A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Over half CFOs upbeat over future growth

Some 58 per cent of chief financial officers believe their company’s turnover will grow over the next six months, while 61 per cent believe profitability also will improve, according to the latest survey from accountants Deloitte.

The third quarter survey found that two out of every five chief financial officers said their company had returned to growth; the remainder expect growth to return next year.

While chief financial officers were upbeat on the prospects for the companies, they were more pessimistic on the economy with 33 per cent saying it would not recover until the second half of 2011. A further 22 per cent said there would no recovery until the first half of 2012.

€1.1bn debts left by liquidating firms

Companies that have gone into liquidation this year have left behind €1.1 billion in unpaid debts, almost all of which were unsecured, according to research from business information website Vision-Net.ie.

The company’s latest business barometer shows that there have been 302 receiverships so far this year, up 83 per cent on the same period last year, while there have been 1,461 company liquidations, down 12 per cent on last year.

The number of examinerships, 33 so far this year, is down 62 per cent on last year. Vision-Net said that liquidations show only part of what is happening as it estimated that an average of 37 companies are closing every day, a total of almost 11,000 the year to date.

Mercury appoints Kennedy as MD

Building and engineering services company Mercury has appointed Michael Kennedy to replace Joe Moran, one of the co-founders of the 38-year-old business, as managing director.

Mr Moran – who established the company with the late businessman, Frank O’Kane – will remain on the board of the company as a non-executive director.

The business, which is based in Sandyford, Dublin, employs almost 3,000 people in the UK, Poland, Russia and the Middle East. It has worked on many high-profile building projects including the Aviva Stadium, the National Conference Centre in the Docklands and the recently completed second terminal at Dublin airport.