Today's other business news in brief

Decline in net asset value of Boundary

The net asset value of shares in quoted investment firm Boundary Capital declined to 91 cent per share from 94 cent per share in the six months to December, the company said yesterday.

It attributed the bulk of the decline to the drop in value of its quoted investments in property services firm Veris, in which it has a 9.5 per cent stake, and construction services firm Siteserv, in which it has a 9 per cent stake. Their poor share performance all but wiped out Boundary's gain from the €40 million investment for which it acquired 28 per cent of Arnotts and the £7.6 million (€9.92 million) investment for which it increased its shareholding in CJ Fallon owner Panther Group to 67 per cent.

Reporting a pretax loss of €1.5 million in the six months to December, Boundary said this was primarily due to a revaluation of its quoted investments offset by the increase in the valuation of its unquoted investments.

Veris pretax profits up 17%

Property services firm Veris has reported a 17 per cent climb in pretax profits to €5.6 million in 2007, with revenue up 36 per cent to €65 million. Operating profits rose 27 per cent to €7.3 million over the period.

Its performance includes contributions from the Orange Group of facilities management companies, which it bought last November.

Chairman Niall McFadden said the performance had been driven by a balance of organic growth and the full-year impact of acquisitions made in 2006.

Veris is listed on the IEX. The €15 million acquisition of Orange Group, its first overseas purchase, gives Veris a platform to expand further in the UK, he added.

Rise in pension complaints

Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny saw a 17 per cent increase in new cases last year, according to preliminary figures published yesterday. However, a 90 per cent rise in the number of cases closed reduced the outstanding caseload.

Mr Kenny said many of the cases referred to his office involved people who misunderstood their pension entitlement. But he noted the continuing flow of complaints about the failure to comply with the mandatory Construction Workers Pension Scheme, particularly by smaller building firms.

The industry is currently repaying more than €1.6 million in arrears in pension and death benefit.

£63m loss at Premier Foods

Premier Foods has reported a net loss of £63.3 million (€82.5 million) for 2007, as the UK-based bread baker was hit by sharply higher rates of "agflation", or inflation in agricultural commodities such as wheat.

Chief executive Robert Schofield said the unprecedented year of change for the group included the successful integration of its businesses in the Republic - RHM, Campbell's and Chivers Ireland - into a single operation.

Draft credit union code

The Financial Regulator is seeking opinions on a voluntary consumer code it has drafted to protect credit union members.

The draft code will not become law until changes to credit union legislation are introduced. Credit unions have already been consulted on the code. One section of the draft document says credit unions must inform members who have missed loans repayments of local debt counselling services.

Submissions on the code can be made until the end of June.