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More business news in brief.

Property demand good, say auctioneers and valuers

The head of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI) has said demand for property is "good" despite flagging prices.

IAVI chairman Edward Carey told the institute's annual general meeting yesterday that stable rents, immigration and "good" employment figures were acting to maintain demand for homes. He said there was activity in the market and where buyers "perceived value", houses would continue to sell.

Mr Carey welcomed changes to stamp duty for first-time buyers in the last budget.

He urged the new Minister for Finance to "finish the job" and adjust transfer taxes, which were acting as a "major impediment to mobility and efficient use of property stock".

Dragon Oil disappointed over results from Yemen drilling 

Dublin-listed exploration group Dragon Oil has said it was "disappointed" with the overall results from the exploration drilling programme in Yemen.

The company said that while oil and gas shows were encountered at the Dhulai'h-1 exploration well, testing operations did not produce any hydrocarbons and the well was plugged and abandoned.

It added that the Daw'an South-1 had only slight oil shows and was declared dry. The well has been plugged and abandoned. The test on basement at the Tasilah West-1 well revealed only water and the well has been plugged and abandoned, and the rig has been released, it said.

Cavan students pick up award

Five students from Loreto College, Cavan, yesterday beat competition from 3,000 of their peers across Ireland to pick up this year's RDS Student Innovation Award.

The contest, organised by Junior Achievement Ireland's company programme, aims to link business mentors from the local community with students starting off and managing their own company.

This year's winners - Niamh Kelly, Elaine McCabe, Eleanor Phelan, Alison O'Reilly, Deirdre Kelly, teacher Carmel Dolan and mentor Siobhán Kelly - produced an information booklet aimed at students entering third-level education.

Up to 100 teams participated in the regional finals from which seven were selected for yesterday's national final at the RDS in Dublin.

Each presented the company's business plan and made a business presentation to three judges.

Lower earnings for Wyeth

Wyeth posted slightly lower first-quarter earnings, hurt by the recent launch of generic forms of its Protonix ulcer drug, but surprisingly strong sales of other medicines enabled it to beat Wall Street forecasts.

Wyeth earned $1.2 billion (€750 million), or 89 cents per share, compared with $1.25 billion, or 92 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, it earned 94 cents per share.

Wyeth operates a number of plants, including a biotech campus at Grange Castle Business Park in south County Dublin and Wyeth Medica Ireland in Co Kildare. It has an Irish workforce of more than 3,000. - (Reuters)

Bid for Alitalia withdrawn

Air France-KLM formally withdrew its bid for Alitalia late on Monday night, sharply reducing the chances that Europe's biggest airline can be persuaded to buy the Italian flag carrier.

The Franco-Dutch carrier said Alitalia had asked it to clarify its position after it quit talks with unions over conditions for the takeover.

"Air France-KLM has indicated to Alitalia that the contractual arrangements announced on March 14th with a view to launching a public exchange offer on Alitalia were no longer valid; the conditions precedent that had to be satisfied prior to launching were not fulfilled," it said.

5% profit rise for British Foods

Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark discount clothes stores and the Silver Spoon sugar refiner, posted a 5 per cent rise in first-half profit yesterday but said economic conditions were difficult.

The food and retailing company said adjusted pretax profit was £282 million (€352 million) for the 24 weeks to March 1st, up from £268 million a year ago and compared with analysts' forecasts that ranged from £274 million to £311 million and averaged at £282.7 million.

Revenue jumped 15 per cent.