A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Ports struggle with record volumes - Ibec
Irish ports are struggling to cope with record volumes of freight trade, according to the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (Ibec).
The latest figures released by Ibec show that the volume of freight units traded through the Republic's ports increased by 8.6 per cent on an annual basis, in the second quarter of 2006. Ibec has urged the Government to invest in "additional freight-handling capacity".
Proxy vote adviser ISS up for sale
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the US-based proxy voting adviser, has been put up for sale. About 20 private equity firms have received the sales memorandum which is thought to have put a price tag of up to $500 (€385 million) on the group.
ISS is owned by a consortium of its management, US bank Warburg Pincus, which owns about 40 per cent of the group, and Hermes, the UK manager of the BT pension fund.- (Financial Times service)
Equity-release firm floats on IEX
Ardent Group, which specialises in equity release products for senior citizens, was floated yesterday on the IEX, the specialist Irish stock market that caters for small to medium-sized companies.
Ardent is the 12th company to join the IEX since its launch last year, and brings the number of companies listed on the market to 20.
DCC officers buy company shares
DCC chief executive Jim Flavin, finance director Fergal O'Dwyer and chief operating officer Tommy Breen have each spent nearly €21,000 buying shares in the company.
The three directors exercised options over 2,383 shares each, at a price of €8.79 per share. DCC shares closed at €19.50 last night, leaving them sitting on a paper profit of €25,522 apiece.
UCD to revamp MBA programme
The UCD Smurfit School of Business is revamping its Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programme, and as part of this initiative it is introducing new courses that will focus on "strategy implementation in high-growth economies".
The school will target these specialist courses at European managers interested in developing businesses in emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
Ormonde upbeat on Spanish results
IEX-listed exploration company Ormonde Mining reported yesterday that a pre-feasibility study completed at the La Zarza Copper-Gold project in Spain has confirmed that it is a "viable mining project".
The study indicated that the mine is likely to produce 450,000 tonnes of metal per annum over a ten-year life.
Ormonde, which has an option to acquire a 70 per cent interest in La Zarza, will now proceed with a full feasibility study.
Trintech sells payments firm
Irish technology group Trintech announced yesterday that it has completed the sale of its payments system business to VeriFone Holdings for $12.1 million (€9.4 million).
Chief executive Cyril McGuire said Trintech would now concentrate on the global development of its financial software solutions business.
Chief of directors' institute re-elected
The Institute of Directors announced yesterday that Robert Grier has been re-elected as its president for a second term.
