A round-up of today’s other stories in brief

Calyx buys its second IT firm in a week

Information technology group Calyx has paid €3.68 million to acquire British-based ITS Technology Services Ltd. An information technology infrastructure services company, clients of ITS include Associated Newspapers.

This is Calyx's first move into the UK market and is its second acquisition in recent days. Last Thursday, it acquired Cork-based information technology company, QCL, for €1.28 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, €2.76 million will be paid in cash with a further €176,000 payable in shares, based on Friday's closing price of 65.5 pence per share.

O'Leary criticises Swedish air tax

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary complained yesterday about Sweden's plan for a new environmental tax on flights, saying it would discourage his airline from adding flights to the Nordic country.

The Social Democrat government of Prime Minister Goran Persson has proposed an extra 100 Swedish crowns on air tickets to encourage more environmentally friendly energy use. - (Reuters)

Smurfit Stone losses hit $229m

US-based Smurfit Stone Container has reported a third quarter loss because of restructuring charges related to plant closures.

The company posted a net loss of $229 million (€190.4 million), or 90 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $28 million, or 11 cents per share.

Small businesses 'need support'

Ireland must stop taking the smaller indigenous sector of the economy for granted if it wants to sustain its success of the past decade, said Fintan O'Toole.

Addressing a delegation of business representatives in Dublin, the newspaper columnist and author said the economy was too focused on attracting foreign direct investment and was not encouraging enough entrepreneurship among small and medium sized businesses.

"Ireland is often seen as a country that lacks entrepreneurial culture," said Mr O'Toole.

"In fact... very large numbers of Irish people aspire to starting their own business. The problem is they find it very hard to do so because government and the banking system don't take them seriously enough."

Lower quarterly results for Lucent

Lucent Technologies posted lower quarterly results in line with Wall Street expectations yesterday. The prospect of weaker wireless business growth sent shares tumbling.

The earnings report marked the second consecutive year of profitability for the communications network equipment maker after a downturn in the telecommunications industry.

The company said net income in the fourth quarter to September 30th fell 69 per cent to $374 million (€311 million), or eight US cents per share, a decline largely attributed to a big year-earlier tax benefit. - (Reuters)

African Gold gets a new name

African Gold has changed its name to Mwana Africa following its acquisition of the company of the same name. It expects to begin trading on AIM under its new name today.

The company also said it had raised £4.35 million (€6.4 million), before expenses, from the placing of 8.7 million shares.