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

AIB's Polish bank doubles Q1 income

AIB’s Polish unit Bank Zachodni has said that first-quarter net income nearly doubled over the same period last year.

AIB is planning to sell its 70 per cent stake in the bank to raise capital.

Bank Zachodni said its net income rose to 233 million zloty (€59.6 million) in the first quarter of this year from 119 million zloty (€30.4 million) in 2009.

The bank’s chief executive Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference yesterday that he expected AIB to complete the sale of its majority stake in the fourth quarter of this year or during the first three months of 2011.

Bidders are to be invited to express an interest in acquiring AIB’s stake in June and July with talks to be held through September.

Cooke to head newspaper group

Paul Cooke, managing director of the Independent Star Newspaper Group, has been appointed chairman of the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI). He succeeds Maeve Donovan, former managing director of The Irish Times Ltd.

A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, Mr Cooke has worked in the newspaper industry for 22 years. He became managing director of the Independent Star Group in 2001.

NNI, which was founded in 1985, acts to promote newspapers.

Digiweb buys TalkTalk Telecom

Telecoms group Digiweb has acquired the telephone and broadband business of TalkTalk Telecom in Ireland and Belgium and is hiring an additional 20 staff to support an expansion of the business.

The staff will be recruited in customer care, systems development and finance.

No financial details of the deal have been released but Digiweb said post-acquisition it would have annual revenues of more than €50 million and expected to book a net operating profit of €10 million.

In December 2009, Digiweb bought Smart Telecom, while in January this year it bought Internet Ireland.

Digiweb said yesterday that both acquisitions were now cash-positive contributors to the group.

National Solidarity Bond

An article that appeared in yesterday’s edition of Business This Week stated that an individual who invests €500 in the newly launched National Solidarity Bond for the maximum 10-year period will earn a net return of €475. This sum is actually the net return that will be earned on an investment of €1,000, rather than €500, over 10 years.

The after-tax rate of return is 47.5 per cent, or 3.96 per cent annual equivalent rate.