In Short

A round up of today's other business stories in brief

Ryanair places order for 10 new Boeings

Ryanair confirmed yesterday that it has ordered 10 Boeing 737 aircraft in an order valued at about $745 million (€553 million) at list prices.

It said it had exercised options for the 10 Boeing under the terms of its 2005 agreement with Boeing. The planes will be delivered between October and November 2010. The carrier has a fleet of 166 of Boeing's 737-800 planes.

Separately, the airline said yesterday it was referring BP to the Office of Fair Trading over unjustified increases in fuel delivery charges at Prestwick and Belfast City airports. Ryanair accused Air BP of profiteering. - (Reuters/PA)

Man pleads guilty to 40 tax offences

A Cork man has pleaded guilty to 40 offences against the Revenue Commissioner in a case the Director of Public Prosecutions regards as "very serious".

Gerard Barrett, of 29 The Paddocks, Castleredmond, Midleton, Cork, pleaded guilty yesterday to all of the offences at Midleton District Court. He is accused of 17 counts of making incorrect VAT returns and 14 counts of knowingly or wilfully claiming a repayment of VAT.

He faces seven further summonses for producing incorrect invoices to the Revenue Commissioner and two summons for making incorrect returns.

Defence solicitor Linda Lyons said her client had pleaded to the offences at the first opportunity and had been very co-operative with the Revenue.

He had met with Revenue officials on a number of occasions and a repayment plan had been put in place, she said.

Ms Lyons told the court yesterday her client had suffered very serious mental health problems as a result of this matter and she submitted a psychiatric report to the court. She made an application to have the matter adjourned.

State solicitor John Brosnan described the case as "a pretty serious matter" which had involved 41 offences, one of which was struck out yesterday.

Judge Brian Sheridan adjourned the case to January 15, 2009.

Travel operators' shares take dive

Tui Travel's majority shareholder brought the tour operator's share price crashing back down yesterday, following a sharp rise at the start of the week, when it announced it would not bid for the remainder of the company.

Tui of Germany, which owns 51 per cent of Tui Travel's shares, said it had "no current intention to make an offer" for the remaining 49 per cent of Europe's biggest travel operator.

Hopes of a bid were raised last weekend after it emerged that Tui would be selling its Hapag-Lloyd shipping subsidiary in a €4.45 billion deal. It said it was planning to use the proceeds to expand its tourism business.

Tui and Hapag Lloyd both have significant operations in Ireland. - (Financial Times service)

German banker waives bonus

Deutsche Bank chief executive officer Josef Ackermann will forgo his 2008 bonus payment, company spokesman Ronald Weichert said.

German newspaper Bild earlier reported in a preview of an article to be published today that Mr Ackermann was waiving the bonus in favour of "deserving" colleagues and as a personal sign of solidarity. - (Bloomberg)