Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has cut its long-term corporate credit rating on Glanbia due to an insufficient improvement in the group's financial profile. S&P cut the rating to "BB+" from "BBB-" although it said the outlook for the group was stable.
"Although Glanbia's financial profile has improved over the past three years, it remains below Standard & Poor's expectations and is unlikely to meet expectations in the near term," the ratings agency said.
"Furthermore, anticipated higher expenditures on productive investments in 2004, which are likely to weigh on the group's free cash flow generation, are expected to constrain further debt reduction in the short term," it added.
Elan completes epilepsy drug sale
Elan said yesterday that it had completed the sale of its interests in epilepsy drug Zonegran in North America and Europe to Japan's Eisai for $130 million (€108.9 million) and conditional payments of up to $135 million.
Elan will continue to manufacture Zonegran in three dosage strengths at its facility in Athlone.
MacDonagh site gets go-ahead
Planning permission has been granted for a €100 million mixed development project in the MacDonagh Station site in Kilkenny.
The development, by Chesterbridge Developments, will include offices, retail, restaurant, housing, leisure and cultural facilities including a new GAA museum. The site includes a number of protected structures.
Aminex posts losses of $4.1m
Dublin and London-listed explorer Aminex yesterday reported losses before tax of over $4.1 million for 2003.
The oil and gas exploration company said that turnover more than doubled last year to $7.76 million from $3.5 million in 2002.
Losses before tax were $4.13 million, a 16 per cent improvement on 2002, when they reached $4.82 million. Losses per share fell last year to 4.55 cents from 5.67 cent in 2002.
Stripping out a number of exceptional items, Aminex had operating losses of just over $2 million, compared with $5 million in 2002.
Arrabawn's 2003 sales rise 5%
Arrabawn Co-op has reported a 5 per cent increase in sales in 2003. A strong performance in the diary division, which grew 8 per cent, offset a 5 per cent weakness on the trading division side.
