A roundup of today's other business news in brief

Siteserv profits down 90% in year

Profits at utility and construction services group, Siteserv, fell by 90 per cent in the 12 months ended April 30th to €700,000 from €9.3 million.

Sales were down 30 per cent at €151 million. The fall in profit was partly due to a once-off €2 million banking charge.

At least half the group’s revenues for the year ahead are already contracted, the company said yesterday.

Aviva announces three senior management appointments

Insurance group Aviva Ireland has expanded its senior management team with three new appointments.

Peter Towers has taken up the reins as head of bancassurance and managing director of Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland. Mr Towers previously held senior positions at Prudential, Abbey National and Scottish Provident.

Gerry Culligan has joined Aviva as its retail market leader for Ireland.

Mr Culligan has over 25 years’ experience in sales, marketing and finance functions.

Conor O’Neill has been appointed finance director for Ireland, having previously worked for Aviva plc in London.

All of these appointments are subject to approval by the Financial Regulator.

Sectoral changes hit Zamano hard

Technology company Zamano expects revenues for the first six months of the year to have dropped by a third.

Zamano, which provides content and data services to mobile phone users, anticipates revenues of about €8.8 million for the six months to June 30th, 2010, down from €13.3 million in 2009. Changes in the sector have created major challenges, it said yesterday.

Dragon Oil output below expectations

Exploration firm Dragon Oil said production was below expectations in the first half of 2010 as the company was hit with infrastructure issues.

Chief executive Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said he was confident the issues were being overcome.

Airtricity links up with Musgraves

Airtricity has signed a deal with Musgraves to provide green electricity to its depots and sites in Ireland.

The deal is worth about €25 million to the company, and is said to be the largest all-island green electricity deal of its kind.

It will include sites both north and south of the Border.

Spanish works projects cancelled

The Spanish government announced yesterday it would postpone or cancel 231 public works projects under an austerity drive to slash a budget deficit equivalent to 11.2 per cent of GDP. José Blanco, public works minister, said he had to cut €6.4 billion in the next two years.

Blackstone raises $13.5bn for fund

Investment powerhouse Blackstone has raised a greater-than-anticipated $13.5 billion (€10.4 billion) for its new buy-out fund, the biggest since the financial markets crisis, in a strong quarter in which income rose 13 per cent to $205 million. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010