A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
Ex-Vodafone chief refuses to attend trial
Sir Chris Gent, the former head of Vodafone, has turned down a German court's request to appear as a witness in a trial over bumper bonuses paid when the telecoms group bought Mannesmann.
Vodafone acquired the company almost seven years ago in a bitterly fought €180 billion hostile takeover. Shortly after, departing executives of the German company got windfall bonuses.
The almost €60 million of bonus payments are now the subject of a retrial, which has put former Mannesmann head Klaus Esser and Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann back in the dock.
Yesterday, the judge presiding over the case, Stefan Drees, told the court that Mr Gent, who had been scheduled to appear in January, would exercise his right not to attend.
"In our view, we can do without the testimony," state prosecutor Peter Lichtenberg said after the end of Friday's hearing.
More than two years ago, Mr Gent travelled to Düsseldorf for the original trial of Mr Esser and others. The defendants then walked free, but the German high court overturned their acquittal and ordered a retrial, which began last week. - (Reuters)
Carey to head marketing body
Michael Carey, chief executive of the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, has been appointed president of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.
Mr Carey is also director of the consumer food board, Bord Bia, and was previously managing director at Kellogg's, Fox's Biscuits and Evian/Volvic.
IAWS directors' pay worth €2.6m
The three executive directors of food group IAWS shared a remuneration package worth €2.6 million in 2006, according to the company's annual report.
Chief executive Owen Killian received a basic salary of €533,000 as part of an overall remuneration package worth almost €1.2 million, including pension contributions of €96,000 and a performance bonus of €400,000.
Chief financial officer Patrick McEniff received a package worth €732,000, while Hugo Kane, the chief executive of IAWS Food Group, received €718,000. Both men received performance bonuses of €283,000 during the financial year ending July 31st, 2006.
During this period, pretax profits at the group increased by 14.6 per cent to €123.5 million.
Ryanair passenger figures rise 23%
Ryanair yesterday revealed an increase in passenger numbers in October, but said its load factor - a measure of how well it is filling seats - was down compared with the same month last year.
In a statement, the airline said it carried 3.7 million passengers, 23 per cent more than the year-earlier month and ahead of analysts' forecasts. Meanwhile, the load factor fell to 83 per cent from 85 per cent.
Energy firm exits acquisition talks
Exploration group Lapp Plats said it has concluded due diligence on a proposed acquisition and withdrawn from the related talks as it doesn't meet the required investment criteria.
However, in a statement to the stock exchange, the group said that it was still continuing to seek acquisitions and development prospects in the minerals, metals, oil and gas sectors and remains in negotiations with third parties on a number of other target opportunities.
