Facebook sees sharp drop in profits

Facebook has reported a sharp drop in profits, partly due to increased spending on research and development.

The social network site made a profit of $64m (£41m) in the final three months of 2012, compared with $302m a year earlier.

Revenue was up 40% at $1.6bn, largely due to a big jump in advertising revenue, a quarter of which came from mobile platforms.


Shares in Facebook fell by almost 6% in after-hours trading in New York.

The shares launched on the Nasdaq stock exchange in May at $38, and had halved in value by September.

They have since recovered to stand at $31 at the close of trading on Wednesday. The drop in after-hours trading suggests the shares will fall back again when full trading resumes on Thursday.

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Biggest full HD smartphone

A South Korean firm has unveiled the biggest smartphone to date with a screen capable of showing 1080p high-definition video at full resolution.


China's Huawei recently unveiled a 6.1in handset, but it was only a 720p display.
They add to the so-called "phablet" category, as manufacturers test how big customers are willing to go.

When Samsung helped pioneered the format with its 5.3in Galaxy Note in 2011, many analysts suggested its size was too large to find favour.
Dell had previously released a 5in phone - the Streak 5 - but had ended up discontinuing the line to focus on a larger 7in tablet.

But the Note proved a success for the South Korean firm, leading Samsung to announce a larger successor last August.

In recent months other firms, including Sony, LG, HTC and ZTE, have unveiled smartphones with 5in and larger screens. More super-sized handsets are expected to be announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona which begins on 25 February.

Sony Wipeout veterans create studio

A group of video games developers from Sony's defunct Liverpool operation have created a studio in the city.

Sawfly Studios plans to release its first game - targeted at smartphones and tablets - within the next couple of months.

About 100 people lost their jobs when Sony closed what was one of the UK's oldest games developers last August.

The unit was responsible for the Wipeout racing series, but dated back to 1984, when it was called Psygnosis.

Toyota reclaims number one title

Japanese carmaker Toyota has regained its slot as the world's biggest vehicle maker, capping a year of a dramatic turnaround in its fortunes.

 Toyota said it sold 9.75 million vehicles in 2012, a jump of more than 22% from a year earlier. General Motors, which was the biggest vehicle maker in 2011, sold 9.29 million vehicles in 2012.

Toyota's sales in 2011 were hit by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand which hurt production at its factories.

UK GDP - I didn't think getting a job would be this hard

"I never thought I'd walk out of college into a job, but I didn't think it would be this hard."

Thirty-seven-year old Sean Stroud's frustration with the job market in Swindon is a human echo of the UK's bumpy "recovery".

Like a thousand other skilled assembly line workers, Sean left Honda's huge car factory in Swindon in 2009 when the company was "reshaping" its workforce.

Sean went on to retrain, doing a BTech in Information Technology. IT, he reasoned, was full of jobs.
But 18 months on, Sean is still looking. And now another 1,000 Honda workers will be joining him in the job centre.

Two weeks ago, the Japanese car firm announced its first ever compulsory redundancies in the UK. Some 800 staff, another 300 agency workers, and at least 350 people working for companies that supply Honda will be out of work by 1 May.

That is a total of nearly 1,500 people looking for work. There are only 3,861 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the whole town, according to the latest figures, so this is a substantial increase.


"The Honda decision was a disaster," remarks Emma Faramarzi, who chairs the Federation of Small Businesses in the town.

"Not only for the direct workers, but for every small firm that supplies catering or IT or delivery services. They'll all feel the chill."

The factory is such a big employer in Swindon that its decisions ripple across the town. Amanda Franks, who runs a recruitment agency, felt the impact immediately.
She said, "The instant Honda announced their news was the instant jobs went on hold. What it does is it removes confidence across the board.

So can Swindon recover from a shock like this?

The town's fortunes echo the whole country's economy. Swindon's average wage is £26,300. Average wages across the UK are £26,900. House prices here hover around £175,000, the national average.
Ian Larrard, director of a business group called The Swindon Initiative, is hopeful.

UK GDP

The UK economy shrank by 0.3% in the last three months of 2012, further fuelling fears that the economy could re-enter recession.


The economy had grown by 0.9% in the previous quarter, boosted by the London 2012 Olympic Games.

For the whole year, growth was flat.

The ONS said that the "bumpy economy" was on a "sluggish trend".

Manufacturing fell by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, the services sector was flat, but construction output rose by 0.3%.

British people must "have their say" on Europe

David Cameron has said the British people must "have their say" on Europe as he pledged an in/out referendum if the Conservatives win the election.

 The prime minister said he wanted to renegotiate the UK's relationship with the EU, before asking people to vote.

 The British people would face a "very simple choice" either to accept the result of the talks, or to leave the EU altogether, he said. Labour's Ed Miliband said PM was "weak" and being driven by "party interest".

HMV in administration

Trevor Moore said management had begun working with administrators Deloitte.


"We remain convinced we can find a successful business outcome," he told journalists. "The intention is to continue to trade the stores."

HMV revealed late on Monday that it intended to appoint an administrator. The firm has struggled against online competition.
Mr Moore said the board would do whatever they could to support staff.

"I would like to personally pay tribute to the 4,500 people who work for HMV. Clearly this is a very worrying time for them and their families."


HMV Chief Exec Trevor Moore was also CE at Jessops. And senior manager at Esporta (sold to Virgin), Threshers (went under 2009), Coffee Republic (went into admin in 2009)... if this man ever comes anywhere near your business, I'd start looking for a new job if I were you!


Founded in 1921, it has been one of the most recognisable brands on the High Street, with its iconic dog and gramophone trademark.

But many analysts say its demise has been inevitable over the past 20 years as it failed to embrace the shift towards online sales and digital downloads.

Man builds 'F1' car in his shed

Very few individuals will ever get to drive anything as special as a Formula 1 car, but one enterprising Brit is doing his best to make that dream come true by building one himself. Kevin Thomas, from Brighton, is slowly but surely putting together his own Formula 1-inspired racer in his shed near Brighton, from bits he's begged, borrowed or blagged.

A keen F1 fan, Kevin first got the idea for building his own racer when he saw an F1 car in a Renault showroom. He then sought out an F1 tub, or shell, which incorporates the driver's survival cell and cockpit, on eBay. Unsurprisingly, the item received zero bids, so Kevin contacted the seller and made him an offer, which landed him bits from a Reynard BAR 01 and a BAR 003.

That left Kevin with the unenviable task of finding the myriad other parts he'd need to complete his car. “It quickly became clear that it was very difficult, or even impossible, to get the right parts," he said "I have to use what I can get.” He therefore joined a community of F1 parts collectors, trawled eBay and over time came up with the beast you see in these pictures.

Getting the various parts to fit his Frankenstein car was only part of the mission. A greater challenge for Kevin has been the acquisition of new skills to put them all together, most notably learning to work with carbon fibre in order to get the sidepods from a Williams-BMW F1 car to fit the engine cover from a BAR.

His car, while far from perfect, is coming along fantastically, but it's missing one crucial element: the 600hp V10 engine that powered the BAR his vehicle is inspired by. Barring a miracle, he'll have to settle for something a little less bonkers. “I’ll probably go for a Formula Renault 3.5-liter engine,” Thomas says. “That will be plenty fast enough to scare the living daylights out of me.”

Tesco effect - How big firms quietly own little brands

There's been negative coverage over a new "family" coffee chain that is actually backed by Tesco. Why do people become vexed?

 With its exposed brickwork, muted lighting and expensive decor, Harris and Hoole is the epitome of a modern, upmarket coffee shop of the kind that has colonised the UK's High Streets in recent years. The one sound you won't hear amid the tinkle of ceramic cups and relaxed chat, is a tannoy announcement saying "clean-up in aisle seven".

 Yet Harris and Hoole would not be expanding quite as rapidly as it is without the financial backing of supermarket giant Tesco. The multinational retailer owns a 49% stake of the firm. Not that you would know this from a visit to one of its 10 outlets or the company's website, where Tesco barely merits a mention.

The Guardian reported on the supermarket's stake last year and this week Mail Online featured it prominently, although many readers left comments in support of Tesco and the chain.

There's been some ill feeling on social media. One alienated customer tweeted: "Appalled to discover seemingly independent #Harris+Hoole coffee shop @N8CrouchEnd 49% owned by #Tesco. Never go again". Another questioned Tesco's record on paying tax and tweeted: "#Harris + Hoole will be added to my boycott list."

It is not hard to see why Tesco would want to get into coffee shops - they are among the few growth areas in a bleak retail landscape.

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UK car sales reach four year high

Hidden amongst the doom and gloom of sales and decline was this little exposed boon.

UK new car registrations rose 5.3% in 2012 to 2.04 million - the highest level since 2008, according to the SMMT car industry body.

Ford's Fiesta and Focus, and Vauxhall's Corsa and Astra were the four best-selling models. The Volkswagen Golf came fifth, with the Nissan Qashqai in sixth place.

2012's growth rate was the fastest in 11 years, bolstered by a 106,346 or a 12.9% rise in demand from private individuals, who bought about 929,000 of the 2,044,609 units sold.

The overall rise in registrations was the second annual increase since the start of the downturn in 2008, though the market remained 14.9% below its pre-recession peak in 2007, when 2.4 million cars were sold.

 In December, 123,557 cars were registered, 3.7% more than in December 2011.

Advertising works - Christmas TV Ad results

Following on from the Christmas TV advertising campaigns for 2012, the trading results from the festive period are out.

The brilliant John Lewis TV ad (we loved it) captured both the imagination and heart-strings resulting in a bumper festive sales jump. The advert worked. Sales in the five weeks to the end of December rose by 13%, with both stores and online doing well.

Conversely Morrisons TV advert - we said it was awful, the day it was aired, resulted in Christmas sales being "disappointing" which is industry speak for 'We really messed Up". Like-for-like sales, which exclude new store openings, fell 2.5% compared with the same time last year.

Tesco's Christmas figures will be out on Thursday while Sainsbury's will update the markets on Wednesday. Neither TV campaign grabbed our attention.

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