A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Shares in sports firm soar after news on gold exploration rights
Investors yesterday plunged for an obscure London-listed company backed by Irishman John McKeon, after it emerged that it had acquired rights to gold and mineral exploration licences in Kyrgyzstan, writes Barry O'Halloran.
Shares in Premier Management, a one-time sports management business, were up almost 600 per cent on the news yesterday morning before ultimately closing at 3p, more than four times their opening quote last night.
Premier Management announced that it has an option to buy Central Asia Resources, which has in turn signed protocols with the Kyrgyz government to acquire gold exploration licences.
Heineken reports low Q3 sales
Heineken, the world’s third-largest brewer, reported third-quarter sales at the bottom of expectations, as poor summer weather, austerity measures, and low consumer confidence capped European and US drinking.
The Dutch brewer – whose main brands are Heineken and Amstel, Europe’s number one and three beers – said volumes rose sharply in Africa, Asia and Latin America but were lower overall on a like-for-like basis because of weakness in mature markets.
Farmers assured by Cowen on cuts
The Taoiseach has assured farmers nothing will be done in the budget to damage productive sectors like agriculture, the Irish Farmers Association said yesterday, writes Seán Mac Connell.
IFA president John Bryan said the assurance had come following a “good open meeting” with the Taoiseach yesterday. It came as the IFA was presenting its pre-budget submission to members of the Oireachtas, a session attended by 90 TDs and Senators in Dublin. Mr Bryan said the Taoiseach acknowledged agriculture was one of the few sectors performing in the export market and exports were the key to recovery. Exports are up by 14 per cent this year.
He said Mr Cowen told him that he had been very worried about the future of agriculture 15 to 18 months ago because of problems with sterling but the sector had made a major recovery. “The Taoiseach said he would not damage in the budget any of the productive sectors in the county and agriculture was one of those,” he said.
Yves Rocher to create 30 new jobs
French cosmetics company Yves Rocher is to invest €3.7 million to upgrade its manufacturing facility at Kilbarry Business Park in Cork.
The facility employs 270 people and the company said the expansion will lead to the creation of 30 more jobs. Yves Rocher said the Cork site will export 66 million units of skincare products this year, growing to 88 million by 2015. The Cork facility will remain the main producer for brands such as Arnica and Serum Vegetal.
