A round-up of today's other business news in brief ...

BoI announces recapitalisation egm details

Bank of Ireland will hold an extraordinary general meeting (egm) or “court” at the Savoy cinema, O’Connell Street, Dublin, at 11am on Friday, March 27th.

Shareholders will vote on the Government’s plan to recapitalise the bank with €3.5 billion through preference shares and the granting of warrants to the National Pensions Reserve Fund to subscribe for up to 25 per cent of ordinary shares in the bank.

94% of investors more ‘risk averse’

Some 94 per cent of investments advisers found that customers with money to invest are adopting a more risk-adverse strategy due to the current market conditions, according to a Bank of Ireland Life survey.

It found that 78 per cent of advisers said new investors were more likely to invest in “capital-secure” products.

Lenders repossess 96 houses in 2008

Some 96 houses were repossessed by the mainstream mortgage lenders in 2008, according to the Irish Banking Federation (IBF). This represents one in every 10,000 mortgages issued in the State and compares with 35 in the UK.

The IBF said repossession levels in Ireland were “low by international standards”.

US private sector sheds 697,000 jobs

The US private sector shed 697,000 jobs in February, according to a survey of business employment, while the services sector shrank less than forecast but more sharply than in January.

The Institute of Supply Management’s non- manufacturing index fell to 41.6 from 42.9 the previous month. Readings below 50 signal contraction.

CRH

A panel accompanying the story “CRH hoping to raise €1.24 billion in rights issue”, in yesterday’s edition, incorrectly stated that, in 2008, CRH made an operating loss of €1.8 billion.

The panel should have said that it made an operating profit of €1.8 billion.