Granuaile Shipping, the OFEX-listed shipping group headed by businessman Emmett O'Connell, has reported pretax profits of £343,113 (€435,976) for the year to September 1999, a substantial turnaround from the £474,000 losses notched up the previous year.

Turnover more than doubled to £5.3 million from £2.3 million. During the year, Granuaile sold part of its shareholding in ebaseOne Corporation (formerly Norske Energy) at a profit of almost £250,000, with the proceeds of the sale being used to reduce debt.