A roundup of today's other business news in brief:

Alcatel-Lucent to hold meeting on job cuts

Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent will hold a European works council meeting on March 16th to discuss further the implementation of drastic job cuts as part of a bid to wring cost benefits from its merger.

The company said chief executive Patricia Russo would chair the meeting.

Trade union officials said they would call for mass protests around that date.

Alcatel-Lucent plans to cut 12,500 jobs from 79,000 worldwide. It had previously aimed for 9,000 job cuts, before deciding to accelerate the reductions. Seventy positions in its Irish operations are among those that will go.

The French government met Alcatel representatives yesterday, and prime minister Dominique de Villepin reaffirmed his wish that Alcatel avoid forced lay offs.

- (Reuters)

Zamano begins trading on IEX

Mobile services group Zamano began trading on Dublin's IEX yesterday, a move aimed at increasing the group's investor exposure and improving the stock's liquidity.

The company, which is already listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), brings the number listed on Dublin's enterprise exchange for smaller stocks this year to 26. Zamano did not raise any money through the listing. The shares closed at 44 cent on 13,000 trades.

Robert Walters' profits up 73%

Recruitment consultancy Robert Walters saw its net profit rise 73 per cent last year as it opened new offices and placed more staff.

Net income was £14.1 million (€21 million), while revenue increased 17 per cent to £274.5 million.

The company declined to break out its figures for Ireland, but said revenue from its international business, which comprises Ireland, South Africa and the US, rose 16 per cent to £7.8 million. Fee income was 16 per cent ahead.

Louise Campbell, managing director of the Irish operation, said she expected the strong growth to continue in 2007, particularly in finance, legal and compliance, and human resources. She also said the new green card laws being introduced here offered an exciting opportunity for the business.

Minco finds silver at Bilbao project

Minco, the AIM-listed exploration group, has announced the discovery of high-grade silver mineralisation at its Bilbao project in Mexico.

The company welcomed the discovery, saying it was the first high-grade intersection to be encountered at the site.

Hedge funds try to enter bond market

A battle has erupted around the euro-zone government bond market with several powerful hedge funds trying to gain direct access to MTS, the main euro-zone government bond trading platform.

The move by the funds, which include groups such as Citadel and Vega, could potentially undermine the control that investment banks wield over Europe's government bond market.

At present, membership of MTS is limited to banks. Hedge funds and other investors must use dealers to trade in the bonds. Some investors say breaking down the banks' monopoly could help make the euro-zone government bond market more competitive.

But investment banks argue that any involvement by hedge funds - without strict controls - would introduce more risk into the market. MTS said it had not decided whether to let hedge funds on to its platform.

- (Financial Times service)