In Short

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

Fuel dealer convicted for price-fixing

A Mayo businessman who has admitted participating in a home heating fuel price-fixing scam faces penalties of a €3.8 million fine and two years in prison.

JP Lambe, of Brookhill, Claremorris, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to entering into an agreement to restrict or distort trade in fuel by fixing the selling price.

Lambe, who was chairman of the Connacht Fuel Distributors Federation, was remanded on continuing bail for sentence next March.

Job vacancies settle in October

The number of job vacancies in the economy stabilised in October after several months of volatile swings over the summer. But employers have grown more pessimistic about future job trends. According to the latest Fás/ESRI employment and vacancies survey, 12 per cent of firms reported vacancies in October compared with 11 per cent in September.

The overall trend in vacancies masked strong growth in construction and service sector vacancies, falling vacancies in the retail sector and a flat performance in the industrial sector.

J&J agrees cut price for Guidant

Johnson & Johnson cut the price it will pay for rival device maker Guidant by about 15 per cent, the companies said yesterday, rescuing a deal that was on the verge of falling apart.

For months, investors have anticipated that J&J would seek to reduce the original price of $25.4 billion (€21.7 billion), or $76 per share, after a spate of Guidant product recalls this past summer. Including Guidant's cash position, the deal is now valued at about $21.5 billion. -(Reuters)

German economy gains momentum

Germany's economy gathered momentum in the third quarter as exports surged but domestic demand remains subdued, according to data released yesterday. Germany's gross domestic product grew by 0.6 per cent, ahead of expectations. On a year-on-year basis the Germany economy grew by 1.3 per cent in the period, but the performance was heavily export-driven.

Anderson builds stake in O&B

Well-known investor Kevin Anderson has increased his stake in the Carlow-based engineering company Oglesby & Butler to 24.8 per cent.

Mr Anderson acquired 478,942 shares, or 3.88 per cent of the company.

Oppenheim drops Montgomery

Montgomery Oppenheim has changed its name to Oppenheim Investment Managers. The company manages around €1.7 billion.

Sal Oppenheim acquired the Irish group last March when it bought the 25 per cent stake held by the company's founder, Paul Montgomery.