Today's other business news in brief
Toyota reports 69% drop in net profits for Q2
Toyota Motors has reported a second-quarter 69 per cent plunge in its net profits and warns it will barely make money in the second half owing to falling US and European vehicle sales and a debilitating surge in the yen.
The downturn at the industry's perennial top earner was much sharper than analysts had expected, and underlined the depth of the crisis in the motor industry as the credit crunch turns into a potentially long-lasting economic slump. - (Financial Times service)
Standards marking time halved
The time taken for medical device companies to achieve the CE marking from the National Standards Authority of Ireland, required for sales within the European Union, has been halved to an average of four to six weeks.
The medical device sector in Ireland employs more than 25,000 people and exports €6 billion worth of products annually. Half of the top 25 global medical device companies have operations in Ireland.
Meanwhile, Galway-based Creganna, the largest indigenous company in the medical device sector, has won the Life Sciences Award at the 2008 National Export Awards.
Kitt appointed to Helix Health board
Former Government chief whip Tom Kitt has been appointed to the board of healthcare technology provider Helix Health. The company says Mr Kitt will drive its e-health strategy, particularly in relation to the electronic prescription transmission.
Helix Health recently completed a proof-of-concept pilot of its technology in Waterford and is investigating the scale of potential savings that could be made by introducing an electronic barcode system nationwide.
Postbank enters State scheme
Savings bank Postbank, the joint venture between An Post and French bank BNP Paribas, has confirmed that it has entered the State bank guarantee scheme.
The bank's chief executive Margaret Sweeney said Postbank had strong capital and liquidity and was not affected by the turmoil in the financial markets.
Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis, An Post's original partner in Postbank, was acquired by BNP Paribas last month.
Fraud charges over false profits claim
Three former directors of the Lagan-owned Welsh Slate business are facing fraud charges in Wales for exaggerating its profits by €28 million.
Former managing director Christopher Law (52), former sales director Paul Harvey (51) and former roofing division operations director Geraint Roberts (57) have been charged with overstating sales between January 2004 and February 2007.
The amount by which they allegedly exaggerated profits came to £22.9 million (€28 million) over the three years.
North construction output down again
New Government statistics show the value of construction output in the North has fallen again. The latest figures for April to June show the value was £846 million.
Last year the value of output stood at £877 million over the same period.
Homebond and housing starts
A story in yesterday's paper on the number of housing starts last month quoted Homebond saying there was "very little activity occurring in the market" as a result of an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 unsold homes on the market.
The quote and the figures should have been attributed to Merrion Stockbrokers. Homebond made no comment on the figures and has not suggested that there is such a supply of unsold homes in the Republic.
