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

Ivers resigns from Paddy Power

Bookmaker Paddy Power said yesterday that its finance director, Ross Ivers, has resigned and will leave the company at the end of January.

Mr Ivers, who joined Paddy Power in 2001, will step down from the board with immediate effect. Paddy Power said the process to appoint his successor had begun.

Earlier this year, Paddy Power named a company outsider, Patrick Kennedy, as its new chief executive designate.

Powerscreen NI's exporter of year

Powerscreen, the engineering group that almost went bankrupt in 1998 following accounting irregularities at one of its subsidiaries, was yesterday named as Northern Ireland's exporter of the year.

The Dungannon-based group, which designs and manufactures machinery, won the Invest Northern Ireland award for its achievements in international markets.

J&J fails to raise price for Guidant

Johnson & Johnson, facing a rival bid for medical device group Guidant, yesterday said it was committed to the transaction but failed to raise its offering price, signalling to many on Wall Street that it may walk away from the deal.

J&J issued the statement a day after Boston Scientific made a surprise $25 billion (€21 billion) offer for medical device maker Guidant - topping J&J's recently reduced price of $21.5 billion, which had been worked out with Guidant last month.

ITV buys Friends Reunited website

British TV broadcaster ITV Plc said yesterday it had bought website operator Friends Reunited for an initial £120 million (€177 million) as it seeks to diversify beyond its core TV advertising business.

Friends Reunited is devoted to bringing together long-lost acquaintances and provides other services for genealogy and dating. - (Reuters)

Shares in Dana, Tullow Oil soar

Shares in UK-based oil explorers Dana Petroleum and Tullow Oil and Australian partner Hardman Resources soared after the firms said a well off the coast of Mauritania had hit hydrocarbons.

The news helped Dana and Tullow reverse losses on Monday after the UK government said it would raise taxes on North Sea oil and gas production, in which the two are deeply involved. - (Reuters)

Guiomard to replace Prasifka

The economist Cathal Guiomard is to take over the functions of departing aviation regulator Bill Prasifka until a full-time successor is appointed, it was announced yesterday. Mr Prasifka recently resigned from the position with immediate effect.

Merrion appoints two analysts

Merrion Stockbrokers has appointed two analysts, John Bowe and Sebastian Orsi, to cover the financial sector in Ireland. The sector had previously been covered by one analyst but, given its size and importance in the Irish stock market, Merrion has decided to strengthen its coverage.

Ryanair launches four routes

Ryanair has launched four routes with flights expected to begin on February 22nd.

The airline plans to fly from Liverpool to Seville, Liverpool to Porto, Paris Beauvais to Porto and from Frankfurt Hahn to Bari.