In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

BDO Simpson to lead Great Southern sale

BDO Simpson Xavier, the consulting and accountancy firm, has been appointed to lead the sale of the Great Southern Hotel group.

Commercial real estate services company, CB Richard Ellis will act as property advisers and agents to the process.

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A statement from the Dublin Airport Authority emphasised again the hotels would be sold as "going concerns".

Ferrovial wins BAA bid approval

The government of Singapore and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec are understood to have approached Ferrovial, the Spanish construction and services group, about making a potential bid for BAA, the world's biggest private airport operator.

The Spanish construction group and its partners are thought to be finalising the structure and shareholding of the consortium, which is expected to be domiciled in the UK, according to people close to the situation.

A formal bid for BAA could come before February 27th, when Ferrovial is scheduled to report its annual results.

UBS announces 22.5% profits rise

UBS attracted SFr95.1 billion in net new money last year, and SFr19.7 billion in the fourth quarter.

The increase spurred a 22.5 per cent rise in pre-tax private banking profits, excluding the US, to SFr4.16 billion. - (Financial Times service)

Bank of Scotland offers 8.2% rate

Bank of Scotland Ireland is to offer personal loans at a fixed interest rate of 8.2 per cent, the bank announced yesterday.

Loans of between €2,500 and €25,000 will be available over terms of up to five years. Applications can be made over the telephone, by visiting a Bank of Scotland Ireland branch or by downloading an application form from its website.

Powerteam wins €6m contracts

Powerteam Electrical Services, a Belfast-based electrical engineering company, has won three major infrastructure contracts worth €6 million.

The company said yesterday it had won two contracts from ESB in the Republic. The first is to electrically fit out two 110 kilovolt substations in Limerick and Kerry, while the second is a two-year contract associated with the refurbishment of ESB's 110 kilovolt substation network throughout the Republic.

The company will also construct the high-voltage electrical infrastructure at Belfast's Victoria Square development for Dutch firm Multi Developments. The new development will house outlets such as House of Fraser.

French lifts Norish stake to 10.57%

Ray French, the former chairman of Goodbody Stockbrokers, has raised his position in cold storage firm, Norish, to 10.57 per cent following the purchase of 102,476 shares. Mr French holds the stock through his Kappa Alpha vehicle. Norish closed unchanged at 69p in London last night.

Dates in diary column

There were two errors in the diary column on Monday, where dates were given as February instead of March.

Please be advised that the breakfast briefing hosted by the partners of Deloitte will take place on March 14th at 7.30am at Dublin's Four Seasons Hotel.

Likewise, Grafton will release its results on March 15th, and not February 15th as originally advised.