In short

The other business news stories of the day in brief...

Sky 3D to launch on April 3rd

The next generation of TV will take to the airwaves in April when Sky launches its first 3D TV channel.

The broadcaster confirmed it would unveil Sky 3D with the Premier League match between Manchester United and Chelsea on April 3rd. Sky said it would show a further five Premier League games before the end of the season.

Sky 3D will offer movies, sport, documentaries and arts content later this year and will be available to customers who subscribe to Sky’s HD pack.

The broadcaster said more than 1,000 British and Irish pubs and clubs have signed up for Sky 3D. New TVs compatible with the service are expected to go on sale from this month.

Currys/PC World stores a step closer

Consumer electronics retailer DSG International has announced plans to speed up the opening of "megastores" and combined PC World and Currys outlets.

The company, which trades as PC World and Currys in Ireland, will reformat 100 stores in Britain and Ireland this fiscal year, including creating 25 new megastores, which typically have more than 35,000 square feet of selling space.

DSG said earnings at the stores in Britain and Ireland that had already been reformated rose 20 per cent in the six months to March 6th. In January, the company said the redevelopment programme would create 100 jobs in Ireland. - (Bloomberg)

Trend towards self-employed IT specialists

More IT workers will move towards becoming self-employed as market demand for specialist skills increases, an IT managed-services specialist has said.

Hibernia Evros Technology Group, which supplies skilled IT workers to companies on short-term contracts, said there was no shortage of work for IT staff, but the nature of the work was changing.

A large number of companies have cut back on IT staff over the past 18 months, but the company said these firms were now seeking specialist skills on a contract basis.

“This change in the structure of the IT employment market is being driven by the need for greater flexibility, access to specialist skills and lower IT costs,” said the company’s joint managing director, Caroline Godsil. “IT workers of the future will increasingly become self-employed contractors rather than full-time employees,” Ms Godsil said.

2010 prices hit by oversupply, says Allianz

Property and casualty insurance providers are in for another tough year in 2010, with prices weighed down by a sluggish economy and too much supply, Allianz has said.

“Any impetus from new business is likely to remain generally weak given the subdued economic outlook,” Europe’s biggest insurer by market capitalisation said in its annual report. In particular, credit insurance, which covers defaults, was still suffering direct fallout from the crisis, it said.

Allianz said it expected competition to remain tough for property and casualty insurance. Its property-casualty business contributed more than half of the group’s €7.2 billion operating profit in 2009. – (Reuters)