Blinkx, has tabled a $41 million bid for Miva, the US pay per click / search based advertising network as the company looks to expand its online advertising operation. Blinkx is an online video search engine (it claims the largest on the web) and so the acquisition of Miva would compliment its operations. The claim is not unfounded as it currently attracts over 5 million searches per day, making it more popular in the UK than Google Video. Read the rest of this entry »

Ladbrokes shares are deemed worthy of a bet, according to The Times on Saturday. Despite results going against them at Euro 2008, which led to lower profits the company’s performance has held up well despite falling consumer spending. And with the new football season now upon us, trade is bound to pick up for the bookies over the coming months.

Alliance & Leicester posted pre-tax profits of just £2m. Operating profits increased by 2% to £301m, however they also recorded £279m of extra costs, losses and write-downs due to the continuing turbulence in the mortgage markets.

Alliance & Leicester is to be taken over by Banco Santander as the bank believes it would be hard pressed to weather future shocks and write-downs. Being part of a larger group with a much more solid balance sheet is a sensible route for A&L to take.

Bingo is as popular as ever in the UK and whilst traditional Bingo Halls continue to pack the punters in, it is the explosion of online bingo that is really driving the industry forward. With new bingo sites appearing almost daily, it is difficult to know which is the best site to join and trying to compare features and prizes would take forever.

Thanks to Bingo Port you don’t have to. Bingo Port constantly monitors the web’s  new and existing bingo sites to see which are currently offering the the best deals in terms of the prizes and jackpots available, the number of players the site attracts and if there are any special prizes on offer. Read the rest of this entry »

The Co-operative Group’s £1.6bn deal to buy Somerfield looks set to be concluded this week. This is good news for the consortium who own Somerfield as they look set to pocket around £700m. The Co-op look set to shake up Somerfield and  sell-off as many as 150 stores to rival groups.

HMV continues to perform well on the high street thanks to its large music and video game selection, when compared to its competitors. The company has seen its market share increase over the past twelve months and has been rewarded with a 25% rise in full year pre-tax profits. Despite the good news, its shares continue to trade around the 100p marker, which is at the bottom end of its 52 week range. Given the positive results, HMV could be one of the few retailers that still offers some value.

As expected, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee have kept interest rates on hold at 5%. With inflation at 3.3% against a target of 2% this was the only decision the MPC were likely to take, despite incresing economic concerns and fears that the UK could be entering a recession. If there are further signs of a downturn, the Bank must be prepared to act quickly and cut rates.