A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Adidas beats forecasts with 24% profit rise
German sporting goods firm Adidas beat forecasts with a 24 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit on the back of a surge in sales spurred by the soccer World Cup, sending its shares higher.
Adidas shares rose 2 per cent, making it the top gainer on Germany's blue-chip Dax index.
Adidas, the second-largest sporting goods company after US giant Nike, said in a statement yesterday net profit rose to some €82 million.
As a result of a record sales campaign for the World Cup to defend its position as market leader for soccer boots against increasing competition from Nike and Puma, quarterly sales at Adidas jumped 60 per cent to €2.43 billion, above the average forecast of €2.37 billion. - (Reuters)
Bord Gáis submits Cork application
Bord Gáis has submitted an application for planning permission to Cork County Council for the development of a 440 megawatt gas-fired power plant at Whitegate, Co Cork.
Bord Gáis signalled its intention to develop a power generation plant when it entered into an agreement with ConocoPhillips to lease a 25-acre portion of their site at Whitegate earlier this year.
The proposed power plant will involve an investment of approximately€€300 million and is scheduled to be fully operational by 2009.
Icon chief raises $1.3m in share sale
Icon chief executive Peter Gray has raised $1.3 million (€1 million) by selling shares in the company.
Mr Gray sold the shares at $67.17 each on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. Icon was trading at $67.46 yesterday afternoon.
Qimonda debuts on the NYSE
Shares in German memory chip maker Qimonda debuted at $13.50 (€10.49) on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, slightly above the issue price that the company had been forced to cut to $13 by weak demand.
The listing raised a maximum of $628 million, half of what was originally planned, after the price and amount of shares on offer were cut. - (Reuters)
KT&G bows to raider's pressure
KT&G, South Korea's top tobacco firm, will return up to $2.9 billion (€2.25 billion) to shareholders in the next three years, bowing to pressure from US corporate raider Carl Icahn and his allies.
The former state monopoly said it would pay at least one trillion won (€808 million) in dividends for 2006-08, bringing its payout levels into line with peers Altria Group and British American Tobacco.
It would also buy back shares worth at least 1.3 trillion won for cancellation during that period, and plans to cancel 12 million shares worth 690 billion won in the second half of 2006. - (Reuters)
'Big Four' audit 97% of FTSE 350
Top investors, including Morley Fund Management, yesterday called for greater shareholder involvement in the appointment of auditors to reduce concerns of market concentration in the hands of the "Big Four" accountancy firms.
Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers currently audit 97 per cent of the FTSE 350, a government report said in April.
The report was commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Financial Reporting Council. - (Reuters)
