InShort

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

SFI research funding exceeds €1bn

The research commitments of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) have exceeded €1 billion, the foundation announced after a board meeting in Cork yesterday.

Funding investments in 2007 were €365.3 million, making it a record year.

Since it was established in 2001 SFI has approved more than 1,800 awards as part of its effort to encourage high quality research. The annual grants budget for 2008 will be €172 million, up from €156 million in 2007.

Confidence dip for NI surveyors

Business confidence amongst Northern Ireland's chartered surveyors has fallen as a result of fears about the future of public projects.

Major health and education projects have been "delayed, diluted and abandoned" since the restoration of devolution, says the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

The institute says that construction confidence in Northern Ireland has dipped, thanks to recent house price falls and the scaling back of building in the private housing sector.

John Davidson, the institute's construction spokesman, called on the North's executive to "ensure a steady release of public sector construction work. Too many projects released at once will create a log-jam, whilst too slow a release will hamper firms' ability to retain staff."

New gas engines for cola plants

Coca-Cola's European bottling arm will spend €225 million installing gas engines to power its factories, including one in Northern Ireland, to comply with EU greenhouse gas emissions.

Gas engines will be installed at Knockmore Hill, Co Antrim, and 14 other plants in Europe and Africa to help power the company's bottling plants and heating systems. The engines will help reduce the company's annual carbon dioxide emissions by at least 40 per cent, the firm says.

NI tax change will 'undermine jobs'

The changes to capital gains tax in Northern Ireland will undermine efforts to create high-end jobs, say the Irish Exporters Association. The UK government announced last week that capital gains tax will move to an incremental system to a flat rate of 18 per cent, with the first £1 million of capital gains to be taxed at 10 per cent.

Merrion Capital profits hit €25.5m

Profits of stockbroking firm Merrion Capital grew to €25.5 million last year despite the downturn on the Irish markets. Merrion's pretax profits increased by €1.3 million, the firm said yesterday.

Merrion's parent company, Icelandic firm Landsbanki, announced an increase in pretax profits to €520 million while total loan assets rose to €33.4 billion.

Syndicate to invest €10m in Berlin site

German commercial property syndicate, CMC Capital, is to invest €10 million extending the €240 million A10 shopping centre in Berlin.

The firm, which has more than €500 million of property under management in Germany on behalf of syndicate investors, said the country was a conservative investment location "that offers diversification from the cooling Irish property market".

New electronic guides from ICAI

The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) has announced two new electronic products for practising accountants.

The ICAI said that Procedures for Quality Audit 2008 and Audit Exempt: A Guide for Chartered Accountants,

will assist industry professionals in the planning, execution and documentation of audit and accounting work.