In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

O'Reilly buys 1m IN&M shares

Sir Anthony O'Reilly bought a million shares in Independent News & Media yesterday, a further 0.12 per cent in the company, at a price of €2.33. This takes his holding to 26.6 per cent, from 26.4 per cent.

Telecoms tycoon Denis O'Brien, a critic of Sir Anthony's leadership of the media group. said on Wednesday he now has a 16.4 per cent per cent stake in the company, whose share price closed flat at €2.33.

Profit warning hits Horizon

Shares in Horizon Technology fell by 17 per cent to 53 cent yesterday after the firm issued a profit warning.

Horizon said it would have to set aside €800,000 to cover a bad debt after a UK customer went into administration. Its revenues are normally strongest towards the end of each quarter, but in an end-of-year trading update it said revenue was "lower than expected in December, partly due to orders slipping into 2008". Horizon's board said it expected growth in diluted adjusted earnings per share for the year to be in single figures.

Warning on illness policies

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority has advised life insurance companies to show care when advertising and marketing serious illness policies, after an inspection of the firms.

The financial regulator said companies' description of "serious illness cover" may lead customers to believe that all illnesses are covered by the policy whereas only illnesses mentioned in the terms and conditions are actually covered.

Persian Gold's new pay dirt

Persian Gold, the Irish-based explorer of Iranian gold, has announced its second set of positive results this week, saying it has found extensive copper-gold mineralisation at its Dalli project, 200km southwest of Tehran. The company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM index, earlier announced positive test results at its Chah-e-Zard site.

Powerflute Oyj powers ahead

Powerflute Oyj, a Finnish cardboard producer controlled by Dermot Smurfit, said yesterday that full-year profit increased as it passed on higher wood costs to customers and lowered production expenses. EBITDA advanced by about 60 per cent from last year's €12.4 million, the Kuopio, Finland-based company said. Smurfit, the former deputy chairman of Jefferson Smurfit Group, bought the Savon Sellu fluting mill from M-real Oyj in 2004, and took it public as Powerflute in May. - (Bloomberg)

Amarin drug trial approved

Amarin has won regulatory and ethical approvals to start a phase II trial for its age-associated memory impairment (AAMI) drug.

The trial will enrol 96 patients with AAMI, which is characterised by gradual memory impairment without dementia. Recruitment for the UK-based study will start shortly, with initial results expected later in 2008.

Amarin, which is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange's IEX index, previously announced positive results from a pre-clinical programme in memory and cognition using the drug, called AMR101.

€70m retail park for Navan

Blackrock International Land and its partner Lagan Developments are about to begin construction of a €70 million retail park in Navan, Co Meath. The development has received full planning permission and an anchor tenant has been secured. Sisk will be the main contractor on the site, which fronts on to the new road network in Navan.