A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Amarin posts €5.3m loss in second quarter
Pharmaceutical group Amarin saw its net loss widen in the second quarter as it spent "substantial" amounts of money developing its treatment for Huntington's disease, writes Claire Shoesmith.
Amarin, which last month started trading on Dublin's IEX, reported a net loss of $6.8 million (€5.3 million) in the three months to the end of June, compared with $6.1 million in the year-earlier period.
Shares in Amarin, which is run by former Elan executives, yesterday added 3 cent, or 1.5 per cent, to close at €2.10.
Axa shows 32% rise in profits
European insurer Axa yesterday reported a 32 per cent jump in first-half underlying profits in the UK and Ireland to £156 million (€230 million), boosted by strong contributions from all parts of its business.
However, while revenue in the UK was strong, in Ireland it slipped 1 per cent to €254 million as the decline in average motor insurance premiums was offset by an increase in new business from young drivers at higher average premiums and a generally improved retention rate.
Underlying profit excludes net capital gains attributable to shareholders.
Ardent set to trade on IEX
Ardent, a specialist provider of equity release products under the name of Ship (Shared Home Investment Plan), is to sell shares on Dublin's IEX.
The listing, which is expected to commence on September 4th, is not intended to raise any additional funds, simply to raise the group's profile and increase trading liquidity.
SHIP took a listing on London's AIM last year.
Directski.com buys NI group
Online ski tour operator Directski.com has acquired Northern Irish travel company McNeill Rigby Travel to create the largest ski-trip provider on the island with combined revenue of more than €40 million.
McNeill Rigby, a 20-year-old travel and ski operator based in Belfast, will benefit from Directski's financial capital and technological assets, while the transaction will enable Directski to expand its non-ski business in Ireland and the UK.
The new entity will carry at least 35,000 passengers during the next ski season, ranking the company amongst the top 10 ski operators in the highly competitive UK market.
Its brands will include Honeymoon Designer, Escapeoverseas.com, SkiMcNeill, and Fly2theSun.com.
Ryanair passenger traffic up 23%
Ryanair said its passenger traffic climbed 23 per cent in July from the same month a year earlier, bringing the number of people it carried over 12 months to 37.6 million.
The airline's passenger count rose to 3.94 million last month from 3.2 million in July, 2005. Ryanair's load factor, or the number of passengers as a proportion of seats available, remained unchanged at 90 per cent.
Top broker's share price dips
Marsh & McLennan, the world's top insurance broker, yesterday posted earnings that missed forecasts because of weakness in its European business, sending its shares down sharply.
Marsh & McLennan shares fell as much as 10 per cent to $24.20 (€18.89), a low not seen since 1998, before recovering some ground to be down 7.4 per cent to $24.90 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Chief executive Michael Cherkasky has been working to restore the company after its 2005 settlement of charges that it had rigged bids and steered business to insurers that paid hidden fees. - (Reuters)
