A round-up of other business news in brief...
Linen Supply placed in interim examinership
A leading supplier of linen to hotels and restaurants has been placed in interim examinership.
Linen Supply of Ireland, which employs 560 people, incurred losses in 2007 and 2008, the court heard yesterday.
At the end of August, it had net estimated liabilities of €700,000 and was trading at a loss. It is currently operating with the financial support of parent CWS International. However, CWS recently made known its intention to withdraw its support.
The company claims to be the leading vendor in Ireland of washroom hygiene products and textile services. The court was told its managing directors are confident the company has a reasonable prospect of survival.
Genesis Lease in $1.75bn deal
AerCap Holdings, a Dutch aircraft-leasing company, agreed to buy Irish competitor Genesis Lease in a $1.75 billion all-stock transaction to add 55 aircraft to its fleet. The deal values each Genesis share at $8.81 based on closing prices yesterday, Amsterdam-based AerCap said in a statement.
That is a 45 per cent premium, based on prices during the 30 trading days through September 11th, the companies said. Following the transaction, AerCap will own 358 airliners and 83 engines worth $6 billion. – (Bloomberg)
Switzerland braced for legal challenges
Switzerland is braced for a flood of legal challenges over its agreement to hand confidential bank account information on nearly 4,500 UBS private clients to US tax officials.
The Swiss government’s admission yesterday that hundreds of UBS account holders suspected of evading US taxes were likely to challenge the agreement was grim news for UBS, which has sought to draw a line under the dispute. The government said as many as 500 claims would be submitted by year end. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)
Profits at Barry Group rise 7%
Profits at the Barry Group jumped close to 7 per cent last year, despite what the company referred to as “challenging market conditions”.
The Co Cork-based grocery retailer and wholesaler reported group pretax profits of €2.67 million for the year to the end of January 2009, compared to €2.5 million a year earlier. Sales rose by 4 per cent to €212.5 million.
The Barry Group operates the Costcutter and Quickpick grocery store franchise as well as acting as a wholesale operation. It supplies 700 stores.
