A roundup of today's other business stories in brief:
Rumours of Endemol sale as chief quits
Speculation about a sale of Endemol, the television production company behind Big Brother, intensified yesterday after the chief executive of Telefónica's Dutch-listed subsidiary abruptly quit.
Endemol yesterday said Joaquim Agut, a Spaniard, had resigned because he no longer wanted to commute between his home in Barcelona and the group's Netherlands headquarters. But analysts took it as a sign that a disposal was closer.
Gert Potvlieghe, analyst at Petercam in Brussels, said Mr Agut had left Endemol because he had completed his mandate to bring the group to market: "It is another sign that Telefónica wants to get rid of Endemol." However, people familiar with the process said a formal sale would not begin before Telefónica came to an agreement with French management over an earn-out plan, where investors receive payments when performance targets are met. Lawyers for Telefónica are working to resolve a dispute with Endemol's French business before they can proceed with a sale of Endemol.
News Corp to sell Chinese TV stake
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is to sell a 20 per cent stake in Phoenix Satellite Television, its Hong Kong-based Chinese TV joint venture, to China Mobile, the state-controlled wireless operator, in an apparent shift in group strategy towards China.
The sale, worth $185 million (€144 million), cuts News Corp's stake to less than 18 per cent, making China Mobile its second biggest shareholder.
The deal marks a dramatic reduction in News Corp's involvement in its most successful foray into the Chinese market - and appears to highlight Murdoch's frustration at Beijing's media controls.
- (Financial Times service)
Aminex share sale to raise £2.93m
Exploration group Aminex said yesterday it planned to raise £2.93 million (€4.25 million) through the sale of almost 9.8 million new shares.
The funds will be used to fund seismic and other pre-drilling studies ahead of a drilling campaign planned for next year. The new shares, which represent almost 6 per cent of the issued share capital, will start trading on June 13th.
AstraZeneca reassures investors
AstraZeneca Plc sought to reassure investors yesterday that existing products would underpin sales and drive margins higher as it rebuilds a new drug pipeline depleted by past failures.
Europe's third-biggest drugmaker said it could increase sales over the next five years in line with projected market growth, despite generic competition to a number of its medicines.
Coupled with further productivity gains, that should boost operating margins and generate cashflow for reinvestment in the business and for returning to shareholders.
"We know what it will take to continue to deliver a strong performance over the next five years. While new products will play a role, many of the ingredients for continuing our momentum can be found in our product range," chief executive David Brennan said. "The delivery of earnings growth ahead of sales is within our reach."
- (Reuters)
Al-Zarqawi's death sends oil below $70
Oil fell below $70 a barrel after US aircraft killed al-Qaeda's Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi yesterday, raising hopes for a let-up in attacks on Iraq's wrecked oil industry.
Opec member Iran's willingness to talk with opponents of its nuclear programme to "solve misunderstandings" was another factor pushing oil away from its $75.35 a barrel record high hit in April.
US oil was down $1.22 at $69.60, its lowest for two weeks. London Brent crude was down $1.02 at $68.17.
- (Reuters)
