THIS WEEK:Horse meat in burgers? What are the odds on that? The burger scandal (and the jokes) are still continuing, closely watched by fast-food chains including Burger King which reports its financial results this week.
The company, which became embroiled in the horse DNA scandal earlier this month, will present financial results for the fiscal quarter ending December 31st, on Friday.
Contaminated burgers
Last month, the fast food chain revealed that some of its burgers were contaminated in the horse meat scare.
“Four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown the presence of very small trace levels of equine DNA. This product was never sold to our restaurants,” the company said in a press release.
As a result, it decided to replace all Silvercrest products in its UK and Ireland restaurants with products from other suppliers.
According to Zacks Investment Research, based on five analysts’ forecasts, the consensus earnings per share forecast for the quarter is $0.15.
Mobile health: one to watch
Apparently the mobile health sector, where the consumer uses the mobile device in healthcare, is where it’s at.
A report from Transparency Market Research estimates that the global mobile health (mHealth) market will be worth $10.2 billion by 2018. That compares with $1.3 billion last year, indicating a significant growth trajectory over the next few years.
And Ireland is being urged to move quickly to develop its mobile healthcare industry. A conference on opportunities in mobile health is taking place this afternoon at the Science Gallery in Dublin. Speakers at the event will discuss the latest technological developments in mobile health, the new Connected Health technology centre initiative, mHealth deployment and applications.
United Drug AGM for Conrad Hotel
On the subject of health, the United Drug AGM is taking place in the Conrad Hotel in Dublin tomorrow.
The pharmaceutical supplies company, which recently quit the Dublin stock market for a London listing, posted a strong performance last year.
In fact, the Irish group's annual trading report for 2012 shows that its operating profit climbed up to reach €84.4 million.
