A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Kennedy joins Finance Ireland
Finance Ireland has appointed Gary Kennedy as a non-executive director. Mr Kennedy was previously on the board of AIB and held the position of group finance director with this bank from 1997 to 2005. He was also a member of AIB's US partner M&T Bank.
He now works as an independent business consultant and he is also a non-executive board director of a number of companies, including Elan and Calyx.
Aga cooks up hot profits Of €32.5m
Waterford Stanley parent Aga Foodservice has estimated that pre-tax profits for the first half of the year of £22 million (€32.5 million). The strength of its cooker and refrigerator brands underpinned this robust performance, it said in a trading statement yesterday.
Easyjet sees its load factor slip
Price cuts by low-cost airline easyJet failed to result in it filling a greater percentage of its seats last month. Passenger statistics published yesterday show the group's load factor stood at 86.8 per cent in June, down from 87.6 per cent a year earlier, after the airline carried 3.44 million people, an increase of 15.1 per cent on a year earlier.
Load factors in the low-cost sector have been under pressure recently as airlines increase the size of their fleets and face up to more challenging trading conditions. - (PA)
Larger zinc deposit in Limerick
The AIM-listed precious metals exploration company Minco has discovered that the area of high-grade zinc mineralisation at its Pallas Green prospect in Co Limerick is larger than previously known.
Drilling is continuing at the prospect and is expected to lead to further zinc mineralisation discoveries.
Wuffli ousted from UBS bank
Peter Wuffli was ousted as chief executive of UBS amid growing unease in the Swiss bank's senior ranks about his management of the bank's day-to-day operations.
People close to the bank said Mr Wuffli's departure, announced late on Thursday night, reflected unease among UBS's board of directors about his handling of Dillon Read Capital Management, the bank's in-house hedge fund, which was closed down this year following losses in the subprime mortgage market.
His ousting after five years in which the bank has performed well, highlights the growing pressures on chief executives of large institutions. -(Financial Times service)
Gazprom buys into Britain again
Gazprom has made its second small acquisition in Britain, and talked about its ambitions for further expansion, but played down expectations that a much larger bid for a leading UK utility could be imminent.
Gazprom Marketing and Trading, a London-based unit of the state-controlled Russian gas company, has bought Cheshire-based Natural Gas Shipping Services, for an undisclosed amount. Gazprom was exercising an option that it took when buying Pennine Natural Gas, its first British acquisition, last year. - ( Financial Times service )
