Other finance stories in brief
Marsh chief denies sale rumour
The head of Marsh has insisted that neither the insurance broker, nor its parent Marsh & McLennan Companies, are for sale.
Brian Storms, chief executive of Marsh, MMC's insurance broking unit, told the Financial Times there was no interest on the part of the broker or its parent in selling.
However, MMC is known to be in the sights of Willis, the world's third-largest insurance broker, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US private equity group.
A person familiar with the situation indicated that Willis and KKR continued to maintain an interest in MMC, and would be watching the group's forthcoming third-quarter results closely. - (Financial Times service)
Guide to changing phone services
The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs has issued guidelines for consumers changing phone-service provider.
The regulator says some consumers do not realise they have a period of time to cancel a contract. In addition, many are not aware a contract made over the phone can be binding.
If a consumer changes service provider by phone or internet, they are entitled to protection under the Distance Selling Regulations.
Ryanair postpones some routes
Ryanair has postponed the introduction of flights between Germany and France and Morocco until later this year because of a delay in the signing of an updated open skies agreement until November 17th. The airline, which had been due to start flying from Marseille to Fez, Marrakesh and Oujda in the first week of November, and from Frankfurt to Fez and Marrakesh, later this week, aims to start flights on all routes at the start of December.
Trintech updates Assurenet
Dublin-based technology group Trintech yesterday announced improvements to its accounting compliance application Assurenet following requests from its clients. Assurenet is used by some of the world's best-known companies, including Accenture.
Colour printer sales boost Xerox
Xerox, one of the world's biggest makers of office printers, yesterday said quarterly profit rose sharply, boosted by improved sales of colour printers and supplies and a tax-related gain.
Xerox, which employs around 1,900 people in Dundalk and Dublin, reported third-quarter net profit of $536 million, or 54 US cents a share, from $63 million, or five cents a share one year ago. - (Reuters)
First-half loss at Petroneft
Petroneft Resources, a Dublin-based oil and gas exploration group, saw its first-half loss more than double after it spent money developing the business.
The company, which owns an exploration and production licence in western Siberia, reported a loss of $532,626 (€424,435) in the six months to the end of June, compared with a loss of $260,414 in the year-earlier period.
'Monopoly' sales lift Hasbro profits
Hasbro, the second largest US toymaker, yesterday reported higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, boosted by sales of its "Monopoly" board game.
Hasbro, which has a plant in Waterford, said profits were $99.6 million, or 58 US cents per share, compared with $92.1 million a year earlier. - (Reuters)
