In Short

A round-up of today's other business stories in brief

Adwalker posts losses of €2.8m

The AIM-listed media solutions company Adwalker has posted a loss of €2.842 million for the year to February 28th, 2006. Sales for the year reached €627,639.

Sales since the year end were €713,843, a 382 per cent rise over the first five months of last year, the group said. The company has also secured an agreement with JCDecaux Airport, the world's largest airport advertising company.

Adwalker supplies mobile body packs which are worn by its operators. The packs incorporate touch screens and printers, and can be used for advertising, point-of-sale and promotional purposes.

US group to study Metro proposal

US construction and engineering consultants Jacobs Engineering Group have been appointed by the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) to conduct a study of Dublin's proposed Metro transport system.

The Metro will be similar to metro systems in other European countries, and two initial lines - Metro West and Metro North - have been announced by the RPA.

Jacobs will conduct a "Metro West Alignment Selection Study", which is expected to take approximately 12 months.

Vodafone's Irish chief to leave

The chief executive of Vodafone Ireland, Teresa Elder, is to leave the position at the end of this year to return to the US.

Ms Elder, who came to Vodafone Ireland in January 2005, is returning to the US with her husband to help a son who suffers from cystic fibrosis remain as healthy as possible, Vodafone said in a statement yesterday. The chief executive of the Vodafone group, Arun Sarin, thanked Ms Elder for her work during the past two years.

Digicel in deal with Haitain bank

Denis O'Brien's Caribbean telcoms group, Digicel, has developed an arrangement with a Haitian bank which allows relatives or friends in North America buy mobile phones for people in Haiti.

The arrangement also allows people in North America buy credit for people in Haiti. The arrangement is with UniTransfer, a subsidiary of Haitian trade bank UniBank. Once paid for in North America, the phones can be collected at UniBank or UniTransfer branches in Haiti. Haiti has population of 8.5 million and a combined fixed and cellular phone penetration of 5.7 per cent.

Readymix pays €3.7m to Cemex

Cement producers Readymix is set to pay Mexican operator Cemex €3.7 million for the right to use its business model, technology and brands in the Republic.

The company said yesterday that the annual running cost of the system will be €2.3 million, but it will result in considerable savings after two years.

Investigation into BP under way

US federal investigators are examining whether BP manipulated crude oil and unleaded gasoline markets, the company said yesterday. BP confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal that an investigation was under way, but declined further comment.

BP shares were down 2 per cent at 593 pence, valuing the company at around £117 billion pounds (€173 billion).

"We are aware of the investigations and we are complying with requests [ on the investigation], as we always do," a BP spokesman in London said. - (Reuters)