Today's other stories in brief

Fears over jobs at Bulmers

Fears were last night growing for a number of jobs at CC's Bulmers production plant in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, after management requested that all staff attend a briefing at the plant tomorrow.

Bulmers, which employs 417 people at the Clonmel plant and 46 in Dublin, saw its revenues drop by some 17 per cent in the three months to November 2008 compared with 2008 while its Magners revenues in the UK dropped by 24 per cent.

Union leaders said they were concerned that there could be layoffs at the cider production plant.

Daimler predicts decline of 10%

German carmaker Daimler declined to give a detailed earnings outlook for 2009 when posting a fourth-quarter operating loss, saying only that it expected demand to fall by about 10 per cent in 2009.

On top of a “pronounced decline” in all major car markets in the first half of 2009, Daimler said group vehicle sales should drop due to a substantial fall in heavy truck sales in developed markets.

British inflation falls less than expected

British inflation fell by much less than expected in January, but the surprisingly strong figures should not stand in the way of further monetary policy easing. The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices fell 0.7 per cent on the month. That took the annual rate down to 3 per cent, well above the BoE’s 2 per cent target.