A round-up of today's business news in brief
M&C sells titles to MedMedia
Specialist publisher M&C has sold its medical trade titles, including Scope, the journal of Irish Hospital Consultants' Association, and Modern Medicine, to rival MedMedia. The sale, which valued the titles at six figures, means M&C will move out of publishing and focus on providing services such as public relations, media and advertising to the medical business.
M&C is owned by the Irish Press plc. Earlier this year, the company merged with Kanvas, a medical creative agency, and decided to shift its interests away from publishing.
The other titles sold include Irish Psychiatrist, Cancerwise, Nutritionwise, Cardiodiabetes, and the Over the Counter Directory. The magazines' staff will move to MedMedia with the titles.
Former IMF official for Nama board
A former official at the International Monetary Fund, Steven Seelig, has been appointed to the board of the National Asset Management Agency following his retirement from the IMF.
Mr Seelig, who runs a consultancy firm called Financial Stability Associates, has been advising the board of Nama in a personal capacity since December. The board of Royal Bank of Scotland, the part-nationalised UK bank, met at the head office of its Irish subsidiary, Ulster Bank, on George’s Quay in Dublin yesterday.
The meeting was attended by the bank’s chairman Philip Hampton and chief executive Stephen Hester. Directors visited an Ulster Bank branch and business centre.
A spokeswoman said the directors visited Dublin as RBS regularly and there was no specific discussion on the Irish banking unit.
Production up 28% at Providence
Production at Providence Resources rose by 28 per cent in 2009, boosted primarily by its Singleton X-10 well in the UK and two wells in the Gulf of Mexico.
In an update delivered to shareholders at its agm yesterday, the oil and gas exploration company also said that it had made considerable progress in advancing its appraisal and exploration assets last year. As part of its drilling programme for the coming 18 months, Providence plans to drill a number of exploration wells at Irish locations including the Dalkey Island, Orpheus and Dunquin prospects.
Separately, Limerick-based exploration company Circle Oil announced yesterday that it has identified further gas deposits in its Al Amir prospect in Egypt.
ESB appoints group finance director
Donal Flynn of SSE Renewables is set to join State company, the ESB, as its group finance director later this year.
The ESB announced Mr Flynn’s appointment yesterday. He will take up his position in August and will succeed Bernard Byrne, who is to become AIB’s chief financial officer.
Paul Stapleton, financial controller of ESB Networks, will become group treasurer. He is succeeding Brendan Murphy, who is joining the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) as finance director.
