A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Waterford executives get share options
Waterford Wedgwood has granted senior executives options over 328,431,342 shares in the luxury goods group under its Share Price Recovery Incentive Plan.
Chief executive Peter Cameron was granted options over 104.4 million shares, amounting to almost 2.4 per cent of the current shares in issue.
Patrick Dowling, John Foley, Ottmar Kuesel, Moira Gavin, Wayne Nutbeem and Frank Johnston all received options over 14.5 million shares.
The options cannot be exercised for at least three years and will be dependent on the company meeting certain financial targets.
MyTravel profits rise fourfold
Operating profits at UK holiday firm MyTravel rose more than fourfold in the past year despite higher fuel costs, as the group benefited from an increasing appetite for exotic vacations.
Full-year group operating profit rose to £55.2 million ($98 million), the group said yesterday, up more from last year's pro forma £12.9 million.
The increase was despite higher fuel costs, which hit operating profit by at least £47.3 million. - (Reuters)
Arthur Cox names new chairman
Law firm Arthur Cox has appointed Eugene McCague as its new chairman. He is to replace James O'Dwyer and takes up the position on April 30th.
Mr McCague is a partner in the firm's corporate department and a former managing partner of the firm. He is also the incoming president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
McKenna leaves Maybourne post
Geraldine McKenna has decided to step down as chief executive of the Maybourne Group with effect from March 31st.
The Maybourne group owns and manages the following hotels: the Berkeley, Claridges and the Connaught. The hotels are owned by a consortium headed by former tax advisor Derek Quinlan.
US consumer prices fall 0.6%
US consumer prices had their biggest drop in more than 50 years last month, although core prices continued to creep higher, while industrial production jumped and overall capacity utilisation in the economy tightened.
The consumer price index fell 0.6 per cent in November, the biggest monthly fall since 1949, the labor department reported, driven by a 16 per cent decline in petrol prices from their post-Hurricane Katrina peaks.
The decline in the headline inflation figure - which was greater than economists had expected - brought inflation in the 12 months to November down to 3.5 per cent from the 4.3 per cent reading in October. - (Financial Times service)
EU adopts new disclosure rules
Listed companies in the European Union will need to disclose off-balance-sheet arrangements and increase information about their corporate governance regime, according to new legislation passed by the European Parliament yesterday.
The new rules were proposed by the European Commission in October last year, in part to address concerns arising from the "creative" accounting at Parmalat and Enron. Both companies were found to have made generous use of opaque off-balance-sheet vehicles in order to hide their rapidly deteriorating financial positions. - (Financial Times)
Ryanair customer complaint figures
A report in last Saturday's editions said Ryanair received less than one complaint per passenger in November.
This should have read Ryanair received less than one complaint per 1,000 passengers.
