A round-up of today's other stories in brief
C&C shares jump on small cider duty rise
Shares in C&C jumped by almost 8 per cent yesterday after British chancellor Gordon Brown introduced only a modest increase in the duty on cider, its flagship drink in the UK.
Mr Brown raised the duty by one penny, a move that prompted a "relief rally" in C&C shares. "There had been concerns Gordon Brown would bring the duty on cider into line with beer," said one trader.
Ireland warned on staying attractive
The American Chamber of Commerce has said that Ireland must seek new ways of attracting inward investment. Chamber president Jim O'Hara, who heads Intel's Irish unit, said at the publication of a paper on competitiveness that the Irish economy was at a crossroads: "Ireland needs to continue to offer something distinctive."
Morgan Stanley earnings up 60%
Morgan Stanley outpaced the strong earnings growth of its Wall Street rivals in the first quarter, reporting a 60 per cent increase in earnings from continued operations on record revenues, up 29 per cent to $11 billion (€8.2 billion).
Spa Hotel profits slump by 75%
The Lucan Spa Hotel has seen annual pretax profits slump by almost 75 per cent to just over €100,000 on the back of a marginal drop in turnover to €5.58 million from €5.67 million.
The hotel is owned by the Colgan family, who also own the West County Hotel in Chapelizod.
Aminex farm-out terms finalised
Oil and gas group Aminex yesterday said the terms of the farm-out of a 20 per cent interest in the Nyuni/East Songo Songo licence in Tanzania to Key Petroleum have been finalised. It also announced the retirement of Andrew Windham as a non-executive director.
Vimio lands Kuwait traffic camera deal
Software company Vimio has announced that its software is being deployed to deliver live television from traffic cameras for Wataniya Telecom, the largest privately-held mobile company in Kuwait.
Total chief faces more questioning
Christophe de Margerie has been detained for questioning for a second time, barely a month after taking over as chief executive of Total, the French energy group.
Investigators are questioning him about possible corruption in a deal struck with Iran in 1997 to develop the South Pars liquefied natural gas project.
FedEx suffers fall in profits
FedEx suffered its first decline in profits for more than three years in the third quarter and warned that earnings growth could fall below the group's long-term target this year.
