A roundup of today's other finance news in brief
Bus builder wins Asian contracts
Ballymena bus builder the Wright Group has secured two multi-million pound contracts in Singapore and Hong Kong to deliver 200 vehicles.
The Antrim group said the new contracts would help the company to “weather the current global economic downturn” and protect jobs in Northern Ireland. The group is currently in the process of laying off about 100 workers after trimming earlier plans to shed 235 jobs.
Mark Nodder, managing director of the Wright Group, said yesterday the new contract wins in Asia could not have come at a better time.
He added that there were good prospects for the Wright Group to pursue further sales in southeast Asia over the next few years, both for completely built buses or kits.
Aminex’s record gas production
Aminex, the listed Irish oil and gas explorer with operations in Africa, said yesterday that its loss before tax fell by 75 per cent to $1.15 million during the first six months of 2009 from $4.64 million a year earlier.
The company said it achieved record gas production in the first half of the year, while oil production was 50 per cent higher than in the same period a year earlier. However, the 45 per cent slide in oil and gas prices offset the production increases.
The company posted group revenues of $3.8 million, which comprise of $2.2 million oil and gas revenues and $1.6 million oilfield services and supplies revenues. Aminex says a third exploration well, South Malak-1 in Egypt, is currently being drilled.
Volvo Ocean Race
An article in last Monday’s edition, concerning payment difficulties for suppliers to major events, said that the Volvo Ocean Race was offering suppliers 70 per cent of the total owed.
The Volvo Ocean Race is a global organisation owned jointly by the various Volvo companies and it did not organise the Galway stopover. As the article stated later, the company behind the stopover was Let’s Do It Galway.
IPA appointment
Brian Cawley has been appointed as the new director general of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA).
Mr Cawley most recently served as the IPA’s assistant director general for training, development and international services.
Warning over projects with ‘political risk’
A senior executive at StatoilHydro, one of the companies involved in the Corrib gas project, has said that in Ireland “political risk” has practical consequences for the progress of a project.
Peter Mellbye, Statoil’s head of international exploration and production, said in an Norwegian press interview that while the processing facility for the Corrib gas project was ready, the company was still dependent on a approval for the 9km onshore pipeline, a process which seems to be “fairly complicated”.
“When we look at political risk with practical consequence to project progress, then Ireland unfortunately stands out as an example,” Mr Mellbye said. The company holds a large stake in the field. - (Bloomberg)
