell due to a pipeline shut down and natural declines.
TRADER TALK BOND WATCH SPEAKING OUT IN PROSPECT HEDGE fund investor Mark Bradshaw has locked in some profits from biotech firm Protherics after the shares’ recent 20% rise. Bradshaw’s Victory Capital sold 850,000 shares to leave it with 7.8 million or 3.7% of the Pounds 125.6 million company. Protherics confirmed last week that it would benefit commercially from the BSE scare in the US. Citywire.co.uk CALIFORNIAN Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has relaunched his campaign for $15 billion (Pounds 8.3 billion) to pay the state’s debts by telling voters that they face “Armageddon cuts” in public services unless they approve the plan. He said the “$15 billion economic recovery bond” would consolidate the debt and refinance it.
EUROPEAN Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will present an address tomorrow to a panel on Thinking Beyond EU Enlargement at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Later in the day, ECB Chief Economist Otmar Issing speaks on a panel with Bank of England’s special adviser Mario Blejer on converging world economies.
We fully expect that 2004 will illuminate with great intensity the conduct of the investment banks during the 1998 to 2000 period.
– Mel Weiss, American classaction lawyer pursuing claims for alleged share allocation violations, quoted in The Deal magazine ‘ ‘ Bloomberg
