19/11/2009 By Ruth Bender, Jason Sinclair and Lilly Vitorovich ( Source: http://online.wsj.com )

Top Stories From Barcelona

Top executives from the technology, media and telecommunications industries are gathered in Barcelona for the annual Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecoms Conference.

The conference takes place amid growing signs that recent steep declines in advertising and consumer spending have bottomed out.

Still, major advertising agencies have cautioned a return to growth will be slow, while technology companies are hoping for a solid fourth quarter as the crucial end-year holiday period approaches and for improved demand to follow through into next year.

Following are the top stories from the two-day event, which concludes Thursday.



VIVENDI SA (VIV.FR), the entertainment-to-telecom conglomerate, wants to exit NBC Universal but its board hasn't yet made a decision for this year as the situation is "complex," Chief Financial Officer Philippe Capron said. "We have never been closer to the end of the story. It's in the future but I can't comment on timing or the likelihood of what will happen," Capron said.



NEWS CORP. (NWS) is working on plans to charge for its online news at a fair price, said James Murdoch, the media group's chairman and chief executive for Europe and Asia. The Times and Sunday Times newspapers in the U.K. will start charging for its online content in the spring, Murdoch said. James Harding, editor of The Times, said Wednesday in London that the paper plans to charge for 24-hour access alongside a subscription, while introducing reward schemes for its readers.



LAGARDERE SCA (MMB.FR), the French media company, still aims to sell the minority stake it owns in Vivendi SA's (VIV.FR) Canal Plus Group, and its stake in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV (EAD.FR), Chief Financial Officer Dominique D'Hinnin said.



JCDECAUX (DEC.FR), the French outdoor advertising company, sees important growth potential in China and the Middle East. "We are committed to moving towards a more emerging market focus, with Asia and the Middle East in the short term and to Africa in the longer term," co-Chief Executive Jean-Charles Decaux said.



WPP GROUP (WPP.LN) Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell said the group should start to see organic revenue growth in the second quarter next year if current trends continue, as he reiterated there has been little change in advertising markets since September. "They are less worse but it's nothing to get excited about yet," he said. He also said he thinks rival agencies Havas and Aegis "will merge."



PUBLICIS GROUPE SA's (PUB.FR) chief executive Wednesday said he still expects the group's organic revenue to return to growth in the middle of next year. "The change to positive could occur in June or July," Maurice Levy said. The forecast excludes the recent acquisition of Microsoft's (MSFT) digital agency Razorfish, which posted flat revenue in its 2009 fiscal year, Levy said, adding that its integration is going well.



AEGIS GROUP PLC (AGS.LN), the U.K.-based advertising and marketing firm, reiterated it has no intention of merging with French rival Havas SA (HAV.FR). "There is no substance to this speculation," said interim Chief Executive John Napier.



KABEL DEUTSCHLAND, Germany's biggest cable network operator, said no decision has been made about an initial public offering next year, following market speculation that majority owners Providence Equity Partners plan to float the company.



VIRGIN MEDIA Inc.'s (VMED) new Chief Financial Officer Eammon O'Hare said he is focused on reducing costs at the debt-laden U.K. pay television and cable company, and on growing average revenue per user and net subscriber numbers. O'Hare, who joined Virgin Media earlier this month from supermarket retailer Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN), said he aimed to cut costs further through sales of its property holdings, but had no plans to open up its network to rivals.



ITV PLC's (ITV.LN) Chief Operating Officer John Cresswell said 2010 looks promising due to a strong program line-up, including the soccer World Cup in South Africa, even as he cautioned that visibility remains limited and flagged further cost savings. Cresswell also praised the appointment Wednesday of Archie Norman as the company's new chairman.



SAP AG (SAP), the German business-software giant sees signs of stabilization in some market segments and regions the company operates in, Chief Executive Leo Apotheker said. He said markets such as Brazil have started to recover and China and India are also on their way to recovery.



CAPGEMINI (CAP.FR), the French IT services company, is looking at acquisitions in the U.S. and Asia as it pushes to grow its presence outside Europe. Such acquisitions could be on the scale of "a few hundred million," but won't be "mega-deals," Chief Executive Paul Hermelin said.



TOMTOM NV (TOM2.AE), the Dutch navigation equipment maker, sees room for expansion in Russia, Latin America, South Africa and China, Chief Executive Harold Goddijn said, adding that growth in China was restricted to deals with auto manufacturers.



LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA (LOGI) Chief Financial Officer Erik Bardman said Wednesday that he is comfortable with the group's third-quarter gross margin guidance of 31%. Longer term, the computer peripherals maker expects to improve its gross margin to between around 32% and 34%, he said. He was also upbeat about the impact on sales of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) new Windows 7 software platform, but said he doesn't expect major restocking yet as companies remain cautious about the overall economic outlook.



ASML HOLDING NV (ASML.AE) said it still expects order intake in the fourth quarter to be "at least" level with the third quarter, but it remains difficult to predict next year. "We are preparing ourselves for a potential upside but also a potential second downside of the world economy," said Chief Financial Officer Peter Wennink.



PEARSON PLC (PSON.LN), publisher of the Financial Times and Penguin books, is focused on growing its international education operations, particularly in China, India and Latin America to ensure future sales growth, Chief Financial Officer Robin Freestone told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. Freestone described the international education market, which excludes North America, as "fragmented," noting most companies are small and privately held, but said he isn't interested in taking minority stakes in companies.



VODAFONE GROUP PLC (VOD) needs to resolve its situation with Verizon Wireless in the U.S., Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said Thursday, when asked how Vodafone could boost its share price. Vodafone's successful transition to mobile data and ongoing growth in emerging markets such as India and South Africa are also key to improving its share price, he said. Vodafone has a minority stake in Verizon Wireless, which is majority owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ).



ROYAL KPN NV (KPN.AE), the Dutch telecommunications company, said it could team with Telefonica SA's (TEF) O2 to bid for cellular spectrum in a controversial auction planned by the German government. There has been some debate over whether the auction will be competitive, and the European Commission has criticized the process. "Telefonica and ourselves will be smart to look at this jointly," said KPN Chief Executive Ad Scheepbouwer.



TELEFONICA SA (TEF), Europe's largest telecommunications company by market capitalization, said it now has the right product mix and scale in Germany after the purchase of German broadband firm Hansenet from Telecom Italia, and isn't looking for more acquisitions in the country. "We now have a more integrated product in Germany and have a fair chance of becoming a distant third," behind Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and the local unit of Vodafone, said Chief Financial Officer Santiago Fernandez Valbuena.



FRANCE TELECOM (FTE) still aims to generate EUR8 million of free cash flow in 2010 and 2011, provided levels of activity don't worsen, but it would be difficult to generate more, Chief Financial Officer Gervais Pellissier said. It still plans to distribute 45% of free cash flow to shareholders, but economic conditions will make it difficult to increase the dividend next year.



TELECOM ITALIA SpA (TI) Chief Executive Franco Bernabe said 2010 should be a better year for acquisitions than this year. Earlier this month, Telecom Italia sold German broadband operator Hansenet as part of a plan to shed non-core assets to narrow its debt. He said Brazilian unit TIM Participacoes SA (TSU) isn't for sale.