A round-up of today's other business news in brief
Sales of Elan’s Tysabri below projections
Global sales of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri continue to lag projections, according to figures released by Biogen Idec, the partner of Irish drug group Elan in the Tysabri project
Reporting first-quarter performance, Biogen said global sales of Tysabri totalled $227 million, less than the $246 million analysts had expected.
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, Biogen said 37,600 patients were being treated with Tysabri, which it markets in conjunction with Elan Corp of Ireland. At the end of March, 39,300 patients were on Tysabri.
Sales have been slowing amid safety concerns following the emergence last year of a number of cases of a potentially fatal brain disease. The company also alluded to the impact of the financial crisis on patients.
However, Biogen said sales started to pick up towards the end of the quarter with new patient numbers in March being the highest in five months. – (Additional reporting Reuters)
17 jobs to go at Portlaoise store
Homeware and builders’ suppliers 4HOME Superstores is to close its Portlaoise outlet tomorrow with the loss of 17 jobs due to “extremely challenging” operating conditions.
The Reox Holdings subsidiary is conducting a feasibility assessment on its remaining 11 outlets, many of which have been particularly hard-hit by the property market collapse and face further competition with the opening of Ikea in Dublin later this year.
A spokesman said management would decide on the viability of each store on a “case-by-case basis”.
The company said it would honour all deposits, product orders and guarantees for its Portlaoise outlet. 4HOME employs about 300 full-time staff. It is understood the longer-established stores in Munster with a significant Co-op element to their trading are performing best.
Sony Ericsson to cut 2,000 jobs
Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said yesterday it would slash another 2,000 jobs this year to fight a slumping handset market as it posted a big first-quarter loss in line with expectations.
Sony Ericsson, owned by Sweden’s Ericsson and Japan’s Sony, made a pretax loss of €370 million after restructuring charges of €12 million.
Sony Ericsson president Dick Komiyama announced a target to cut a further €400 million in annual operating expenses by mid-2010, which would require an additional €200 million in restructuring charges.
The results came a day after the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia, reported its first quarterly pretax loss, but reassured investors that it saw signs that demand was stabilising.
Sony Ericsson sales slid to €1.74 billion in the quarter from €2.7 billion a year ago. – (Reuters)
BT’s customers getting up to speed
Faster internet speeds of up to 24 MB are now available to all new BT broadband customers in 22 locations nationwide.
The original broadband package of up to 6MB will be eclipsed by the super-fast option at no extra charge.
Director of BT’s consumer division Michael Burke said existing customers would also soon benefit from the highest attainable broadband speed on BT’s next generation network.
IMF to resume lending to Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund says it will support the resumption of lending to Ukraine and disbursement of a second $2.8 billion credit tranche after talks with the government.
The IMF also says Ukraine had committed to limit its budget deficit to 4 per cent of GDP in the talks that focused on adjustments to the country’s IMF programme, following a sharper than expected downturn in its economy. – (Reuters)
