ireland.com - The Irish Times

Airtricity for sale at potential price of €1bn
Wind energy group Airtricity is up for sale with a potential price tag of €1 billion, just weeks after the company sold its North American division for a similar sum, writes Barry O'Halloran . p

Lending to building sector slows sharply
Lending to the construction sector slowed to its lowest level in four years in September, while property lending growth is at its lowest level in five years, according to the latest statistics from the Central Bank, writes Simon Carswell , Finance Correspondent. p

Sale of 'Sligo Champion' could fetch €15m for its owners
The Sligo Champion newspaper has been put up for sale by the Townsend family. It is understood that the title could fetch up to €15 million for the owners, Niall and Michael Townsend, writes Ciaran Hancock . p

Other Stories

Irish productivity must improve - Cowen
Ireland must pursue improvements in its productivity as an economy with the same commitment it had to secure peace in Northern Ireland, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen told American business interests in Dublin yesterday. Laura Slattery reports. p
Maryborough owes €23m to Anglo
Anglo Irish Bank approved loan facilities of €84.5 million in August 2006 to property development company Maryborough Construction Holdings to fund the site acquisition and completion of a major shopping centre and residential complex in Portlaoise town centre, writes Simon Carswell , Finance Correspondent. p
Ryanair seeks removal of aviation regulator
Ryanair has called on Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to remove aviation regulator Cathal Guiomard from his post for failing to properly regulate the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and for allowing costs at the regulator's office to rise unchecked, writes Ciaran Hancock , Business Affairs Correspondent. p
Cemex buys Tarrant building materials firm
Building materials company Cemex has spent €21 million on a number of acquisitions, including a quarrying and concrete business in Tipperary, writes Barry O'Halloran . p
Ireland's exports rose 5% in first eight months of the year
The value of exports from the Republic grew 5 per cent to almost €60 billion in the first eight months of the year, according to the latest figures, writes Barry O'Halloran . p
Legal & General Dublin unit to create 40 jobs
British pensions and investments company Legal & General is creating 20 jobs with the opening of a subsidiary in Dublin which will sell investment products into the UK and Europe, writes Simon Carswell , Finance Correspondent. p
EU move to cut regulatory burden on small firms
European Union industry ministers gave the green light yesterday for smaller firms to avoid complying with some of the bloc's financial reporting rules to help cut costs and create more jobs. p
US holiday offers Iseq no respite as another €0.5bn lost
The Thanksgiving holiday in the US gave global financial markets some respite from volatility yesterday, but the festive cheer did not extend to the Irish stock market, which saw a further half a billion euro wiped from the value of Irish shares, writes Laura Slattery . p
O'Donoghue to retire as ESB chairman
ESB chairman Tadgh O'Donoghue is set to retire at the end of January after serving a seven-year term, writes Barry O'Halloran . p
Solicitor takes case against Lynn
A Dublin solicitor has brought High Court proceedings alleging that failures by solicitor Michael Lynn to honour undertakings relating to 10 apartments in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, have left him unable to register ownership of the properties, writes Mary Carolan . p
UniCredit puts buys on hold for at least two years
UniCredit, the Italian bank that transformed itself into the euro area's second-biggest bank through a slew of acquisitions, is putting further buys on hold, its chief executive said yesterday. p
Making the best of the latest crisis
Market View: The current crisis offers investors a chance to pick up bargains, writes Michael McCabe . p
Little to cheer as market woes continue
Market Report: There was a Thanksgiving lull in activity yesterday, but while the American holiday cheer helped the FTSE make gains, there were still a few turkeys to be found on the Iseq index, which fell 0.85 per cent yesterday. p
InShort
A round-up of other technology stories in brief p

Agenda

Upwardly mobile
The Friday Interview: Perlico chief executive, Iain MacDonald, was a busy man last week. On Tuesday, he signed a deal to sell his fixed-line telephone and broadband group to Vodafone for up to €80 million, writes Ciarán Hancock p
Public sector reform would aid productivity
Economics: The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen correctly identified faster productivity growth as the key to the economy's future success when he delivered the Indecon Public Policy Lecture last Monday, writes Paul Tansey . p
Irishman fights extradition
An Irish businessman wanted by police in Britain to face fraud charges dating back 25 years plans to challenge a ruling by the Supreme Court to order his extradition, writes Jamie Smyth in Brussels. p
To ban or not
We are currently seeing a rerun, for the umpteenth time, of the old controversy about alcohol advertising. "Ban it altogether," says the anti-alcohol lobby. "Leave it to us to apply voluntary controls," says the drinks industry, writes Feargal Quinn . p
Planet Business
Compiled by Laura Slattery p

Technology

Oracle unveils vision for the future
Consolidation and integration were the key themes at one of the biggest annual software events, Oracle OpenWorld, writes Karlin Lillington in San Francisco. p
Former students go down that road with JustRoutes
An Irish mapping website which provides details of public transport links around the country saw a 150 per cent increase in usage as a result of the recent Dublin Bus dispute, writes John Collins . p
Kernel sets up €70m fund
Kernel Capital Partners has moved into the top tier of Irish venture capital firms with the closing of a €70 million investment fund, writes John Collins . p
Eircom's €100,000 fund to aid web pioneers
Eircom has created a Web Innovation Fund that will award €100,000 annually to a selection of promising Irish web applications, writes John Collins . p
Christmas cards for the text generation
A new Dublin firm has given the humble Christmas card a 21st-century makeover and introduced the "mobi-card", a full-colour, customisable greeting that can be sent to a recipient's mobile phone, writes John Collins . p
Spider winners named
Internet pioneer Denis Jennings, who was involved in some of the key decisions that led to the creation of the internet as we know it, was last night recognised as the 2007 Internet Hero at the eleventh annual Eircom Golden Spiders Awards, writes John Collins . p
US avails of bloggers to spread word
The US state department, departing from traditional diplomacy practice, has admitted it has a three-person "digital outreach team" posting entries in Arabic on "influential" Arabic blogs to challenge misrepresentations of the United States and promote alternative futures for Islamic youths besides terrorism. p
Data insecurities
The loss of the personal data of 25 million UK residents by the Revenue and Customs service would not have occurred if basic information security systems were in place, according to experts, writes John Collins . p
Gore's green Valley
Net Results: Silicon Valley is turning out to be Gore's Valley. Al Gore, joint winner of this year's Nobel Peace prize and 2006 Oscar winner for his An Inconvenient Truth documentary, has snagged a very nice line-up of dream Valley jobs, writes Karlin Lillington . p
Nice feeling for Touch
Inbox: There's been so much hype about the iPhone, Apple's combined mobile and iPod, that it's easy to forget about the iPod Touch (right), the big-screened iPod without the phone part, writes Mike Butcher . p
Worm worries
Wired: Nobody quite knows what threat the Storm Worm offers to the innocent users and the overall stability of the Net. We know a few things: we know that the Worm sneaks its way into computer users' PCs by masquerading as an innocuous e-mail attachment, writes Danny O'Brien . p
Blogspot
As it has become ubiquitous, e-mail has also suffered something of a backlash. Most of us spend our working day crawling out from under a mountain of spam or attempting to sort the wheat from the chaff of corporate missives. p

Personal Finance

The bonus ball
Shareholders in the securities industry are having their worst year since 2002, losing $74 billion of their equity. That won't prevent Wall Street from paying record bonuses, totalling almost $38 billion. p
Safety in AIB's numbers
A picture can tell a thousand words and a recent AIB share price graph paints a dramatic picture, writes Rory Gillen . p
Credit problems
Uncertainty about the fees European credit card operators can legally charge shops is delaying investment in new types of card, Visa Europe and MasterCard said this week. p
Driving an insurance bargain
The cost of insuring a car may begin creeping upwards again, reports Caroline Madden . p
Subprime sequel
Serious Money: The panic that gripped financial markets during the summer has returned with a vengeance and the positive sentiment that surfaced following the Federal Reserve's first reduction in official interest rates just weeks ago has disappeared as the magnitude of losses arising from the subprime meltdown continue to be revised upwards, writes Charlie Fell . p
Wherefore the bank dividends?
Croesus/The Investor's View: The week got off to a very bad start as more news emerged concerning the scale of the bad debt problem that is facing financial institutions worldwide. p
Q&A
Dominic Doyle answers your questions p

Recruitment & Management

Public service on the prowl
Moves will be made over the next few weeks to fill three of the most senior human resource management positions in the public service, writes Gerald Flynn . p
Pet ideas
The DSPCA is launching several innovative business models to fund its core mission of helping mistreated and injured animals, writes Caroline Madden . p
Comply or die
The level of compliance has grown since the creative accounting scandals in the US, writes Simon Carswell , Finance Correspondent. p
Cooking whets appetite for corporate bonding
When cutting-edge companies want to foster team spirit, relax or even entertain clients, breaking bread together is no longer enough - they now bake that bread themselves. Corporate cookery courses are the latest exercise in business bonding. p

BackPage

Starbucks goes stir-crazy to pour into Tesco outlets
One More Thing: Could Starbucks be coming to a Tesco near you? Not this year it won't but if a trial in nine Tesco stores in the UK goes well, then don't rule out seeing the Seattle-based coffee retailing giant arriving at your local supermarket. p
Pharmacists find letter hard to take
One More Thing: There were more than a few hyperventilating pharmacists in Ireland on Tuesday morning following the delivery of a letter from the Health Service Executive (HSE). p
The name of the game for rival funds
One More Thing: Irish Life Investment Managers' (ILIM) recent launch of its "Irish Opportunities Fund" to much fanfare spurred its rivals at Oppenheim Investment Managers into action last week. p
O'Leary flying high despite Aer Lingus loss
One More Thing: Michael O'Leary was in flying form in Dublin yesterday as he gave his favourite hobbyhorse - aviation regulation - a run-out. p
Q102 pitches in with small profit
One More Thing: Four years after UTV shelled out a hefty €15 million for Q102 in Dublin, the over-35s radio station finally turned a profit. p
Cleaning up
Under the Radar: Students get a fair amount of stick for partying when they should be studying. A day out on the golf course though led to three young NUI Maynooth students setting up their own business and nabbing this year's Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. p

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