A roundup of today's other business news in brief

Rise in German business confidence

German business confidence has edged higher this month, boosting hopes that Europe’s largest economy will maintain a robust pace of growth this year as worries mount over the US.

The Munich-based Ifo institute said its business climate index rose to the highest since June 2007. That suggested the country’s industry-led upswing had lost little momentum and could lift prospects across Europe.

The latest readings highlighted the diverging fortunes of the German and US economies. Germany’s economy grew 2.2 per cent in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, and unemployment has been falling.

Economists said the exceptional pace of growth in the second quarter was unlikely to be maintained in the second half of the year, especially if global growth slowed, but the Ifo index suggested the deceleration would be modest.

S&P upgrade KBC Ireland to stable

Standard Poor’s (S&P) has upgraded its rating on KBC Ireland from negative to stable.

The agency said it was revising its outlook on the Belgian bank’s Irish division because the bank’s credit losses had been significantly lower than expected, while earnings have benefited from asset repricing and a reduction in operating expenses.

The agency expects that KBC Ireland will be moderately profitable through 2011 and “continue to demonstrate sound capitalisation”.

Free newspaper circulation up 10%

The Dublin-based Gazette newspaper group has increased its weekly circulation to 40,358, a year-on-year increase of more than 10 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation. The group’s readership has increased to 141,253, based on the industry standard measurement

There are eight Gazette titles: Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Clondalkin, Dundrum, Dún Laoghaire, Lucan, Malahide and Swords. The free newspapers are distributed through a network of more than 150 locations in shops, schools and sporting and social clubs.

Price of wholesale goods falls 0.6%

The average price of wholesale goods fell by 0.6 per cent in July, but prices continued to be higher than in the same period last year, monthly data from the Central Statistics Office shows. The wholesale price index for July 2010 was 98.0 – 0.9 per cent higher than July last year.

The monthly decline in prices was due to a decrease in food prices which were down by 1. 5 per cent on the month, though dairy products rose by 0.3 per cent.