A round-up of today's other stories in brief

J&J shares fall 2.3% on poor drug sales

Johnson & Johnson yesterday posted an unexpected fall in quarterly revenue, sending its shares 2.3 per cent lower, as a drop in prescription drug sales overshadowed gains in medical devices and consumer products such as Band-Aids. The results underlined the company's need for new revenue growth and the reason J&J is still in the battle to acquire heart device maker Guidant.

The healthcare company said it earned $2.18 billion (€1.77 billion), or 73 cent per share in the fourth quarter. That compared with $1.22 billion, or 41 cent per share, in the 2004 quarter, when J&J took an $800 million tax-related charge and was in line with expectations. - (Reuters)

Building Societies Act on Dáil agenda

Legislation to amend the 1989 Building Societies Act in a manner that facilitates the demutualisation of the Irish Nationwide building society appears again on the list of proposed legislation for the new Dáil term.

However, the proposed legislation has appeared on the list in the past only to lose out to more urgent Government priorities.

Around 125,000 Irish Nationwide members are waiting on a windfall of around €12,000 that would be triggered by the group's demutualisation and subsequent sale. But this cannot happen until the new legislation is in place.

Boots pleads guilty in EPA case

Boots has pleaded guilty in a Wexford court to failing to put up notices required under an EU directive concerned with waste electronic equipment.

The company is the first to be prosecuted in the EU under the directive. The charges were brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Fines of €1,200 were imposed and costs of €6,865 were awarded to the EPA.

Dundalk man admits to fraud

A Dundalk man pleaded guilty to three counts of VAT fraud at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court yesterday after a jury was sworn in. He had been facing trial on 54 charges.

After discussions between the State and the defence, Noel Treanor of Rathduff, Dundalk, pleaded guilty to three charges; one that he failed to furnish VAT returns and two that he failed to make VAT payments to the Revenue Commissioners on dates in 1998 and 2002.

Services sector pay rises 4.2%

Take-home pay for workers in the distribution and services sectors rose 4.2 per cent to €643.72 a week on average in the year to last September, figures from the Central Statistics Office yesterday show. Some 700,400 workers are employed in the sector.

Wages were highest in the post and telco sector at €785.44, but this was an annual increase of just 1.3 per cent, partly as a result of An Post withholding pay increases.

Businessman admits forgery

A businessman who used fake invoices to secure finance of nearly IR£150,000 from two banks would have repaid them if his company had not gone into liquidation, a court heard yesterday.

Patrick Pentony (42) of Kelly's Road, Killeen, Newry, Co Down and Carroll's village, Dundalk, pleaded guilty to five counts of forgery between the August 1998 and April 2000.Judge Pat McCartan imposed a 12 months sentence suspended for three years on his entering into a bond to be of good behaviour and to keep the peace.