A round-up of other business news in brief

Zurich fined £2.3 million for failure to protect customer data

Zurich Financial Services’s British business has been fined £2.3 million for failing to prevent the loss of 46,000 customers’ confidential data. The insurer lost personal details regarding customers’ identity, bank-account and credit-card information, and details of their insured assets, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said yesterday in a statement.

The information, on a back-up tape, disappeared in South Africa while it was being transferred between data centres, the regulator said. Zurich did not learn of the mistake until a year later. “Zurich UK let its customers down badly,” FSA enforcement chief Margaret Cole said in the statement.

The fine is the fourth the FSA has levied for data loss and the largest against a single firm for failing to protect data. Zurich settled the case at an early stage and qualified for a 30 per cent discount on the fine. No personal data was compromised, the FSA said. – (Bloomberg)

Foster's posts loss of $820m

Foster's, Australia's biggest beer and wine maker, posted a second-half loss after a Aus$1.2 billion writedown on its wine division, which the company may spin off next year. The net loss was $820.1 million in the six months to June 30th, compared with net income of $27 million a year earlier.

Foster's is considering separating its wine business after taking $2.7 billion in charges and write-downs in the past seven years.

Chief executive Ian Johnston said yesterday the company had "nothing to disclose" about reports that SABMiller and Asahi Breweries may bid for its beer operations before the wine split scheduled for next year. – (Bloomberg)

Kentz recruiting 100 engineers

Engineering company Kentz is recruiting more than 100 engineers as part of its expansion in Australia.

The Tipperary-based company,which is listed on the AIM market on the London Stock Exchange, is looking to fill more than 100 positions for experienced electricians and instrument technicians to work on its oil and gas projects out in Australia.

The company, which has operations in 26 countries, has won over $400 million Australian dollars worth of contracts in Australia over the past 18 months.

Interviews will be held in the Kentz Clonmel office in Co Tipperary during the third week of September.