A round-up of today's other stories in brief
State body pegs €2m for bio research
Enterprise Ireland is to commit €2 million towards the support of research in the bio diagnostics and bioprocessing areas.
During 2005 the organisation's biotechnology commercialisation team (EI Bio) supported eight deals relating to the transfer of commercially viable technology from research to the marketplace.
The deals were in a number of areas including diagnostics, vaccines and medical devices, the team said in an end of year statement.
During 2005 the team also supported the formation of two new spin-off companies from universities.
EI Bio and the Irish Bio-Industry Association are working in partnership to stimulate university research in relevant areas.
Enterprise Ireland provides funding to support researchers in third level institutions. It has a biotechnology investment portfolio of projects valued at €23 million and provides 100 per cent patent costs support up to specified levels.
Next confident it will beat forecasts
British fashion chain Next Plc expects to beat annual profit forecasts after better-than-expected Christmas sales, it said yesterday.
The fast-growing chain remained cautious about its prospects, however, saying that cold weather, rather than an underlying improvement in consumer sentiment, had driven a recent recovery in sales.
Next sells mid-price clothing and housewares. - (Reuters)
Inflation slows again in euro zone
Euro zone inflation slowed for the third month running in December, data showed on Wednesday, but economists still expect the European Central Bank will raise interest rates in March as economic growth picks up.
EU statistics agency Eurostat estimated consumer price growth at an annual 2.2 per cent in the 12 countries using the euro, in line with the consensus among economists and down from 2.3 per cent in November and a peak of 2.6 per cent in September. - (Reuters)
EasyJet to enter Italian market
EasyJet, the UK low-cost airline, is entering the Italian domestic market for the first time as part of the expansion of operations at its new base at Milan Malpensa airport.
It announced yesterday four more routes from Milan, including three domestic services to Palermo, Naples and Olbia (Sardinia) as part of a total package of 14 new routes that will also expand its operations from its base at Liverpool and add three routes to Lisbon.
EasyJet is following the lead set by Ryanair, the largest European low-cost carrier, which has already moved heavily into the Italian market with three bases established at Milan-Bergamo, Rome-Ciampino and Pisa airports. (Financial Times Service)
Wall Street still in love with Google
Wall Street's love affair with Google looks set to continue in 2006. The brokerage firm Bear Stearns yesterday lifted its target price for Google shares in the next 12 months from $360 to $550, just a day after rival broker Piper Jaffray said it expected shares in the internet search engine to reach $600 this year.
The latest recommendation buoyed the share price up another $12.77 in early trading yesterday to $448, surpassing its previous all-time high. - (Guardian Service)
