A round-up of other business stories in brief...

ILP raises 1bn in bond offering

Irish Life and Permanent has raised €1 billion through a new bond offering which closed yesterday.

The bond issuance was supported by 30 investors from Europe and the US, the company said.

The bond price achieved 175 bps over mid-swap rates, comparing favourably to the price performance of similar debt in the secondary markets in recent weeks, the company said.

Irish Life Permanent’s share price traded up by more than 10 per cent, or 18 cent, to close at €1.90 yesterday on the news of the successful issuance.

The bond will mature in September 2010 and is therefore covered by the Government guarantee scheme, it said. However, on Thursday, ratings firm Moody’s warned it might cut the ratings on debt issued by Irish banks and backed by the Government to reflect the negative outlook it put on Ireland’s AAA sovereign rating last week.

6% fall in Aer Lingus passengers

A reduction in Aer Lingus passengers on its long-haul routes to the United States contributed to a fall of more than 6 per cent in passenger traffic last month.

Aer Lingus said it carried 661,000 passengers in January, down 6.4 per cent compared with the same month in 2008.

Passenger numbers on short-haul flights were 6.1 per cent lower, while those travelling to long-haul destinations fell 8.6 per cent over the period.

The load factor last month, a measure of the proportion of seats filled, on short-haul flights was 64.6 per cent, which the airline says was 1.5 per cent lower when compared to January 2008. On long-haul flights the load factor dropped to 63.8 per cent, up 2.4 per cent compared with January 2008 following a 15 per cent decrease in capacity.

The revenue per passenger dropped 1 per cent on short-haul flights and by 11.7 per cent on long-haul flights.

SEC head pledges tougher inquiries

The new chief of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday vowed to make the beleaguered regulator a tougher and faster cop on Wall Street, saying her staff will act like its “hair is on fire”. The comments by Mary Schapiro, recently confirmed as SEC chairwoman, come amid an avalanche of criticism of the agency for failing to detect Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion (€38 billion) “Ponzi” scheme. – (Financial Times service)

Providence begins new drilling

Oil and gas exploration company Providence Resources has begun new drilling operations in its British onshore oilfield in the Weald Basin in southeast England. The company carried out a survey last year which concluded that extra drilling could boost production from the field.

British Airways loses 51m

British Airways fell heavily into loss at the end of last year as business travellers, the airline’s most lucrative customers, sharply reduced their flying.

BA said yesterday it had suffered a £51 million operating loss in the three months from October to December and forecast an operating loss of £150 million for the full year – its first deficit since 2001-02.

BA said it was reviewing “every aspect of the business to control costs”. – (Financial Times service)

Toyota forecasts larger loss

Toyota forecast a far bigger full-year loss than it had flagged just six weeks ago as the world’s biggest motor manufacturer struggles to cut production fast enough to match a sharp drop in global sales. Toyota is saddled with too much capacity after years of building new plants to keep up with demand. – (Reuters)