Bord na Mona is negotiating to take a 20 per cent stake in the new £100 million (€127 million) state-of-the-art electricity generating plant which Finnish consortium Fortum (formerly IVO) is building at Edenderry Co Offaly. It expects to conclude a deal within 12 months but declined to disclose how much it will pay.

Meanwhile, the company announced record profits of £8.2 million (€10.4 million) yesterday, up from £5 million last year, representing the best performance in its history. The company's results were helped by an £8 million Government cash injection, to help clean up its balance sheet. The £8 million was the final tranche of a £108 million Exchequer equity investment. Page 2