In Short

Other business news in brief

Grafton lowers profit expectations

• Builders' merchant and DIY group Grafton said it expects full-year profits for 2008 at the "lower end of market expectations".

Dublin-listed Grafton, which owns Atlantic Homecare and Woodie's said it expects turnover for the year in the region of €2.67 billion, once the impact of significant sterling weakness is taken into account.

In a trading statement Grafton said the group was "profitable and cash generative" and was dealing with the challenges presented in the current trading environment.

Grafton will publish preliminary results on February 27th.

Intels warns of drop in demand

• Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, yesterday warned on its fourth-quarter sales for a second time due to a further erosion of demand as a result of the global downturn.

The company had cut its revenue expectations by 14 per cent in a November warning but yesterday said the decline would be 20 per cent.

Intel's bellwether status suggested its new forecast would mean other companies had also suffered from a dramatic cutback in technology spending in the last three months of 2008.

The fact that Intel has adjusted its estimates twice for the same quarter, outside of a scheduled mid-quarter update, indicates that the decline has been rapid and unexpected.

The Silicon Valley company said it now anticipated revenues of $8.2 billion, down 20 per cent compared with the third quarter and down 23 per cent on a year earlier. - (Financial Times service)

Solicitors William Fry to move office

• Dublin solicitors William Fry has completed contracts to relocate its head office to a new development under construction at Grand Canal Harbour on the south side of the Dublin docklands, writes Jack Fagan. It will be the eighth legal firm to move to the docklands in recent years.

William Fry will have almost twice the size of its present office space when it moves to 4 Grand Canal Square in 2010. The company will be paying a rent of €645 per sq m (€60 per sq ft) for 11,300 sq m (121,633 sq ft) and €4,000 for each of the 83 car parking spaces. The overall package is likely to include a rent-free period of about two years and a break option in year 15.

The landlords, Joe O'Reilly's Chartered Land, will also have to take responsibility for a number of leases on Fry's present accommodation of 6,038 sq m (65,000 sq ft) at Fitzwilton House along the Grand Canal at Wilton Place, Dublin.

Wind power growth for electricity grid

• Ireland's electricity networks now have enough wind power to supply up to 650,000 homes in the "right conditions", the Republic's grid operator said yesterday.

Eirgrid, the agency which operates the Republic's national electricity distribution system, said yesterday that the total capacity of wind farms operating here has broken through the 1,000 mega watt (MW) mark.

The agency said that the wind farms now produce enough electricity to supply 650,000 homes in Ireland "depending on wind conditions".

Wind farms cannot operate when wind speeds are too low or too high, which means that they operate at their maximum capacity around 35 per cent of the time.

Pizza chain reports increase in sales

• Pizza takeaway chain Domino's today reported a 10 per cent increase in sales for the year ending December 28th as increasing numbers of people ordered in takeaways.

The chain, which has 49 outlets in the Republic, said it is confident of delivering 2008 profits ahead of market expectations.

Domino's, which operates the UK and Ireland franchise of the global home delivery brand, said for the 13 weeks to December 28th, comparable sales rose by 8.6 per cent.

Interbank rate at June 2004 level

• The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks say they charge each other for three-month loans in dollars fell yesterday to the lowest level since June 4th, 2004, according to the British Bankers' Association.

The rate slid one basis point to 1.4 per cent, the BBA said today.