Other finance stories in brief

Aer Lingus to seek new finance chief

Aer Lingus plans to recruit a new chief financial officer following the announcement yesterday that finance director Greg O'Sullivan is to become the airline's company secretary following its agm on June 6th.

Mr O'Sullivan will replace Laurence Gourley in that role. Mr Gourley is to become Aer Lingus's head of legal affairs.

Mr O'Sullivan's move surprised analysts and industry players who believed he had performed well in the role of finance chief at the airline, helping to guide it through its stock market flotation in 2006.

Aer Lingus said a chief financial officer would be appointed "in due course".

Kenny firm has 436,250 in cash

Pat Kenny Media Services, the company used by the RTÉ broadcaster to receive payments for his work for the national broadcaster, had cash reserves of €436,250 at June 30th, 2007, up from €202,928 a year earlier, according to company accounts just filed.

Mr Kenny is the highest- paid RTÉ presenter with the latest figures showing that Pat Kenny Media Services received €849,139 in 2006. The company's retained profits fell to €19,000 from €62,000 during its 2007 financial year. Mr Kenny and his wife, Kathy, are directors of the firm.

Chevron earnings increase 10%

Chevron, the second- largest US oil company, said yesterday its first-quarter earnings rose 10 per cent as record oil prices outweighed weak profits from gasoline production.

Oil prices have soared more than five-fold since 2002 on surging demand from emerging economies, supply concerns and the weak dollar. They broke $100 a barrel for the first time during the first quarter and hit a record of nearly $120 earlier this week.

Chevron's largest peers, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, all posted sizable gains in the quarter, although Exxon's results disappointed on weak oil and natural gas production. - (Reuters)

Airlines form group to lobby DAA

Ryanair, Aer Lingus, CityJet and Aer Arann have formed a committee to lobby the Dublin Airport Authority on issues relating to facilities at Dublin Airport.

The Dublin Airport Capex Consultation Committee (DACC) comprises representatives from the four airlines and several other airlines and handlers operating at the airport.

Geoffrey O'Byrne White, the DACC's chairman and CityJet chief executive, said that it was concerned that the current airline regulatory regime was "fundamentally flawed" and did not allow for the "full and proper consideration" by the DAA of the "reasonable requirements" of users.

Instead, the DAA "fostered the development of inefficient and excessively expensive facilities", he added.

Nortel's posts losses of $138m

Canadian telecoms equipment group Nortel Networks posted a bigger first-quarter loss yesterday as a series of charges weighed on results, but the company reassured investors that it still expects to meet its full-year targets.

Nortel reported a loss of $138 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a loss of $103 million, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier.

The results included one-time items, including charges of $88 million for restructuring, a charge of $12 million related to a patent lawsuit settlement, and a loss of $19 million due to changes in foreign exchange rates. - (Reuters)

Sun to cut 2,500 of its workforce

Following disappointing third-quarter results, which included a net loss of $34 million, Sun Microsystems has announced a plan to reduce its workforce by up to 2,500 people in an effort to save $100-$150 million annually. The US firm employs 174 people at its Dublin software centre.