A round-up of today's other business news in brief
Circle Oil seals licence deal in Namibia
Limerick-based exploration company Circle Oil said yesterday that Petroholland will acquire a 70 per cent stake in its Ovambo Basin licence in northern Namibia for €10.5 million ($15 million).
Circle will retain 20 per cent of the licence, while Namibia's state-owned oil company, Namcor, will keep the rest, the company said yesterday in a statement. - (Bloomberg)
Warning on credit rating proposals
The Financial Regulator has warned the European Commission that its proposal to supervise credit rating agencies should avoid a possibility where formal supervision could give them a standing comparable to that of regulators.
In a submission to the commission, the regulator has called for a broader review of references to credit ratings in EU legislation to "address the possible over-reliance on ratings".
EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy is proposing a radical overhaul of the regulation of ratings agencies, which have been blamed for contributing to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market.
€350,000 eSpatial judgment
Dublin technology firm eSpatial Solutions, which is backed by businessman Dermot Desmond, has registered a judgment of €350,000 against a company co-owned by its founder.
The firm registered the judgment against Dublin company Acquis, where Liam McGeown is a director and shareholder, after he failed to pay the six-figure sum, as he had agreed in settlement of a legal action by eSpatial.
Mr McGeown, who founded eSpatial in 1997, agreed to pay the €350,000 last October in settlement of a High Court case taken against him by eSpatial over a non-compete clause he signed in 2003 when he left the company.
The judgment, which appears in this Friday's edition of Stubbs Gazette, was registered against Acquis on August 28th last.
AGI Therapeutics reports $8.9m loss
Gastro-intestinal drugs development firm AGI Therapeutics has reported an $8.9 million pre-tax loss for the six months to the end of June.
This compares to a loss of $7.46 million over the same period in 2007 and equates to a basic loss per share of 13.3 cent.
Ryanair postpones Edinburgh base
Low-fares airline Ryanair has said that it has had to postpone the opening of its Edinburgh base as a result of strike action at airplane manufacture Boeing.
The six-week deferral of the opening, from September 23rd to November 5th, is as a result of Boeing being unable to deliver the new aircraft Ryanair has purchased to operate on the its new Edinburgh routes.
Separately the High Court has granted Ryanair's application for a judicial review of the Department of Transport's awarding of a public service obligation contract for the Dublin to Knock route to Aer Arann.
Tullow reports Uganda oil find
Exploration company Tullow Oil reported yesterday it has discovered oil at its Kigogole-1 well in the Butiaba region of Uganda. The company said a well drilled to 2,021ft had encountered two oil zones with a net pay of 10 metres.
"Kigogole is the fifth successive discovery in the Butiaba region within the last five months," chief executive officer Aidan Heavey said in a statement.
