The winner of the Business & Finance Christmas Quiz is Mr Michael Murray, Seafield Crescent, Blackrock, Co Dublin. A property sector specialist with the Bank of Ireland, he will receive a case of St Emilion, Baron Philippe de Rothschild 1996. The participants' prize has been won by Mr James Lee, Woodhouse Lodge, Bettystown Cross, Bettystown, Co Meath. He will receive a bottle of Churchill's Vintage Port, 1991. The answers are as follows.
(1) £1 pound (on December 24th) would have bought around 1.24 euros.
(2) It was at the e.g.m. of Bula Resources that the following was said: "Ladies and gentlemen, would you wake up. Give us a chance. We are going somewhere."
(3) Sean FitzPatrick replaced Jim Lacey on the board of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
(4) It was false to say the following: two sons of Brendan Murtagh were put on the Kingspan board; Waterford Crystal signed up Enya to design a new singing vase; MMI stockbrokers was taken over by Davy Stockbrokers.
(5) Ulster bank increased its interim profits by 10 per cent to £77 million sterling.
(6) The annual rate of inflation to end of November was 2.1 per cent.
(7) Greencore bought Paramount Foods for £28.2 million. (8) The US government accused Bill Gates of "an astonishing lack of recall".
(9) It is false to say the following: The new name for the amalgamated Irish Permanent and Irish Life is Permanent Irish Life; Peter Ledbetter will be the new chief executive; the merger is valued at £2.8 million.
(10) The spokesman for Fruit of the Loom accused Mary Harney and Kieran McGowan of behaving "like two dogs in a manger".
(11) Brian Joyce said: "We need an unequivocal and unambivalent statement from our shareholders that they require us to implement . . . "
(12) Grafton sold its 50 per cent interest in British Dredging for £5.75 million sterling.
(13) AIB generated profits of £401.3 million in the first half.
(14) Tara Mines claimed it had overpaid tax by £14 million.
(15) It was false to say Joe Moran did not buy 1.25 million IWP shares for £2.1 million. It was true to say the following: Tesco decided not to offer financial services from its Irish operations; that the directors of PV Doyle Hotels received remuneration of £7.5 million in the 14 months to January 31st 1996.
(16) Denis O'Brien said: "Some of the rules don't suit but I am more confident now of taking a listing than I was two weeks ago."
(17) CRH is set to acquire Ibstock for £326 million sterling.
(18) Flan Clune said: "We are not in the business of making millionaires out of private shareholders whether they come from Miami or Mullingar."
(19) Dermot Desmond made $10 million as a result of the sale of Baltimore Technologies to Zergo Holdings.
(20) Terry Hobdell said: "You cannot rule by Soviet commune."
