Vodafone (VOD), the largest revenue generating international wireless carrier, has reportedly entered an agreement with BT Group (BT), to develop and upgrade broadband infrastructure and build advance networks in the Republic of Ireland. This represents the latest deal in the long-term strategic alliance between the two companies.  Under the seven-year deal, which is subjected to approvals by the Irish regulators, BT will transfer its consumer and small business broadband and voice customer base and will provide access to its fixed-line network to Vodafone. The aggregate value of the business to be transferred by BT is approximately €4.8 billion ($6.8 billion), covering roughly 84,000 residential customers and 3,000 small business clients.  Currently, Vodafone has 4.6 million fixed broadband subscribers across Europe with Germany being the most significant with 3.1 million customers. With the acquisition of Perlico (a leading fixed-line carrier in Ireland) in November ...

Molson Coors' (DD) UK division and Cobra Beer formed a joint venture, Cobra Beer Partnership Ltd., that will own, produce and market the Cobra beer brand. The joint venture will own the worldwide rights to Cobra, with the exception of the Indian Sub-Continent, and will be managed by Molson Coors (UK), which holds a 50.1% share of the joint venture. Lord Karan Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra, will be the chairman of Cobra Beer Partnership Ltd, along with a board primarily consisting Molson Coors executives. Adrian Davey, formerly MD Molson Coors Off-trade, is appointed the Managing Director of Cobra Beer Partnership Ltd. The Cobra brand was introduced in 1989 and was positioned as an ‘exotic, less gassy beer.’ Cobra has grown into a 200,000 barrel brand, distributed in more than 40 countries, and stocked by majority of ethnic restaurants in the UK. The rapid growth in ...

The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (IRE, or BOI) reported full-year 2009 (March 31, 2009) net earnings before nonrecurring items e397 million, below our estimate due to lower-than-expected net interest income and increased impairment provisions.Net interest income increased 12% from the year-ago period to e3.67 billion on a 6% year-over-year gain in average loans outstanding, aided by an 8 basis-point rise in the net interest margin to 1.74%. Noninterest revenue fell 78% year over year to e197 million, primarily due to a 45% decline in life insurance premiums, a e61 decline in trading operations to a loss of e307 million, a e744 million decrease in life insurance investments to a loss of e1,570 million, and a 12% decrease in fees and commissions.Operating expenses decreased 6% year over year to e2,022 million, and the underlying cost/income ratio worsened rising to 52% from ...

You know your company is one with a rich history when your original name had the word “telegraph” in it. That’s the case with FTD Group Inc., who we know as the flower people today. The original name of the company, founded in 1910, was Florists’ Telegraph Delivery. They were the first flowers-by-wire service in the world then. Today, they are one of the largest floral companies in the world.

With headquarters in Downers Grove, Illinois, Florists’ Transworld Delivery Inc. (FTD) trades on the NYSE as part of the Specialty Retailer-Other business sector. They are a provider of floral-related products and services to consumers, retail florists, and other retail floral products providers. They operate in the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

The company began when fifteen American retail florists came together and agreed to exchange orders for out-of-town deliveries. By 1914, they had adapted the now-famous

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