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

NTR in share buy-back scheme

Irish utility firm NTR has returned €252 million to shareholders in a share buy-back scheme. The "liquidity event" saw the company purchase the equivalent of 16 per cent of its share capital.

NTR, which booked a profit of €830.8 million following the disposal of its wind farm unit Airtricity, and the sale of its interest in the West-Link toll-bridge to the Government, offered to redeem shares worth as much as €275 million at an egm last month. The redemption was offered at €6.65 per ordinary share.

Major shareholders include Dreamport Ltd, which held 35.5 per cent of the company on behalf of NTR chairman Tom Roche and his family for the year ending March 31st, 2007, according to the company's annual report.

Oil drops to seven-week low

Oil dropped $2 to a fresh seven-week low yesterday, extending a decline that has knocked more than $23 off crude in two weeks as high fuel prices continue to batter demand.

US crude fell $2.23 to settle at $123.26 after falling to $122.50 earlier, the lowest price since June 5th. Brent crude lost $2.01 to trade at $124.43 a barrel. - (Reuters)

Japanese inflation surges to 1.9%

Annual inflation in Japan accelerated to 1.9 per cent in June at the fastest rate for more than a decade, because of surging energy and food prices.

Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, increased the most in a month since late 1992. The annual rate was 1.5 per cent in May. - (Financial Times service)

Economic growth slips back in UK

The British economy continued to slow in the second quarter of the year, recording a rate of growth that has not been lower in seven years.

Economic growth slipped to 0.2 per cent between April and June compared with the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said, down from 0.3 per cent growth in the first quarter.

Economists predicted that the British economy was already contracting and would see overall negative growth for the third quarter of 2008. - (Financial Times service)

Munich Re issues profit warning

German reinsurer Munich Re issued a profit warning yesterday, saying turmoil in global markets would hurt its second-quarter profit and result in a lower than forecast profit for the year as a whole.

It cut its earnings forecast for the year after second-quarter profit declined 48 per cent. Net income fell to about €600 million ($942 million) from €1.16 billion a year earlier over the same period.

Housing markets dip across Europe

Euro zone housing markets have shown fresh signs of cooling, with growth in mortgage lending dropping sharply to the lowest annual rate since the launch of the euro. The latest European Central Bank euro zone lending data, published yesterday, provides fresh evidence of a substantial economic slowdown across the 15-country bloc. - (Financial Times service)

IAWS correction

A photograph which appeared in yesterday's Business This Week was incorrectly captioned.

The picture was of Iaws chief executive officer Owen Killian and not chairman Denis Lucey as stated.