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H3G HY 2012 results: UK strong, Italy boosted by accounting

7 August 2012
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H3G’s European operations accelerated their underlying service revenue growth to 7.8% in H1 2012, and EBIT margin improved slightly from 3% to 4%, but the growth appeared to be significantly helped by aggressive handset subsidies in Italy, with the company’s unconventional accounting policy disguising the impact on EBIT The UK business continued to perform very well, with contract net additions strong again helped by falling churn, and service revenue growth accelerating from 13% to 14%. H2 will be tougher with more pressure on churn, but we still expect growth to exceed 10% The Italian business significantly slowed its revenue decline, from -14% to -4%, but it appeared to do this through very aggressive contract SACs, and the effects of this on EBIT are likely to be felt over the coming year

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Privacy delayed: Google shelves plans to deprecate Chrome cookies

25 July 2024

Google has permanently shelved the 2025 deadline for removing all third-party cookies from Chrome, but publishers should prepare for much higher rates of users blocking cookies. 

The online economy is still moving towards more privacy and user controls on the major platforms, with Android the next target for the Privacy Sandbox. 

Regulators are increasingly setting the terms online, limiting Google's freedom of movement, and with the conflict between competition and user privacy protections defining the next phase of the internet.

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OpenAI: Still leading the AI race?

23 July 2024

The next generation of the largest and most powerful 'frontier' AI models will be a key test for the pace of AI progress, with OpenAI's upcoming GPT-5 the most highly anticipated.

For OpenAI, the stakes are high, facing a growing assortment of rivals and with huge spend on training and running models to recoup. Staying at the cutting edge is key to justifying itself to the big tech backers on which it depends.

If OpenAI can deliver technology that matches its ambitious vision for what AI can be, it will be transformative for its own prospects, but also the economy more broadly. Falling short could be fatal.

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DAZN in preliminary deal for fourth major market: Ligue 1 rights value drops 14%

22 July 2024

After an arduous ten-month process, France’s Ligue 1 has reached a tentative deal to license its 2024-29 broadcasting rights at a price 14% down on the previous cycle.

Adding France (for €400 million p.a.), DAZN now has prominent positions in four out of the five big European markets. With a weekly top pick (for €100m p.a.), beIN consolidates its model.

Attention turns to distribution, and whether DAZN will patch up its partnership with Canal+.

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