A round-up of today's other news stories in brief
Revenue defends PAYE service
The Revenue Commissioners defended its service to PAYE taxpayers yesterday, saying that claims for tax refunds and requests by people who want to get off emergency tax are prioritised.
Norman Gillanders, assistant secretary at the Revenue, also told the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service that the Irish Taxation Institute's "one claim, one form" proposal would be a backward step, as there is now no need for claim forms for most credits.
Bank's €2.95bn mortgage move
Bank of Ireland's first mortgage securitisation in over five years, the sale of €2.95 billion worth of mortgage lending from its ICS Building Society subsidiary, was significantly over-subscribed, the bank said yesterday.
The fundraising, which covered more than 50 per cent of ICS's mortgage book, will be used to fund the bank's general operations. The securitisation was sold into the US market through a specialist purpose vehicle, Kildare Securities.
Accounting rules streamlined
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has ripped up its original rule book and produced a thinner version in a bid to woo small companies and emerging markets.
After more than three years of work, the IASB will today publish a 320-page draft standard for small and medium-sized enterprises in response to complaints that its full rule book, which is eight times the size, is too complex. - (Financial Times service)
Bombay stock market sells stake
Germany's Deutsche Börse is buying a 5 per cent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Asia's oldest bourse, in the latest in a wave of consolidation efforts among the world's exchanges.
The deal, the second in an Indian exchange in just over a month, valued the BSE at $910 million.
The BSE, which analysts had valued at $1.1-1.3 billion, also said it was open to offering stakes to other exchanges. - (Reuters)
Coke's earnings not so bubbly
Coca-Cola yesterday reported lower fourth-quarter earnings, hurt by an asset write-down at its largest bottler, but operating profit exceeded Wall Street expectations.
The world's largest soft-drink maker said demand for its products in emerging markets such as China and Russia helped offset weak North American results.
Net income fell to $678 million, or 29 US cents per share, from $864 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier. However, excluding special items, primarily the charge for the write-down at Coca-Cola Enterprises, earnings were 52 cents per share. - (Reuters)
DaimlerChrysler to cut 13,000 jobs
DaimlerChrysler said yesterday it would cut 13,000 jobs at its Chrysler operation in North America and indicated it could sell or spin off the money-losing unit, which would unwind a troubled nine-year merger between Chrysler and Mercedes.
The world's fifth largest car manufacturer said it would shut two Chrysler plants as part of a strategy to make the business profitable by 2008 as it focuses more on building fuel-efficient cars, a sector of the market dominated by its Japanese rivals.
The announcement sent DaimlerChrysler's share price surging to its highest point in more than four years. - (Reuters)
