Dublin and London-listed exploration company Minmet plans to buy a US-based oil and gas mining company for close to €7 million.
Minmet announced yesterday that it has agreed to buy British Virgin Islands-registered Overseas Oil and Gas Resources Ltd (OOGR) for the equivalent of £4.6 million (€6.9 million). The Irish company will exchange 275 million new shares with OOGR's owner, Charms Investment, to acquire the firm. On the basis of Minmet's closing price in London on Friday, this values the deal at £4.6 million.
Soden received €2.3m from B of I
Bank of Ireland's annual report, released yesterday, confirmed that the bank made a €2.3 million payment to its former chief executive, Mike Soden, along with a €0.4 million contribution to his pension fund.
The payments were made in settlement of potential litigation by Mr Soden against the group. Mr Soden resigned as chief executive last year after he was found to have viewed a Las Vegas escort site on the internet.
Meanwhile, the annual report also showed that Mr Soden's successor as chief executive, Brian Goggin, was paid €1.919 million in the year ended March 31st.
This included a basic salary of €911,000 and a performance-related bonus of €800,000. He also received a pension contribution of €154,000, benefits of €33,000 and other remuneration worth €21,000. The bank's chairman, Laurence Crowley, was paid €419,000.
Glencar reports loss of $674,272
Glencar Mining posted a loss before tax of $674,272 (€549,663) for the year to the end of December 2004, according to its annual report which was posted to shareholders yesterday.
The company is seeking approval at its annual general meeting and associated extraordinary general meeting on 30th June for a one for 10 consolidation of its shares and the right to allot up to 30 per cent of the company's shares in order to fund developments in Ghana, Mali and Uganda.
Shareholders will also be asked to approve a new share option scheme.
Horizon appoints Coburn as chief
Horizon Technology said yesterday that it had appointed its chief operating officer, Mr Gary Coburn, as chief executive.
Mr Samir Naji, who had agreed to serve as chairman and chief executive on an interim basis pending an appointment, will revert to the role of executive chairman.
Mr Coburn (42) joined Horizon in 1992 as sales manager of the systems integration business.
Director buys Datalex shares
Datalex non-executive director Paschal Taggart has spent around €44,000 buying 105,000 shares in the travel software company at €0.42 each.
Carphone predicts 20% rise in profits
Carphone Warehouse, Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, forecast a 20 per cent rise in profits this year after a 34 per cent jump in annual earnings last year .
But Carphone's shares were initially tempered by news that chief executive Charles Dunstone was selling his first tranche of six million shares, or 2 per cent, of the company. Carphone's headline pretax profit, which rose to £102.1 million (€152 million) from £76.3 million came on the back of a 27 per cent increase in sales to £2.355 billion.
