A round-up of today's other business stories in brief
Helix Health to create 20 new jobs
Twenty new jobs are to be created at Helix Health, the healthcare technology company formed from the merger in January of Medicom and Systems Solutions, writes Ciarán Brennan.
The new jobs will be created in high-tech programming and technical support over the next 24 months to support its expansion in the Irish and international healthcare markets.
Chief executive Howard Beggs also revealed it is in advanced negotiations with a US government agency that could see its software rolled out across a number of counties in California.
Aer Lingus raises fuel surcharge
Aer Lingus has increased the fuel surcharge on long-haul flights to the US and Dubai. The surcharge on flights to New York, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Washington and Dubai will rise by €10 to €40 each way. Services to Los Angeles and San Francisco will increase by €15 to €50 per sector.
Aer Lingus said the increase was a response to a rise in the price of oil in the intervening period.
Murdoch explains Dow Jones offer
Rupert Murdoch said yesterday he had hoped to negotiate a deal to acquire Dow Jones "in a private setting" but had been forced to discuss the offer publicly after it was "leaked" last week.
He said he was a "great admirer" of the Bancroft family which controls Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal, and Dow Jones's new management.
The Bancroft family, which controls 64 per cent of the voting shares in Dow Jones, has rejected Mr Murdoch's $60 per share offer.
He has asked the family to meet him, but so far the family has not agreed to do so. - (Financial Times service)
Blackrock pays directors €921,273
Blackrock International Land, the property group that was spun off from Fyffes in May last year, paid out €921,273 in remuneration to its directors in its first seven months of operation, the firm's annual report said.
Managing director Robert Knox took home €466,969, a figures that included a performance bonus of €292,618, while finance director Philip Halpenny, who joined in September, received a total of €135,932.
The salary of Carl McCann, who was chairman of both Blackrock and Fyffes during 2006, was paid by both companies, with the Blackrock share amounting to €226,215. Fyffes has yet to publish its annual report. During the period Blackrock recorded profits of €13.9 million.
Glencar welcomes Mali mine news
Glencar Mining said high-grade intersections to the south of its Komana West gold project in Mali are of the same quality of those already discovered in the north of the site.
Managing director High McCullough said Glencar was very optimistic about the potential for a commercial deposit.
EU in tune with bid for BMG
Universal Music's €1.63 billion ($2.2 billion) takeover bid for BMG's music publishing arm is set to win regulatory backing from the European Union's top antitrust watchdog later this month, according to sources.
Universal is understood to have smoothed the regulator's initial concerns by offering to sell the rights to songs by artists including Britney Spears, Bryan Adams, the Spice Girls and Dire Straits. - (Financial Times service)
