In short

A look at today's other news

Seedcorn competition under way

InterTradeIreland has launched its 2007 All-Island Seedcorn Business Competition for small businesses with a prize fund of €280,000.

Seedcorn is aimed at fledgling independent ventures which entrants already own and manage. The competition offers budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their business idea; improve their business plan with expert advice; learn how to present concepts to panels of investors; gain exposure to venture capitalists; and increase the profile of their business.

The final takes place on November 29th.

Fabergé goes back to gemstones

Fabergé, the company famous for designing jewel- encrusted eggs for Russian tsars, is to be returned by its new owners to the precious stone and luxury goods business.

Pallinghurst Resources, a private equity group which bought the Fabergé brand from Unilever, the consumer products manufacturer, said it planned to revive the Fabergé brand as "the world's leading supplier of branded gemstones". Under Unilever, Fabergé was mainly a cosmetics brand.

Fabergé Gemstones' business will extend from sourcing rough stones through to polished and branded gemstones, which will be sold wholesale to jewellery makers. - (Reuters)

Italian companies under scrutiny

ENI chief executive Paolo Scaroni and AEM Milano chairman Giuliano Zuccoli are under scrutiny as part of an investigation by Milan magistrates into possibly fraudulent natural gas metering, according to the energy companies.

ENI's and AEM's offices were raided yesterday by officers of Italy's financial police, the companies said. In a statement ENI said police had removed documents.

ENI said the companies it controlled which were involved in the investigation were gas distributor Snam Rete Gas and Italgas.

Mr Scaroni said the company was not troubled by the investigation, which concerns non-booked gas, which is the difference between gas that ENI buys from its suppliers and that which ENI then sells to distributors.

Air France-KLM €19m legal costs

Air France-KLM ran up US legal costs of €10 million ($13.4 million) in the past financial year fighting class-action suits against the group for its role in alleged price-fixing of freight rates in its air cargo operations, but it has yet to make any provision for these costs in its accounts.

Air France-KLM, the world's biggest airline measured by turnover, along with several other leading international carriers, has been under investigation by the US justice department, the European Commission and other national cartel authorities, for alleged price-fixing of long-haul fuel surcharges on air cargo.

Sanyo cuts lead to profits

Sanyo Electric Co Ltd has posted a swing to an annual operating profit after cost cuts more than offset slow digital camera sales, but forecasts an unexpected earnings decline this year due to higher raw material prices. Sanyo, the world's largest rechargeable battery maker, enjoyed strong solar cell demand, but its digital camera operations were hit by fierce competition from other brands.

NCB Stockbrokers

In the last paragraph of yesterday's business opinion column, reference was made to NCB. It should have read NIB. The error is regretted.