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

Amarin reports net loss of $26.9m

Pharmaceutical group Amarin said its losses widened last year after the company spent more money on clinical trials.

The company reported a net loss of $26.9 million (€20.6 million) in 2006, compared with a loss of $20.5 million a year earlier. In the final quarter of the year - the three months to the end of December - the net loss was $6.4 million, compared with a loss of $5.8 million in the year-earlier period.

Amarin, which started trading on Dublin's IEX last July, mostly attributed the increased losses to investment in trials of Miraxion, its treatment for Huntington's disease. It also cited the development costs associated with the oral formulation of apomorphine for use in cases of advanced Parkinson's disease.

Finavera plans €6.5m share sale

Natural energy company Finavera Renewables plans to raise $10 million Canadian (€6.5 million) through a share sale to fund advances in the company's wind and wave energy projects.

Under the terms of the sale, the company will seek to sell as many as 28.6 million units, comprising one common share and one purchase warrant, which can be exercised for one additional common share at a price of $0.55 over a two-year period. Each unit is being sold at a price of $0.35.

Warning on property offers

The president of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, Colm Fagan, has warned of the risks associated with unregulated property investments.

Of particular concern are buy-to-let overseas properties that are not subject to the statutory protection afforded by regulated investment products, Mr Fagan said.

He warned that claims made in relation to the future performance of such investments can be "very misleading", while commissions can be particularly high.

First Derivatives sees profits boost

First Derivatives, a Newry-based software services provider, said it expects normalised profit before tax to be materially ahead of market expectations in the year to the end of February.

In a statement to the stock exchange yesterday, the company said the strong trading momentum that characterised the beginning of the year had continued into the second half, boosted in particular by the addition of new customers and a higher take-up of its KX technology.

Magnet to focus on core business

Magnet Networks has confirmed that it is to exit the consumer local loop unbundling market to concentrate on fibre-to-home developments where it has built its own infrastructure.

Existing customers who subscribe to its triple-play package of TV, broadband and phone services over DSL connections will not be affected and will continue to be served by the company.

From next month the only new services that Magnet will be offering over existing phone lines will be business DSL broadband through 40 of Eircom's unbundled local loop exchanges.

Magnet plans to sell residential broadband services through a network of fibre connections to new home developments throughout Ireland, such as Adamstown and Grange in Dublin.

Silver lining for Ovoca Gold

Exploration group Ovoca Gold yesterday said the results of the first phase of its feasibility study on the Goltsovoye silver deposit in Russia show it has more than 70 million ounces of classified silver resources at excellent grades.

Leonid Skoptsov, the group's chief executive, welcomed the findings.