A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Circle Oil loses €2.8m
Exploration company Circle Oil failed to generate turnover last year, and recorded a loss of almost €2.8 million. This compares to a loss of €1.6 million incurred in 2005.
Chairman Thomas Anderson was nevertheless upbeat yesterday, describing 2006 as an exciting year as Circle Oil moved towards owning a more balanced portfolio, adding that the company was well set for the future.
"Our acquisitions in North Africa and our commitment to an aggressive drilling campaign give the company the possibility of gaining production quickly and cash flow in the short to medium term."
Fall in German unemployment
German unemployment fell for the 15th straight month in June, taking the jobless rate to its lowest level in more than 12 years as a robust economy continued to generate new jobs.
The seasonally-adjusted jobless total declined by 37,000 on the month to 3.82 million, the Federal Labour Office said, nearly twice as big as the 20,000 drop forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
May's previously reported increase of 3,000 was revised to a fall of 2,000. - (Reuters)
New Valista chief executive
Valista, which specialises in merchandising, payments, settlement solutions and managed services, has appointed John Lowry as chief executive to replace Arlene Adams, who is leaving the company for personal reasons.
Mr Lowry has more than 40 years' experience in the IT, communications and technology industries, having worked for companies such as General Electric, ICI, Ford, IBM, Unilever, Thorn EMI and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).
First Active raises €1.95bn
First Active, which is part of the Ulster Bank group, has raised a further €1.95 billion through its latest public mortgage-backed securitisation.
This deal is the twelfth public transaction from the group, bringing to €12.5 billion the total funds raised through mortgage-backed securities since 1998.
According to Michael Torpey, group finance director of Ulster Bank, all classes of securitisation notes were over-subscribed in the latest deal
Consultant to take ESB post
Consultant Gary Keegan is to take up one of the vacancies on the board of the ESB.
The Government has appointed Mr Keegan, a director of urban planning consultancy Acumen, to the ESB board.
Mr Keegan will fill one of the vacancies left when directors Derry O'Donovan and William McKee stepped down after serving five-year terms.
The previous Minister responsibleratified Mr Keegan's appointment.
EU considers share voting
The EU is still considering whether to impose the principle of "one share, one vote" in the bloc's listed companies, the EU's top financial market regulator said yesterday.
An external study commissioned by the European Commission last year had provided useful information but the picture was not clear cut, EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said . - (Reuters)
