In short

A roundup of today's other stories in brief.

Amarin reports $5.9m loss in third quarter

Drug group Amarin reported a net loss of $5.9 million (€4 million) in the three months to the end of September, compared with $6.6 million in the same period last year. The group has no revenue and attributed the reduction to lower research spending.

The net loss in the nine months to the end of September was $30.3 million, up from $21.7 million, an increase it attributed to the $8.8 million writedown relating to Miraxion, its Huntington's disease treatment that was found in April to have no significant benefits for patients.

Grafton continues share buyback

Grafton continued its share buyback, purchasing a further 500,000 of its own shares at a cost of €3.15 million. The shares will be cancelled.

Avocent profits rise to $38.6m

Shannon-based Avocent International increased pretax profits by 8 per cent last year to $38.6 million (€26.05 million).

Turnover in 2006 was $187 million, while operating profit increased from $33 million in 2005 to $44 million last year. The company paid a dividend of $4.9 million. Spending on research and development was $20 million, up $1 million on 2005. Directors were paid $824,000.

Takeover of Aer Lingus 'inevitable'

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has said the low-cost carrier will eventually succeed in buying rival Aer Lingus, describing the takeover as "inevitable".

Mr O'Leary said a series of other takeovers in the industry meant that the European Commission would eventually have to approve Ryanair's proposed takeover. - (Bloomberg)

Conroy reports loss of €375,059

Conroy Diamonds & Gold, the Dublin-based company that is searching for gold in Ireland, has reported a loss of €375,059 for the year to the end of May, but said that the 500,000 ounces of gold resource already identified should be regarded as a bare minimum.

Chairman Richard Conroy said the group had so far outlined a substantial gold resource on a small part of one target, identified gold mineralisation on the remainder of the same site, and found bedrock gold on several other targets.

The group's licences cover 1,500sq km in a continuous block stretching from Co Down to Co Cavan.

Conroy's directors have agreed to waive €631,693 worth of fees and remuneration in return for 29.8 million warrants exercisable over 10 years.

New Aer Lingus head of revenue

Aer Lingus has appointed Henriette Thilert, formerly of German low-cost carrier German Wings, to the newly created position of head of revenue and pricing.

In a statement yesterday, Aer Lingus said the new position had been created to help maximise revenue generation across each of the airline's routes within its growing short-haul and long-haul networks.

Island Oil releases results of study

Irish exploration group Island Oil & Gas yesterday released the results of an independent study of its oil and gas projects offshore Ireland and the Netherlands, saying the findings supported the company's view of the potential commercial viability of the projects.

Paul Griffiths, Island's chief executive, said the results would act as a key contributor to the company's ongoing commercial discussions with banks and potential industry partners to secure the finance required to develop the oil and gas fields in a timely manner so as to take advantage of the recent increase in prices.

Island is already in talks with lenders about raising project finance and with industry parties about selling equity in the fields to raise money, it said yesterday.