A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Eagle Star sees 29% sales jump
Eagle Star sales jumped 29 per cent in the Irish market last year. The Zurich Financial subsidiary yesterday reported annual premium equivalent (APE) of €261.5 million in 2007. New pensions APE jumped 40 per cent to €150.9 million, while life sales were 11 per cent ahead of 2006 on APE at €65.6 million.
The figures indicate that Eagle Star has more than doubled its business in the Republic in the past three years. "Our substantial outperformance of the market in the second half of 2007 clearly demonstrated the underlying strength of demand for Eagle Star Life's pension and investment products," said chief executive Michael Brennan.
Vodafone poaches Microsoft executive
Vodafone yesterday poached a senior Microsoft executive, underlining its determination not to lose out on the potentially huge revenue opportunities from accessing the internet on mobile phones.
Pieter Knook, a senior vice-president of Microsoft's mobile business, is to lead Vodafone's new internet services unit.
Vodafone and Nokia, plus new entrants such as Apple, are also seeking leading roles in the provision of services such as music downloads over the wireless internet. - (Financial Times service)
McKenna to chair Merrion Pharma
Merrion Pharmaceuticals founding chief executive Mark McKenna has stepped aside to succeed Declan Ryan, who is retiring as chairman of the listed oral drug delivery group. He will be replaced as CEO by chief operating officer John Lynch.
Merrion Pharma listed on the IEX in December 2007.
Mercedes-Benz hits profit target
Mercedes-Benz exceeded its profitability target in the fourth quarter, as the world's second-largest luxury carmaker underlined its strength compared to rivals BMW and Audi.
A return on sales of 10.4 per cent in the last three months of 2007 was the highlight of a strong performance by parent company Daimler, which forecast further strong growth in both revenues and profitability in all its business areas. - (Financial Times service)
Car dealer on price-fixing charge
Bernard Byrne, director of Finglas Motors M50 Ltd, was yesterday charged in the District Court with two counts of fixing the price of Citroen motor vehicles between September 16th, 2000, and May 1st, 2002.
The charges state Mr Byrne authorised or consented to the company agreeing to fix prices with other businesses.
US whistleblower protection widens
Employees of US-listed companies who blow the whistle on fraud that took place in the US can be protected under the Sarbanes-Oxley law even if they are based beyond US shores, according to a landmark court ruling.
The decision, involving consultancy Accenture, overturns years of refusal by US courts to allow the extra-territorial application of Sarbox's whistleblower protection laws. - (Financial Times service)
Renault sees profits rise 10%
Renault, France's second-largest carmaker, said second-half profit rose 10 per cent on European sales of the low-cost Logan sedan. The shares fell as the company said it would reduce production of the mid-sized Laguna. Net income advanced to €1.39 billion from €1.26 billion a year earlier. - (Bloomberg)
'Father McKee' correction
A report in last Saturday's newspaper referred to acquisition of the 64-metre Father McKeefishing vessel by Atlantic Dawn Ltd, which has been renamed Felucca.In fact, the vessel is 53 metres long. The 64-metre Father McKee, which is a replacement for the original Father McKee, is under separate ownership in Donegal.
