Archive for April, 2007

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British Virgin Islands company to buy Totteridge Library

Friday, April 20th, 2007

A property developing company registered in the British Virgin Islands is purchasing Totteridge Library for more than £1.5 million.

The BVI-domiciled Bonshire Investments’ offer to buy the library was accepted at a meeting of Barnet Council’s cabinet resources committee.

Totteridge Library situated in Totteridge Lane was closed after the council claimed it would be too costly to provide disabled access at the site. After some kind of pressure from residents, Barnet’s top councillors decided to offer the site to tender, under the proviso that a library service would be reprovided.

According to the council, there were no worthwhile offers, and last July the library was put on the open market. There were more than 60 potential purchasers, and 31 bids were received, including offers to turn the former library into a medical centre. However, it was recommended by officers to sale the library to Bonshire Investments.

Last July this BVI company received planning permission to extend a listed building in Thornhill Square, Barnsbury. Company’s second address is in Monte Carlo.

The Totteridge Library was closed in April 2004. The replacement library service will not be provided. At the time the property was put up for sale, the council members asked for officers to investigate unexplored options and costs for a replacement library, at the time of putting the site up for sale, but at that moment there was no alternative.

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Leading media provider to establish joint venture with BVI company operating in Ukraine

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

Vimio PLC, a leading provider of live TV, media distribution solutions and content to mobile network operators, has made an announcement that it has entered into a joint venture with Nichols Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands and owned by Ukrainian investors. The Ukrainian joint venture was established through a newly incorporated company Vimio Eastern Europe Limited (“VEE”), for starting operations in Ukraine.

Under the terms of the joint venture agreement, BVI-registered Nichols Ltd is to invest US$2 million in VEE, in order to establish an operations centre in the capital of Ukraine, in return for a 50% equity stake in VEE.

The new company received a software licence which enabled the company to exploit Vimio’s technology, in order to provide content to mobile network operators in the Ukraine market. The head office of the company will be located in Kiev.

VEE is going to enter into revenue sharing agreements with the TV Channels and mobile network operators in the region, for delivery over existing GSM networks. The company also intends to exploit the popular music market for music downloads, videos and live radio, by launching its Shopfront application which will enable users to search, purchase and download contents.

At the end of 2006, there were more than 50.5 million subscribers using mobile services in Ukraine. The two largest mobile network operators in the Ukraine have over 42 million subscribers.

Posted in BVI company investments, BVI IBC Business News | No Comments »

BVI-based Company tries to avoid breaking the U.S. anti-gambling laws

Thursday, April 12th, 2007

The company Giddyup Holdings Inc., registered in the British Virgin Islands and staying behind the online gambling site PalmVegas.com as well as the recently created PalmVegas.com Island has announced that it would bar avatars which are based in the United States from its virtual casino. This was done to avoid breaking anti-gambling laws which were passed in the U.S. some time ago.

BVI company representatives said that this compliance was to ensure that worldwide casino operations cannot be accessed by U.S. Residents and by those getting access to casino operations from a computer located with the United States, in accordance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

In the last months, U.S. law enforcement agencies have strengthened the measures against Web-based casinos that are located offshore, including the arrest of one executive during the connecting flight through the United States.

Andre Choquette, the director of operations of Giddyup, has commented by phone, “From what we’re hearing from our sources, (the FBI’s) looking around and is getting a bit more interested. There’s going to be a crackdown at some point” … “Our solicitors said, there’s just no way — you’re completely running outside of the (anti-gambling) act, because the currency can be freely traded.”

Choquette also said that the company has asked Linden Lab to find the way how to verify residents’ IP addresses, or at least to deteremine from which country the IP addresses are. However, now the company residents will have to ask gamblers about their country of residence. Of course, this measure is not completely reliable, but as it was said by Choquette, PalmVegas is making an effort to comply with the U.S. law.

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The reported Q4 financials of UTi Worldwide cause company shares to go down

Monday, April 9th, 2007

Some months ago BVI-registered shipping logistics company UTi Worldwide Inc. sold 10,000 shares of its common stock, for $29.70 a piece. This week, company’s shares fell dramatically, – $6.06, or 20.2%, to $23.99 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, – after the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings which missed the expectations of financial analysts.

UTi Worldwide, which provides its customers air and ocean freight forwarding and contract logistics, has reported on March 29 that profit for the three months ended January 31 more than doubled to $23.6 million, or 24 cents per share, and company’s revenue for this quarter grew 31% from the previous year. However, the analysts polled by First Call/ Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 26 cents per share, on revenue of $934.1 million. BVI company’s operating income in the fourth quarter rose to $32.8 million from $17.5 million in the previous year quarter.

It was noted by R.W. Baird & Co. analysts that top-line growth came in ahead of expectations, but elevated costs drove a “meaningful” earnings miss, which was largely related to personnel expenses. Thomas R. Wadewitz, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities, also pointed to costs related to the company’s growth initiatives.

UTi Worldwide said its staff costs jumped 20% – from $151.5 million during the same period of 2006 to $181.8 million. Total operating costs 26% – from $236.2 million to $298.4 million.

For the 12 months period ended January 31, 2007, BVI company’s net income increased to 107.9 million or $1.08 per share from $55.2 million or $0.56 per share in the previous year. Net revenues for the fiscal year rose 27%, from $966.4 last year to $1.22 billion. Gross revenue for the period increased to $3.56 billion, from $2.79 billion in 2006.

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