ESB Customer Supply has signed 10-year contracts with Aughinish Alumina and Tynagh Energy, the two companies that won the competition to build new power stations in the Republic. The contracts are worth a total of €1.5 billion.
According to the ESB, the contracts will provide extra capacity for the Irish electricity system, where demand has been increasing at a very fast rate. Once the new plants are on stream, the ESB's share of the generating market will fall below 60 per cent.
Galen patents oral contraceptive
Galen, the Craigavon based drugs group, has patented a chewable oral contraceptive in the United States. The company said the patent, which runs until June 2021, covers the company's Ovcon chewable tablet product which received final Food and Drugs Administration approval for sale in the US last month. The inventors of the product are Galen's chief executive officer, Mr Roger Boissonneault and Dr Tina de Vries, the company's vice president, Pharmaceuticals.
Minco raises funds for drilling
Minco, the AIM market listed precious metals company, has raised money for drilling in central Asia. Mr Jitendra Patel, a businessman with interests in Uzbekistan, has paid £400,000 (€570,000) for 4.2 million shares and has been granted options to subscribe to another 4.2 million at the same price between now and June. Mr Patel will join the board of the company which will use the money to purchase a drill rig and pursue a drilling programme in central Asia.
EU, Russia sign steel agreement
The European Union and Russia have signed an agreement allowing Moscow to ship more steel products to European countries, an EU official in Moscow said on Friday.
The official said the deal concerned exports of selected Russian steel products, but gave no further information.
In a separate statement, Russia's Economy Ministry said the agreement would allow Russia to ship a guaranteed $50 million (€40.3 million) in steel to the EU next year. The quota has been relaxed by 115,000 tonnes for this year and 117,000 tonnes for next year. - (Reuters)
US retailers pin hopes on sales
US retailers kicked off their annual after-Christmas blitz on Friday, hoping shoppers would rush in to spend their plastic gift cards in time to salvage a poor holiday season.
For the second year in a row, Christmas demand failed to live up to expectations, particularly at discount stores. But unlike last year, luxury chains appeared to be thriving.
Retailers blamed the disappointing sales on bad weather and a heightened security alert and the popularity of plastic gift cards. The gift cards are not recorded as revenue until they are redeemed for merchandise, so retailers are hoping people spend them fast enough to count toward December sales. - (Reuters)
