Today's other stories in brief
ESB unions will 'take necessary action' on split
ESB unions have told members they will take any action necessary to halt any bid to split the company or sell power stations, writes Barry O'Halloran.
The State electricity company announced last week that it plans to sell power plants, a move that will lead to the loss of over 300 jobs. The company agreed to the sale as part of a deal with the Commission for Energy Regulation allowing it to build a new plant at Aghada, Co Cork.
A letter from the ESB group of unions to members this week says that, "until concerns raised by the unions in relation to both proposals outlined above are addressed, we will not be co-operating with any of the proposals and will be taking whatever action is necessary, should there be any attempt to implement the proposals".
Persian Gold losses widen
Persian Gold, the AIM-listed minerals explorer searching for gold in Iran, saw its losses widen last year as the group spent more money on exploration.
The net loss widened to £286,272 (€425,000) in 2006, from £162,204 in the previous year. The group did not have any sales.
Chairman John Teeling said the group was due to start a second round of drilling at its Chah-e-Zard discovery and discussions were at an advanced stage to buy a majority interest in a late-stage gold exploration project in central Iran.
Consortium leaves bidding for Alitalia
A consortium led by Aeroflot, the Russian state-controlled airline, yesterday withdrew from bidding for Alitalia, the loss-making Italian carrier.
The move leaves the privatisation process for Alitalia in deeper disarray with only two remaining potential bidders, a consortium led by Gruppo Toto, the group which includes Air One, the Italian carrier, and a rival bid from MatlinPatterson. - (Financial Times service)
Ramco records £5.7m loss
Ramco, the mining group that last year hived off its Irish assets into a new company, recorded a loss of £5.7 million (€8.47 million) last year related to the write-off of exploration work and the sale of its only producing asset.
This compares with a net profit of £1.7 million in 2005. Turnover, including share of joint ventures, plummeted to £986,000, from £17.2 million. Chairman Steve Remp described the year as "frustrating and yet pivotal".
Murdoch will not raise Dow Jones bid
Rupert Murdoch will not raise his $5 billion (€3.7 billion) bid for the Wall Street Journal's owner, Dow Jones, and has hinted that his takeover attempt could fall through.
The News Corp chairman said he would not increase his offer of $60 a share and that he expected approval for a buyout from Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family within three weeks, if at all. "Everything is done. We are just waiting for a final approval of the Bancroft family," Mr Murdoch said. - ( Guardian service)
10 global banks censured in China
Ten international banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, have been punished by China's foreign exchange regulator for breaching strict capital controls by helping to funnel huge amounts of foreign exchange into the country's soaring stock and property markets. - (Financial Times service)
Riverside Partnership
Contrary to a report on Tuesday, developers P Elliot have pointed out that the Riverside Partnership consortium of which it is a member is still the owner of the Riverside Two office block at the south docks in Dublin.
