In Short

Today's other stories in brief

Spanish firm takes interest in Uniland

Portland Valderrivas, the cement unit of the Spanish group Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, is reported to be interested in buying the 74 per cent stake in Uniland not owned by CRH.

Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias yesterday quoted Valderrivas board member Jose Manuel Revuelta as saying the company was eyeing "with interest" the Uniland stake.

CRH, which acquired a 26.3 per cent stake in Uniland late last year, has expressed an interest in buying it outright.

Air Berlin IPO valued at €510m

German budget carrier Air Berlin priced shares in its initial public offering at €12 each, at the lower end of its reduced range of €11.50-€14.50 .

The firm said in a statement it would sell 36.96 million shares plus another planned 5.5 million from an over-allotment option, valuing the deal at €510 million including the greenshoe option.

Imprint close to buying Dubai firm

Imprint, the AIM-listed recruitment business chaired by Pierce Casey, is close to acquiring a recruitment firm in Dubai. Mr Casey told shareholders at the firm's annual general meeting that it was looking at buying one of Dubai's "leading" recruitment operations. He said payment for the Dubai company would be "heavily contingent" on future performance. The acquisition will be funded from Imprint's exiting working capital facilities.

Jameson sales reach 2m cases

Jameson, the whiskey brand owned by Irish Distillers, has reached annual sales of two million cases for the first time. Paul Duffy, chief executive of Irish Distillers, said yesterday that sales of Jameson had doubled over the past decade. Jameson is now one of the 50 top-selling spirit brands around the world.

Royal Liver ends Irish direct sales

Life assurance company Royal Liver is to wind up its direct sales operation in the Republic from September with the loss of 121 jobs.

The company said it had decided to cut over a fifth of its staff as a result of falling profit margins and increased competition in the market.

Survey shows rise in job vacancies

There was a significant rise in reported job vacancies in April, according to the Fás/ESRI employment and vacancies survey.

The survey said 22 per cent of all firms reported vacancies last month, up from 12 per cent in March. Employers' expectations regarding future employment in the private sector were at their most optimistic level since May 2002, according to the figures.

However the latest April figures for redundancies and in the Live Register imply a that rise in layoffs occurred simultaneously with the rise in vacancies and suggests that turnover in the labour market may be increasing.