In Short

A roundup of today's other news stories in brief

Construction sector grew again - CSO

Building and construction activity continued to grow in the second quarter of 2007, but the residential property sector continued to fall, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office.

The sector overcame a 10 per cent drop in the volume of output in residential construction to grow 4 per cent year on year, driven by strong annual growth in both the civil engineering sector and the non-residential building sector. The difficulty in the residential market, which saw the value of output fall by 6.2 per cent during the period, has been ongoing since the second quarter of 2006.

The growth within the Irish building and construction market outstripped the average 3.2 per cent recorded in the EU27.

Morgan Stanley $9.4bn writedown

Morgan Stanley became the third top investment bank in a month to raise capital from a sovereign wealth fund after announcing higher than expected writedowns of $9.4 billion, due largely to subprime related losses.

John Mack, chairman and chief executive, said the $5 billion capital injection from China Investment Corporation would bolster its already strong balance sheet and strengthen its deep ties in China. It becomes the second Wall Street bank - after Bear Stearns - to turn to China for help. - (Financial Times service)

Good business growth in North

Businesses in the North reported above average growth in 2006, with income generated by business activity increasing by 9.6 per cent, according to new provisional data.

The 2006 Northern Ireland Annual Business Inquiry provides estimates of the level of mainly business-based activity across two-thirds of the region's economy.

The 9.6 per cent rate of growth in total approximate gross value added, which is the value of income after payments for goods and services, outstripped both the previous year's figure of 7.1 per cent, and the average growth of 3.9 per cent over the period 2001 to 2005.

The services sector showed the largest growth by value, with GVA rising 9.9 per cent on 2006 figures to £9 billion, while the construction sector put in a strong performance to record a £362 million increase, or 18.1 per cent.

Icon predicts growth in revenue

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology group Icon has issued its financial guidance for 2008, predicting net revenue will grow to between $750 million and $770 million for the year. This compares to the net revenue guidance for 2007 of $615-$625 million.

The company is expecting net revenue per diluted share to increase from 2007's forecast of $1.82-$1.85 per share to $2.27-$2.36.

Glencar progress on African block

Dublin-based exploration company Glencar Mining has made rapid progress on one of its African exploration blocks, where preliminary results indicated more than 520,000 ounces of gold could be found.

The company said the drilling at Komana West, in southern Mali, was designed to test the deposit at deeper levels than before. The first drillhole at the Komana East target has also been carried out.

Celtic Tiger set to continue purring

The Celtic Tiger economy may continue to purr even if some of the roar has gone, says the economist who coined the term in 1994. While "the economy won't grow at the same ferocious rate that it did over the last decade", it "won't give up the gains of the boom", said Kevin Gardiner of HSBC Holdings in London. - (Bloomberg)