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

Excessive directors' loans increase

There was a fourfold increase to €134 million in the amount of excessive directors’ loans reported by auditors to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement in 2008 compared to the previous year.

In a review of the year published by the office yesterday, it was stated that many of the loans – worth some €98 million – were from construction and property companies. Company law restricts the size of directors’ loans relevant to a company’s assets.

The review also said that during the year, the office had successfully sought the appointment of a High Court inspector to DCC plc, to investigate various “purchases and sales of Fyffes stock in 1995 and 2000”.

In 2008, the office was involved in 32 convictions, 20 disqualifications and one restriction. A record amount of €46,600 in fines was imposed, according to the review.

Banks haggle on toxic assets plan

Two of Britain’s biggest banks were yesterday engaged in last-minute haggling with the Treasury over the terms of a £500 billion plan to insure toxic assets, as chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling urged them to “clean up their balance sheets and rebuild for the future”.

The chancellor believes that his plan – called “Operation Broom” – is a one-off chance for RBS and Lloyds to rebuild their credibility. He hopes to strike a deal before the banks announce heavy losses in their annual results today and tomorrow respectively.

But the talks have become bogged down, as Treasury officials attempt to thrash out a deal which protects the taxpayer while encouraging banks to provide tens of billions of pounds in extra loans to homebuyers and small businesses. – (Financial Times service)

Japanese exports fall by half

Japanese exports fell by nearly half last month, with shipments of cars plummeting by over two-thirds, plunging the world’s second-largest economy deeper into recession.

Japan recorded its largest monthly trade deficit in almost three decades, according to trade figures released yesterday, stunning economic observers.

Major fall in NI building workloads

A record number of professionals working in the construction sector in the North reported a major decline in workloads towards the close of 2008 and the outlook is equally gloomy, a new industry report will show today.

The Construction Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) provides further proof of the rapid downturn in the Northern Ireland construction sector. Private commercial workloads fell at their fastest rate in Northern Ireland compared to other areas.