ROUNDUPS
In the papers 25 April
25-04-2002
by Paula Mythen
SunGard is set to acquire UK rival, Guardian IT | AOL Time Warner first quarter losses hit USD54.24 billion
The Irish Independent reports that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said on Wednesday in US court that the company has not tried to figure out how to remove elements of its Windows operating system, because the task would be impossible.
The Financial Times reports that SunGard, the largest US independent disaster recovery services provider, is set to acquire UK rival, Guardian IT. Debt-laden Guardian IT is thought to be holding talks with the US technology services provider and seeking to clinch a deal in the next few days. Guardian IT revealed in February that it had discovered discrepancies in its accounts over the past two years of up to STG4 million.
The same paper reports that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Wednesday said Microsoft would provide software support for its high-end microprocessor Opteron. Opteron, also known by its code name SledgeHammer, is AMD's competitor to Intel's Itanium microprocessor. Both chips are designed to be used in large computer systems rather than desktop or notebook PCs.
The Wall Street Journal reports that AOL Time Warner Inc., reported a record quarterly loss of USD54.24 billion for the first quarter, or USD12.25 a share, largely because of a USD54 billion charge to write down the value of assets. The charge, which had been expected, reflects new accounting rules on goodwill and marks one of the largest write-offs in US corporate history. The first-quarter loss compared with a loss of USD1.37 billion, or USD0.31 a share, a year earlier. First-quarter revenue at the company, whose businesses range from CNN cable news and Warner Bros. movies and music to Time magazine, rose 7.1 percent to USD9.76 billion. For the full year, AOL said it now expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to grow five percent to nine percent, below the eight percent to 12 percent range the company had projected in January.
The same paper reports that lawyers for an opponent of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s plan to buy Compaq Computer continued to paint top HP executives as having hidden important documents and having misled shareholders before a crucial shareholder vote, leading to some acrimonious courtroom exchanges. HP's lawyers, meanwhile, grilled Walter Hewlett on his motivations behind filing a lawsuit against HP and implied that Hewlett had shirked his duties as a director by not disclosing to the board his concerns about HP's efforts to integrate with Compaq. The second day of a three-day trial in Delaware Chancery Court over Hewlett's lawsuit resembled the bitter six-month proxy campaign itself, with each side challenging the other's information and motives.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 