A round up of today's other business stories in brief

Fyffes's property firm starts trading

Shares in Blackrock International Land, the property company which recently demerged from Fyffes, closed at €0.40 after its first day of trading on the Irish stock market yesterday.

This was 4.5 cent above its net asset value of 35.5 cent. The company is listed inclusion on the Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX), the Irish Stock Exchange's market for small and medium-sized firms.

Blackrock plans to maintain and develop properties with potential for long-term rental and capital growth. The company, 40 per cent controlled by Fyffes, has also taken a listing on London's AIM market.

Merrion cautious about Ryanair

Merrion Stockbrokers has said it remains "cautious" about Ryanair and has cuts its share price target to €6 from the current price of around €6.70.

"While Ryanair's share price has fallen by 15 per cent... since the end of January, fuel costs have increased further and the competitive environment shows fewer signs of easing, so yields won't compensate," it said.

Gary McGann buys 38,000 shares

Gary McGann, the chief executive of Smurfit Kappa, has spent €490,200 buying shares in Anglo Irish Bank.

Mr McGann, a non-executive director of the bank, bought 38,000 shares at €12.90 each last Friday.

InterTrade seeks competition entries

Young businesses looking for funding and advice are invited to enter this year's InterTrade Ireland's Seedcorn competition.

The competition - open to firms in existence for three years or less and which have not raised more than €1 million in private equity funds - boasts a €230,000 prize fund. Six regional winners will receive €20,000, with €100,000 for the overall winner.

Dragon upbeat on well modification

Dragon Oil has announced the successful workover of a well on the Zhdanov field, in the Cheleken contract area, offshore Turkmenistan.

Workover of a well involves carrying out major repairs or modification.

Before the workover, the well was not in production. It has since tested light oil at a rate of 656 barrels per day.

North's private sector activity rises

Business activity in Northern Ireland's private sector rose for the 37th month in April, but input costs increased because of higher energy bills.

The Ulster Bank purchasing managers' index reveals that the rate of growth in activity was the highest since August 2004.

Invest NI supports air show exhibitors

Invest Northern Ireland is to help five precision engineering firms to exhibit at the Berlin Air Show this week. Northern Ireland is attempting to develop a strong niche in the aerospace sector.