A round-up of today's other news stories in brief
AgCert shares plummet as investors flee
Shares in AgCert, the Dublin-based emissions trading company listed on London's AIM, plunged yesterday after Morgan Stanley dramatically cut its target price for the company.
The broker slashed its target price for the company from 270 pence to 70 pence. It also downgraded the stock to underweight.
Shares in AgCert closed down 18.6 per cent, or 22.70 pence, at 99.30 pence. The decline wiped more than £38 million (€57.5 million) from the group's market value.
IT job vacancies increase by 26%
The number of job vacancies in the IT sector has jumped by 26 per cent to 13,900 since May 2006, according to the latest Dublin City University IT job survey. Since the first IT job survey was carried out by DCU in May 2005, the level of vacancies has risen by 74 per cent.
100% mortgages growing - survey
Demand for 100-per-cent mortgages is likely to grow, as one in 10 property buyers does not save a deposit, according to research commissioned by mortgage insurance firm Genworth Financial.
It takes an average of 15 months to save for a deposit, according to the survey of just under a thousand Irish homebuyers. Almost 30 per cent of those who do save use unsecured borrowing from banks, building societies and credit unions to fund the deposit.
Kensington says Start doing well
Kensington, which holds a 65 per cent stake in Ireland's Start Mortgages, says it is well-placed to benefit from the expected €3 billion worth of growth in the Irish specialist mortgage market.
Kensington said yesterday that in its second year of trading, Start had delivered a "substantial increase in new business at strong margins". It also said the business had turned a "small" profit for the year.
Waterford lands Stewart range
Luxury goods group Waterford Wedgwood has expanded its celebrity product range, with the addition of a bridal, tabletop and giftware line under the Martha Stewart brand.
In 2004 Stewart was convicted of obstructing investigators in an insider trading case and sentenced to prison, fined and barred from serving on a public company board of directors and from serving in certain executive capacities for five years.
Lundin in €1.7m Sanu investment
Lundin Mining, owner of the Galmoy zinc mine, has spent 2.6 million Canadian dollars (€1.7 million) buying 14 per cent of rival mining group Sanu Resources.
Lundin said it bought four million units - each comprising one common share and one transferable common share purchase warrant - for C$0.65 each. Each warrant can be converted into one common Sanu share at a price of C$0.90 during a period of two years.
Ormonde hires firms for study
Ormonde Mining said yesterday it has hired two leading international engineering firms, Aker Kvaerner and AMC Consultants, to work on the bankable feasibility study for its La Zarza copper-gold project in southwest Spain.
Smiles taking its dental spas abroad
Smiles Dental Group has announced a €2 million expansion into the UK and US markets with planned openings of dental spa outlets in both London and New York.
