More news in brief
A Cork builder says he is going to pay off a €1 million Vat bill next week to stop the Revenue putting his company, Hornibrook Holdings, into liquidation over the debt.
The Revenue published a legal notice in the press yesterday saying that it would petition the High Court on Monday, October 15th, to wind up John Hornibrook's building company, which is based in Togher.
Mr Hornibrook said the company was supposed to get another week from Revenue to pay the outstanding Vat bill, which related to one development and dated back "a few months". "It was left go a little bit on the long side. We will pay them next week." He said the company has been in business for 65-70 years.
US worries recede on jobs report
Worries about a downturn in the US economy receded yesterday as better-than-expected employment data sent Wall Street stocks into record territory.
The September jobs report also eased the pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to counter the economic impact of the credit squeeze and problems in the US housing industry.- (Financial Times service)
Zamano appoints Colm Saunders
Zamano, the Dublin and London-listed provider of mobile phone services, has appointed Colm Saunders as finance director.
A chartered accountant who trained with KPMG, Mr Saunders joins from US telecommunications equipment provider Avaya.
Northern Rock borrows £2.9bn
Northern Rock borrowed another £2.9 billion last week from the Bank of England, it emerged yesterday as financiers close to Chris Flowers, the former Goldman Sachs banker, indicated that his buy-out group was stepping up efforts to bid for the stricken bank.
Three weeks after Northern Rock went to the bank for support, it owes nearly £11 billion - equal to 45 per cent of its deposit base at the end of June. - (Financial Times service)
Credit squeeze toll tops $18bn
The toll of big bank losses from the credit squeeze topped $18 billion yesterday after Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual revealed heavy damage inflicted by financial market turmoil.
Merrill Lynch said it would take a $5 billion writedown and record a third-quarter loss while WaMu warned that profits for the period would plunge 75 per cent. - (Financial Times service)
Darling to cut growth forecast
Alistair Darling will next week downgrade his 2008 growth forecasts in the first confirmation that Britain is heading for an economic slowdown after being buffeted by the global credit squeeze.
Speaking only days before he sets out the government's public spending plans for the next three years to parliament, Mr Darling sought to pin the blame on the US housing downturn and the credit squeeze. -(Financial Times service)
Aer Lingus carries more passengers
Aer Lingus carried 847,000 passengers in September, up 9 per cent on a year earlier thanks to additional aircraft and a new route, but its planes were not as full.
The company said its load factor - seats filled as a percentage of capacity - was 74.6 percent, down 2.3 percentage points on the same month last year. On long-haul routes, the load factor fell 4.9 percentage points to 67.9 per cent, largely due to increased capacity provided by two additional aircraft. - (Reuters)
