A roundup of today's other news stories in brief

AIB expressed interest in acquiring EBS

AIB last year disclosed to the board of the EBS that the bank would be interested in acquiring the mutual if the possibility ever arose, a spokesman for the EBS confirmed yesterday.

The matter was mentioned in the course of a letter from the AIB chief executive, Eugene Sheehy, to his EBS counterpart, Ted McGovern. The EBS board did not pursue the matter.

The chairman of the EBS, Mark Moran, said the board swiftly rejected the idea.

Motorola posts quarterly loss

Motorola posted a quarterly loss yesterday and offered a forecast that raised doubts over when the world's second-biggest mobile phone maker would return to profit.

The US multinational is closing a plant in Cork as part of a worldwide cost reduction exercise.

Profit per share, excluding special items, was a penny above market expectations and helped push Motorola's beaten-down shares up 1.6 per cent, but analysts focused on the company's weak outlook for the current quarter and said it likely lost market share to Nokia and other handset makers. - (Reuters)

FBD to give €177m to shareholders

FBD Holdings is to distribute €€177 million of the company's financial reserves to shareholders. The distribution will be made on June 27th to shareholders on the register on June 8th 2007.

The method of distribution will be decided following an extraordinary general meeting scheduled to follow the annual meeting on May 22nd.

The company will also seek authorisation for further purchases of its own shares.

Intel increases full-year forecast

Intel posted a higher first-quarter profit on Tuesday, boosted by a tax item, and the number one microchip maker raised its full-year margin forecast as new chips gave it an edge over rival AMD.

While Intel, which accounts for about three-quarters of the $40 billion-a-year computer processor market, gave a second-quarter revenue outlook that was below expectations, it said gross margin for the year would be a full percentage point higher than its initial estimate.

Central bank alarm over RBS deal

Royal Bank of Scotland's plans to snap up ABN Amro could be scuppered after the Dutch central bank yesterday warned such a deal would be risky and complicated.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said in a statement that an offer from the RBS-led consortium would "constitute a strong risk-increasing and complicating factor" and that it would examine any formal approach with "meticulous care".

The RBS consortium, also including Belgium-based Fortis and Spain's Santander, is said to want to divide ABN between them.