A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Carroll holds 18% stake in ferry company
Property developer Liam Carroll yesterday confirmed he now has an 18 per cent stake in Irish Continental Group (ICG), the ferry company that is currently the subject of a stalled takeover battle.
A statement to the stock exchange said that South Morston Investment Co, owned by Mr Carroll and RóisíCarroll, holds of 4.26 million ICG shares. As many as 1.1 million units, equal to 4.5 per cent of the holding, is in the form of contracts for difference.
IN&M buys back 500,000 shares
Independent News & Media has continued its share buyback programme, purchasing 500,000 of its own shares yesterday for €1.57 million. The shares will be held on treasury.
Another record surplus by China
A much-predicted slowdown in Chinese exports failed to materialise in July, with China recording another near- record trade surplus of $24.4 billion (€17.8 billion), its second highest, in spite of a surge in monthly oil imports.
Many commentators and some Chinese officials had predicted the start of a slowdown in the rate of growth of sales overseas in July because of Beijing's move to cut export tax rebates of many products from July 1st.
But exports confounded expectations by accelerating in July, rising 34 per cent year-on-year compared with 27 per cent in June.
The fast growth in June had been attributed to exporters rushing their products offshore to beat the tax changes, but the July figures underscore China's competitiveness across a range of industrial and consumer goods. - (Financial Times service)
Oakhill to trade as Prime Active
Oakhill, the printing company taken over by former Eircom finance director Peter Lynch earlier this year, will start trading on Monday under the new name of Prime Active Capital.
The shares are listed on Dublin and London's junior markets of the IEX and the AIM. The name change was approved at the group's agm last month.
Small drop in construction jobs
Employment in private construction firms with five or more employees fell by 1.1 per cent year-on-year in June, according to figures published yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.
The employment index fell from 111.1 in June 2006 to 109.9 in June this year.
Borse Dubai move queried by Swedes
Swedish financial regulators yesterday sought urgent clarification from Borse Dubai and its legal advisers over whether its acquisition of a 27.4 per cent stake in OMX, the Swedish stock exchange constitutes a formal takeover bid.
Annika von Haartman, head of prospectuses and listings at the Financial Supervisory Authority, said that if a bid was being made, Borse Dubai must submit a formal offer document within four weeks and abide by other Swedish takeover rules.
Borse Dubai confirmed it had received a letter but described the regulator's queries as "routine", adding it had done nothing illegal. - (Financial Times service)
Shake-up in HBOS retail personnel
HBOS, hit by a surprise drop in first-half retail profit last week, announced a surprise shake-up of its retail business yesterday, including the departure of the division's high-profile head Benny Higgins.
HBOS, which owns Bank of Scotland (Ireland) also said yesterday that finance director Phil Hodkinson was due to retire at 50 next year, to be replaced by a former incumbent, veteran Mike Ellis, who will return to the bank after retiring at the end of 2005. - (Reuters)
