Manchester City sponsor look to India expansion

Etihad Airways, the sponsor of Manchester City FC are planning to make an entry into the Indian Air market by taking over either Kingfisher Airlines or Jet Airways.

This has come about since the Indian Government changed a law which limited foreign airlines to a 49% stake in Indian air carriers. Kingfisher have had many troubles of late, and at present are grounded after it has had its licenses suspended.

Buying out Kingfisher therefore may be much riskier than taking over Jet (who already have a code sharing agreement with Etihad) but Kingfisher would be a cheaper deal.

Business News

Some Business news from the last few days.

ENGLISH CHAMPIONS CITY HALVE LOSSES

Premier League champions Manchester City have announced its financial losses for 2011-12 have halved from 2010-11. City recorded a pre-tax loss of £93.4m, down from £189.6m from last year.

Sales and revenues went up 51% to £231.1m, £22m of that from City’s first appearance in the Champions League. Other incomes came from their deal with Etihad Airways which doubled to a whopping £97m.

UEFA, under the guidance of Michel Platini are bringing in Financial Fair Play rules which means that over a period of 3 years a club must break even. This comes into effect starting 2013-14.

EU LINKS GO DEEPER

BRUSSELS: Phased integration of the EU has been agreed in principle today, which goes much further than the adoption of the Euro or supervision by a European Central Bank. EU President Herman Van Rompuy believes a deal will be agreed next year with particular emphasis on solving the problem of failed banking institutions.

In addition to banking reforms unemployment and poor economic growth are also high on the agenda. The deal to make the European Central Bank the main regulator for EU finances may help aid poor performing banks in the eurozone and possibly help fund the bailout of the banks which need it most. Spain, among others, is desperate for a bailout to keep its economy moving.

The UK will not be part of the new banking union, and along with Denmark still retains her opt out of the Euro. Prime Minister David Cameron has been criticised that this may lead to a two tier EU, which he has denied, saying that the UK is still “at the heart of decision making” in Europe.

UK BIGGEST INTERNET SHOPPERS

UK internet shoppers spend an average of £1,083 according to Ofcom. This is the most amount of any developed nation. Apparently most of our internet shopping is done via mobile phones, laptops and tablet PCs.

The survey also shows that the UK also downloads more data from the net to mobile devices than any other major developed nation.

BARCODE INVENTOR DIES AT GRAND OLD AGE OF 91

American inventor Norman Joseph Woodland, has died at his New Jersey home at the age of 91. Mr Woodland is the inventor of the barcode. He and his university colleague, Bernard Silver developed and created the familiar “thick-and-thin-line” barcode system in the 1940s.

The Barcode system was granted a patented in America as far back as 1952. The patent was later sold for a measly $15,000 (£9,300). However, the impact on modern life is not to be sniffed at. It is estimated that the barcode is scanned more than five billion times every day.

Sources: BBC Business News, Fortune

Man City create an unwanted record

Manchester City has reported an annual loss of £194.9m for 2010-11, the biggest in English football history.

But the operating loss does not include the club's huge sponsorship deal with Etihad Airlines, worth a reported £35m a year, or revenues from this season's Champions League campaign.

Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules, which come into full effect in 2013-14, say clubs must break even over three years.

Source BBC Business News

Such massive losses are unsustainable and if Man City's backers were to pull the plug the club could be in massive trouble. Man Utd, Chelsea and many other Premiership clubs would fall into this category.

In Scotland, Vladimir Romanov has put Heart of Midlothian up for sale with somewhere in the region of £30 million debt. Who will put up the cash to save Hearts?

Rangers are also in financial trouble with a reported £48 million tax bill hanging over the Ibrox club's head.

If both clubs were to go into Administration what does that say for Scottish football and the people running it? And if either of the major clubs in Scotland were to go to the wall, would the game be effectively up for Scottish football? If both Rangers and Hearts went bust I do feel that would be the beginning of the end of professional football in Scotland.