A round-up of today’s other news stories in brief
Man United claim to be richest club
Manchester United posted a 20 per cent fall in profit yesterday, hit by a drop in television revenues from domestic and European games.
Operating profits before goodwill and exceptional items fell to £46 million (€66.8 million) in the 11 months ended in June.
Manchester United said it had adjusted its reporting period to correspond with player contract cycles which typically end in June, but said the effect of the change was negligible because little money is earned during July. The performance was still enough for the 128-year-old club to say it had recaptured the crown of world soccer's biggest earner from Spanish giants Real Madrid. - (Reuters)
Ford to cut up to 30,000 US jobs
Ford will axe almost a quarter of its north American workforce and close seven vehicle factories by 2012 as the world's third biggest carmaker aims to return the business to profit by 2008. Ford laid out plans yesterday to cut 25,000-30,000 jobs in the region by 2012, and said the factory closures would cut annual production capacity by 1.2 million units in the next three years. - (Financial Times service)
Family firms face succession issues
Succession planning and conflict remain the two largest threats facing Irish family businesses, according to a survey by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
"Half of family businesses in Ireland are anticipating a change in ownership. Of these, nearly half believe that ownership will pass to the next generation, 23 per cent believe that their business will be sold to another company and 19 per cent anticipate a sale of their business to their management team," according to PWC.
The report covered over 1,000 family businesses across 12 European countries.
Job vacancies fell 3% in December
A survey conducted jointly by the Economic and Social Research Institute and Fás shows that the number of vacancies fell by 3 per cent in December. Significant falls in the number of job vacancies in the services sector reinforce a downward trend in the number of jobs in industries.
New electricity transmission plan
A major development of the national electricity transmission system is proposed over the coming five years, ESB National Grid said yesterday.
The company has begun a consultation process on the investment programme. It estimates that electricity peak demand is set to increase by 20 per cent over the period of the transmission development plan 2006-2010.
Nike chief resigns after 13 months
William Perez, chief executive of Nike, the world's biggest sports shoe and clothing company, has resigned after just 13 months at the helm because of "differences" with Philip Knight, the group's founder and chairman. - (Financial Times service)
Wolseley's Irish, British sales up 5%
British-based builders merchant group Wolseley, which owns Irish group Brooks, said sales in the unit that incorporates its British and Irish operations rose by 5 per cent in the five months to the end of 2005.
Davy Stockbrokers said the group's modest underlying sales growth in Britain was a positive signal for its rival Grafton, which has major operations in that market.
