In Short

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

44% pay rise for Glanbia manager

Glanbia managing director John Maloney saw his total pay increase 44 per cent last year, well ahead of the 6 per cent increase in operating profit recorded by the food group.

Mr Maloney's pay package totalled €927,000, up from €642,000 in 2005. His actual salary was €438,000, with a performance bonus of €329,000 and a pension contribution and other benefits totalling €160,000.

Finance director Geoffrey Meagher received a total of €569,000 last year, a 35 per cent increase.

Glanbia recorded an operating profit of €85.6 million. Revenue increased 1 per cent to €1.85 billion. - (Reuters)

European shares hit six-year high

European shares closed at their highest level in more than six years yesterday, led by oil stocks as well as drugmakers such as AstraZeneca and supported also by merger and acquisition speculation.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares gained 0.72 per cent to close at 1,553.56 points, its highest close since December 19th, 2000, and up 0.8 per cent for the week.

European stock markets have rallied to recover from a global equities sell-off in late February and early March. Citigroup said valuations remained attractive.

RBS in takeover approach to ABN

Royal Bank of Scotland, in a consortium with Fortis and Spain's Santander, has approached ABN AMRO with a view to entering takeover talks, a source close to the matter said.

ABN, worth €64 billion at current market prices, has been in exclusive merger talks with Barclays since last month to strike the biggest-ever bank takeover, but a 30-day period of exclusivity expires next week.

The source said RBS, Europe's second-biggest bank, approached ABN yesterday morning.

A planned joint bid from the three banks would entail a full break-up of ABN's extensive retail and wholesale banking operations, a move the Dutch regulator indicated this week it would not oppose, though the carve-up would be very complex, as would structuring a three-way offer. - (Reuters)

EU-subsidised Asian placements

Chambers Ireland has invited Irish businesses to apply for two EU-subsidised training programmes, designed to train executives to be more effective when doing business with Japan and Korea.

A total of 60 places are available and participants will receive a scholarship of €24,000. The programme will incorporate a three-month placement in a Japanese or Korean company.

Irish finalists for Microsoft trophy

Microsoft has announced that 10 Irish finalists have qualified for its global student technology company, the Imagine Cup. The finals will take place at Microsoft's campus in Sandyford on April 26th.

The finalists are from a number of universities and institutes of technology, with three separate entries from NUI Galway.

High first-quarter earnings for GE

General Electric reported higher first-quarter earnings yesterday, with strong demand for heavy equipment driving the infrastructure segment, while the GE Plastics business weighed on industrial results.

GE announced its net earnings rose to $4.51 billion from $4.44 billion a year earlier. - (Reuters)