Other business stories in brief

CPL expects results to beat forecasts

Recruitment group CPL Resources said it expects its results for the six months to the end of December to exceed current market forecasts.

Speaking at the company's AGM yesterday, chairman John Hennessy said CPL had continued to perform strongly across most sectors as a result of continued growth in the Irish economy and labour market.

"Current trading conditions indicate that the business will continue to perform well over the coming months," he said.

Smart creditors to meet tomorrow

The Smart Creditors Action Group will hold its first meeting tomorrow in a privately hired room in the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

The group has been established to ensure that all outstanding creditors of Smart Telecom are dealt with in a proper and reasonable fashion.

All creditors will be required to present proof of debt to gain access to the meeting.

Profits spur riskier investment profile

The lift in third-quarter corporate profits encouraged European institutional investors to increase the risk profile in their portfolios this month, according to a new market analysis by US trading giant State Street.

Consumer sectors featured strongly in the latest investor confidence index from State Street, which employs 1,200 people in Ireland, suggesting that investors believed growth would not be held back by weakness in property markets.

Horizon disposes of Clarity business

Horizon Technology yesterday announced the completion of the sale of its Irish distribution arm Clarity to British group Westcoast for more than €6 million.

The Dublin-based group, which distributes information technology products, said the disposal would allow it to reduce its borrowing and concentrate on the enterprise infrastructure and applications market, an area that is currently experiencing strong growth.

Pension reserve gets 6.9% return

The National Pensions Reserve Fund reported a return of 6.9 per cent for the first nine months of the year and a return of 5.5 per cent for the quarter.

The fund's value at the end of September was €17.6 billion. The fund operates to provide partial funding of Ireland's social welfare and public service pension costs from 2025.

Lapp Plats talks of 'significant' buy

Lapp Plats, which is exploring for nickel and platinum in Sweden, Norway and Ireland, said it is in talks that may lead to an acquisition.

In a statement to the stock exchange yesterday, the group said if the purchase were to go ahead it would be described as "significant" under AIM and IEX rules. The company had already said it was in talks with a number of parties with a view to some sort of corporate transaction.

First American in deal with NIB

IFG's insurance subsidiary First American and National Irish Bank have signed a deal for First American to provide title insurance to the bank.

First American, which was founded in 1998, specialises in title insurance in the Irish market. Title insurance facilitates the smooth legal process of transferring mortgages from one lender to another.