In Short

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

Ex-Wal-Mart executive to be resentenced

A US appeals court yesterday ordered that a former Wal-Mart Stores vice-chairman be resentenced instead of serving house arrest for wire and tax fraud.

The US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that Tom Coughlin's heart condition was too fragile for him to survive prison, as his lawyers argued when he was sentenced last year to pay fines and restitution totalling $500,000 and spend 27 months under home arrest.

Coughlin, who was also a chief operating officer of Wal-Mart, admitted stealing more than $400,000 in cash and merchandise from the company through inflated or fictitious expense accounts and unauthorised use of gift cards. - (Reuters)

Carroll buys more Irish Continental

Property developer Liam Carroll has increased his stake in Irish Continental Group to 19.59 per cent by buying a further 46,061 shares at €25 each.

The price of €25 is €1 above the €24-a-share offer price that is currently on the table from Eamonn Rothwell's Aella and implies that Mr Carroll is unlikely to sell out at this level.

Island Oil gets approval for swap

Island Oil & Gas said yesterday it has received approval for its proposed asset swap with European oil and gas group OMV.

Under the terms of the agreement, Island will take control of a 50 per cent interest in the Durresi Block, offshore Albania, while OMV will take a 50 per cent interest in one of Island's exploration licences in the Rockall Basin off the west coast of Ireland.

Independent buys back 1.2m shares

Independent News & Media said yesterday it had continued its share buy back with the purchase of 1.2 million of its own shares at a cost of at least €3.95 million.

The shares will be held in treasury.

Pan Andean drill strikes gas in Gulf

Pan Andean Resources announced the successful drilling of an exploration well off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a statement released yesterday, the company said the well on Block High Island 52 encountered three zones of gas bearing sands.

Ryanair does Hostelworld deal

Ryanair has concluded a new five-year deal with Hostelworld.com to provide accommodation deals on the airline's website.

The two parties have had a contract since 2003 which has seen Hostelworld book accommodation worth €28 million for Ryanair customers.

NIB appoints first chief economist

Dr Ronnie O'Toole has been appointed National Irish Bank's first chief economist, where he will support the bank's expansion plans by providing analysis and commentary on Irish and international economic trends.

Dr O'Toole (34) was formerly a senior economist with Forfás and holds a PhD in economics from Trinity College Dublin.

He recently published Perspectives on Irish Productivity, a collection of 25 papers from economists and management specialists.

Inquiry sought into Borse Dubai

Nasdaq has asked Sweden's Securities Council to investigate Borse Dubai's takeover offer for OMX, just four days after financial regulators ruled its takeover tactics had broken Swedish law.

It is also understood that Sweden's National Economic Crimes Bureau has made preliminary inquiries into Borse Dubai's bid and may be considering its own investigation into the affair .- (Financial Times service)