A round-up to today's other stories in brief

Babcock owns 27 per cent of Eircom shares

Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown now owns 27 per cent of Eircom. The firm, which has been building a stake in Eircom for several weeks now, owns 292.2 million shares.

If Babcock's holding goes above 29.9 per cent the firm would be obliged to make an offer for the rest of the shares. Babcock is belived to have plans to break Eircom into two distinct businesses if it makes a full takeover offer. Babcock has been buying its shares in the open market and is now Eircom's largest single shareholder.

Speedy Hire to open Dublin depot

Speedy Hire, the UK's largest tool and equipment hire provider, is to make its first foray into the overseas market with the opening of a depot in Dublin next month. The group then plans to expand its network throughout Ireland.

The new site at Glasnevin will house four Speedy Hire divisions, namely tool hire, specialist lifting, survey and power hire services and will be open to contractors, builders, utility companies and the general public.

The Dublin expansion coincides with other depots opening in the North, which together will create a total of 40 jobs. Noel Hynes, the group's regional director, welcomed the expansion, saying the move into Ireland will be beneficial both for Speedy Hire and its customers.

Principals acquire DKM from Davy

Consultancy firm Davy Kelleher McCarthy (DKM) Economic Consultants has been acquired from Davy stockbrokers by two of its present principals. DKM was established as a subsidiary of Davy in 1981 and undertakes analysis on regulated industries and regional economics, as well as on transport, construction and energy.

"We have an ambitious plan for growth in a range of sectors and we expect to fill a number of positions in the coming months," said Annette Hughes one of the two DKM principals acquiring the firm. DKM economist John Lawlor is the other acquiring principal.

Job figures in rich countries improve

Unemployment in the world's richest economies fell in January while Ireland's rate remains amongst the lowest in the world, according to new figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The average standardised rate of unemployment in the club of the world's leading industrialised nations fell to 6.3 per cent in January, down slightly from 6.4 per cent in December and 6.7 per cent in January 2004. Recent live register figures for Ireland imply that unemployment here stood at 4.5 per cent in February.

Ekman cashes in on Elan shares

Dr Lars Ekman, head of global research at Elan, has raised €407,700 before expenses by exercising options in the company and then selling the shares. Dr Ekman exercised options at $2.71 over 30,000 shares on Wednesday, the day Elan's shares rose sharply on news that Tysabri could return to the market soon. He sold the shares at $15.70 later the same day.

US job creation beats estimates

The US economy created almost a quarter of a million jobs in February, according to US non-farm payroll data for February released yesterday. The outturn was in excess of economists' expectations, which were for a job rise of 210,000 in that month. The US Federal Reserve would be more likely to raise interest rates on the back of this data, some analysts maintain.