LONDON, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - The part purchase of independent television broadcaster ITV by media group BSkyB is likely to substantially lessen industry competition, Britain's Competition Commission said on Tuesday.

'The Competition Commission (CC) has provisionally found that the acquisition by British Sky Broadcasting plc of a 17.9 percent share in ITV plc restricts competition and therefore operates against the public interest,' a statement said.

LONDON, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - British satellite broadcaster BSkyB on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy British consumer electronics group Amstrad, which is headed by entrepreneur and founder Sir Alan Sugar.

BSkyB, which buys around one third of its set-top boxes from Amstrad, said it has agreed to pay about 125 million pounds (185 million euros, 253 million dollars) for the group.

Amstrad designs, develops and sells standard and high definition set-top boxes to BSkyB, whose customers use to watch and record pay-TV.

LONDON, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - British satellite broadcaster BSkyB on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy British consumer electronics group Amstrad, which is headed by entrepreneur and founder Sir Alan Sugar.

BSkyB, which buys around one third of its set-top boxes from Amstrad, said it has agreed to pay about 125 million pounds (185 million euros, 253 million dollars) for the group.

Amstrad designs, develops and sells standard and high definition set-top boxes to BSkyB, whose customers use to watch and record pay-TV.

LONDON, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - British satellite broadcaster BSkyB reported a 9.4-percent drop in annual net profits on Friday as the group took a hit from its foray into the country's competitive broadband Internet market.

Net profit fell to 499 million pounds (744 million euros, 1.02 billion dollars) in the 12 months to June 30, 2007, compared with 511 million pounds in the same period the previous fiscal year, BSkyB said in a results statement.

Profits were weighed down by the pay TV giant's move into Britain's competitive broadband Internet market.

LONDON, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - British satellite broadcaster BSkyB said Friday that net profits fell by 9.4 percent to 499 million pounds (744 million euros, 1.02 billion dollars) in the twelve months to the end of June.

Profits were weighed down by the pay TV giant's costly foray into Britain's competitive broadband Internet market.

The figure, which compared with 511 million pounds in the previous fiscal year, was despite a 9.7-percent increase in group revenue to 4.551 billion pounds, BSkyB said in an official earnings release.