A round-up of other business news in brief

Value of imports down 10% in August

A slowdown in consumer spending contributed to a 10 per cent fall in the value of imports in August, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday.

The monthly fall saw the value of imports in August drop to €4.62 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with €5.12 billion in July. Between January and July, the value of imports dropped 5 per cent to €35.07 billion compared with the same period in 2007.

Exports were largely unchanged at €7.12 billion in August.

Spread betting firm profits up 137%

Dublin-based financial spread betting group WorldSpreads has reported a 137 per cent rise in pretax profits to €3.1 million for the six-month period to the end of September.

WorldSpreads said overall revenues were 69 per cent higher at €8.43 million, adding that the current market volatility had been positive for the business. Average bets per day rose by 104 per cent to 4,793, while the number of active financial clients rose by 45 per cent to 2,525.

O'Brien lifts INM stake over 26%

Denis O'Brien has raised his stake in Independent News Media above 26 per cent, the Irish telecoms billionaire said yesterday.

Mr O'Brien has been consolidating his position as the second biggest shareholder in the newspaper publisher behind Sir Anthony O'Reilly, who increased his stake to 28 per cent in June. Mr O'Brien, branded by management a "dissident shareholder" after his attacks on the companys corporate governance practices, had a 25 per cent holding in June. - (Reuters)

Burdale reviews Woolworths' future

Burdale Financial, the asset-based lending subsidiary of Bank of Ireland, and GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors, has called in corporate restructuring specialists at accountancy firm Deloitte to advise them on the future of British retailer Woolworths.

A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland declined to comment, although the retailer has said that there was nothing unusual about the appointment of Deloitte. She said it was a condition of the £385 million sterling (€489 million) loan forwarded to Woolworths earlier this year by Burdale and GMAC that it could appoint outside advisers to review the company's business plan every year.

Borrowing costs continue to drop

Money market rates in Europe dropped as cash injections by central banks and the prospect of further reductions in borrowing costs revived lending between banks.The cost of borrowing in euros for three months fell 3 basis points, or 0.03 of a percentage point, to 4.83 per cent, the 14th straight day the rate has declined.

Trinity Biotech silent over egm

Trinity Biotech, the Wicklow-based diagnostics firm, has yet to notify a group of dissident shareholders whether or not it will call an extraordinary general meeting (egm), following a call to do so from the group.

It wants the board of Trinity, led by co-founder Ronan Ó Caoimh, to be removed on the grounds that the firm is underperforming.

Lufthansa to take control of bmi

German airline Lufthansa is to take control of British carrier bmi, in a deal which will make Lufthansa the second-biggest carrier behind British Airways at Heathrow.

Lufthansa already had a 30 per cent stake in bmi (formerly British Midland) and the German carrier is buying a further 50 per cent stake for about €318 million. - (PA)