A round-up of other business news in brief
200 new jobs for Limerick
The midwest region got a jobs boost yesterday with the announcement that almost 200 jobs are to be created by two companies in Limerick.
Powervation, based on the University of Limerick campus, makes semi-conductor power supplies for communications companies. It is creating 118 jobs over the next two years.
Energy Recovery Limerick, with offices in the Ashdown Centre, is set to employ 80 people at a new waste-thermal treatment plant in the city.
Providence gets 40% of Kinsale gas fields
Irish oil and natural gas explorer Providence Resources looks set to enter the gas storage and trading markets after securing the right to acquire a 40 per cent stake of the Kinsale Head Area gas fields. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Eirgas, has secured the option to acquire the site from Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas.
Tullow reports oil find in Uganda
Tullow Oil has announced the discovery of oil in Uganda. The company says its Kigogole-3 exploration well encountered more than 20m of net oil pay in two separate zones.
Publisher’s operating revenue up 10%
Indian newspaper publisher Jagran Prakashan, in which Independent News Media (INM) holds a 20.8 per cent stake, has reported a rise of almost 10 per cent in full-year operating revenues.
A statement issued yesterday by INM said the company’s operating revenues increased to € 126.5 million in the financial year ended March 31st.
However its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – a measure of cashflow – fell by more than 4 per cent to €24.1 million and net profit slipped by 6.6 per cent to € 14.1 million.
Emerging markets seek greater say
The leaders of the world’s biggest emerging markets have demanded a greater say in the global financial system but steered clear of any assault on the US dollar’s dominance.
The summit in Ekaterinburg of Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric) ended yesterday with a short statement by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. – (Reuters)
Tesco first-quarter sales up 4.3%
Supermarket giant Tesco has announced a rise of 4.3 per cent in first-quarter sales. The company said it indicated a “solid start” to its trading year and it represented a pick-up in growth from the previous quarter. Tesco employs about 470,000 people in more than 4,300 stores in 14 countries.
IMF says tax policies fuelled credit boom
Tax policies helped fuel the credit boom by encouraging borrowing by companies and individuals, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday as it suggested countries change their tax rules to reduce such incentives.
The IMF said tax regimes in most countries encouraged companies to finance themselves with debt rather than equity and also made it cheaper for people to take out mortgages.
Such policies, it said, contributed to an unsustainable build-up of credit, the collapse of which propelled the world into recession. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)
