ITV

Tag: LSE

  • News Corporation included in NYSE S&P 500 Index

    News Corporation included in NYSE S&P 500 Index

    MUMBAI: News Corporations Class A stock was included in the S&P 500 index at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday (17 December).

    This comes in the wake of the company changing its place of incorporation from Australia to the United States last month.

    News Corporations Class A and Class B stock have had their primary listings on the NYSE since the reincorporation occurred on 12 November. The companys stocks also have secondary listings on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

    The S&P 500 Index is a representative sample of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the US economy. It is a market-value weighted index (stock price multiplied by number of shares outstanding), with each stock’s weight in the index proportionate to its market value. The S&P 500 is one of the most widely used benchmarks of US equity performance and is held broadly by US and international index funds. According to Standard and Poors, the Index represents more than $1 trillion in indexed assets.

    News Corporation had total assets as of 30 September, 2004 of approximately $52 billion and total annual revenues of approximately $22 billion.

  • Eros International to dilute 15-20 %, raise $100 million in float on LSE

    Eros International to dilute 15-20 %, raise $100 million in float on LSE

    MUMBAI: Eros International Plc, the company that owns, creates and globally distributes Bollywood content, plans to dilute 15-20 per cent in its initial public offering.

    Expressing an intent to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in June, Eros aims to raise $100 million. The company is in the process of filing the prospectus. Evolution Securities is acting as nominated adviser and broker to Eros.

    The proceeds of the issue will be utilised mainly for setting up digital cinema exhibition in India, exploitation of content over new media (such as online, cable, wireless and mobile), and expansion of existing businesses.

    “Since inception, Eros has enjoyed phenomenal growth and we have a proven track record of organic expansion. We are now at a point in our history where the market is changing rapidly and the business is of sufficient size, reputation and financial strength to exploit the significant opportunities presented to us. As a listed Company we will have the increased financial strength to help us achieve our objectives. We are proud to be bringing the company to the market,” Eros chairman and CEO Kishore Lulla said.

    Eros promoter Kishore Lulla was involved in the launch of B4U channels and was chairman of the company for two years. He still owns a small stake in B4U which he founded along with steel major Laxmi Mittal and Kishore Binani. He was responsible for structuring the B4U-Eros deal to launch the UK’s digital satellite and pay TV channel on the BSkyB platform.

    Founded in 1977, Eros is the world’s leading distributor of Hindi films. The company has over the last 14 years acquired and distributed an average of 35 films per annum. It has an extensive film library containing in excess of 1,000 titles. Eros has a worldwide distribution network and more than 110 employees based in India, UK, USA, United Arab Emirates, Australia and Fiji.

    In the nine months to 31 December 2005, Eros made a profit before tax, interest and goodwill of $12.6 million on turnover of about $32.2 million. “We predict an annual sales of about $44 million at the low end of expectations,” the company said in a release.

    Eros’ first major co-production venture, Waqt – A Race Against Time, was the highest grossing Bollywood film in the UK in 2005. The Company intends to progressively increase its production activities.

    Eros has also recently launched www.bondemand.tv, an online Bollywood movie and music download service. The company has entered into an arrangement with Intel Corporation to further develop this initiative using Intel ViiV technology that is intended to allow consumers to receive content via their PC to their TV.