A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Cowen extends capital schemes
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen yesterday signed the necessary orders to extend and amend the Business Expansion Scheme and the Seed Capital Scheme.
This follows recent approval of the schemes by the European Commission subject to certain amendments. The two programmes will now run to the end of 2013.
In line with the commission's approval, they will only be available to firms in counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow if they are in seed or start-up phase. The names of companies who raise funds will also be published on the Revenue Commissioners' website.
Insurance deal for Gaelic players
Insure.ie has teamed up with the Gaelic Players' Association to offer its two million players, fans, officials and club members a discount of as much as €480 if they sign up to home, car and health insurance through the online insurer.
The car and home insurance are underwritten by Axa, while the health policy is in conjunction with Vivas Healthcare.
Diamond firm ups value of find
West African Diamonds has said the diamonds found at its wholly-owned pipe-three project in Sierra Leone are worth 15 per cent more than originally thought.
In a statement released yesterday, the AIM-listed precious metals explorer said a revaluation of diamonds found at the site in 2004 and 2005 showed that they were worth $228 (€167) a carat, compared with an initial estimate of $198.
Paddy Power buys back shares
Paddy Power has spent almost €6 million buying back 250,000 of its own shares.
The shares, which were bought at €23.90 each, will be held in treasury.
Providence well in production
Providence, the exploration company led up by Tony O'Reilly jnr, said first production began at the A2 well in the Gulf of Mexico. The firm holds a 5 per cent interest in the field.
Kingon joins AIB board
AIB has named Stephen Kingon, formerly of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Northern Ireland, as a non-executive director.
Mr Kingon, who is currently chairman of Invest Northern Ireland and the Centre for Competitiveness, joins 13 other non-executive directors on the bank's board.
He is also a member of the Economic Development Forum, which advises ministers on issues relating to the development of competitiveness of the economy in the North and co-chairs the North-South Roundtable Group, which seeks to improve the competitiveness of the island economy.
AIB operates as First Trust Bank in the North.
Petroceltic
Exploration group Petroceltic has strengthened its position in the Italian oil and gas arena with the award of a licence for the onshore Civitaquana permit.
The block is believed to contain several potential oil and gas targets, including an extension to another formation that has already yielded light oil and gas.
Petroceltic, which has a 40 per cent interest in the licence, has recently applied for nine new licences in the central Apennines in Italy. Seven are on an exclusive basis.
Powerflute profits up
Powerflute, a Finnish packaging maker chaired by Irish businessman Dermot Smurfit, has recorded a 58 per cent increase in first-half operating profit and said the outlook for the second part of the year is positive.
The company, which listed on London's AIM in May, said it had benefited from a tight containerboard market which had enabled it to raise prices.
Revenue increased 17 per cent, to €55.9 million, though net income declined 35 per cent as a result of one-off costs relating to the stock-exchange listing and an abandoned takeover attempt. The company said it is still seeking an acquisition to enhance shareholder value.
Carroll increases ICG stake
Property developer Liam Carroll has increased his stake in ferry group Irish Continental to 19.998 per cent.
In a statement yesterday Mr Carroll said he had bought a further 13,567 units at €25 each - €1 more than the current €24 a share offer on the table from management buyout vehicle Aella.
Price of oil surges
The price of oil has risen close to a record level, putting more pressure on Opec to give a positive signal about production levels at its meeting in Vienna next week.
The price increase was triggered by claims that Israeli warplanes had penetrated Syrian airspace.
US crude rose to less than $1.50 short of its record peak. Officials from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Vienna today to review the outlook for the supply and demand for oil, ahead of Tuesday's ministerial meeting.
West Texas Intermediate surged to $77.43 a barrel, just below early August's all-time high of $78.77. Later, it fell to $76.67. Brent crude rose above $75. - (FT service)
Vodafone on acquisition trail
Vodafone is considering buying telecommunications networks in Italy and Spain to allow it to supply fixed-line broadband to its mobile phone customers.
The UK group, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, is considering an offer for fixed-line infrastructure in Italy and Spain owned by Tele2, a Swedish telecoms company.
Analysts estimated the networks to be collectively worth between €€400 million and €€500 million. - (FT service)
