IRISH DAIRY BOARD TOP IRISH EXPORTER FOR 2010 - The Irish Dairy Board was last night named as the Irish Exporter of the Year. The Dairy Board handles around 60% of the country's dairy exports on behalf of member co-operatives and dairy brands to over 90 countries around the world.
Kevin Lane, chief executive of the Irish Dairy Board, says that the award is good recognition of the hard work done of the industry and comes at a great time. He says that despite the economic gloom and doom in the country, there are high expectations for the country's export industry. He says the Dairy Board has launched a new three year plan which presents it with a great opportunity for growth. He says that farmers are looking to increase their production by 50% in the next three years and predicts more jobs at farm level, processing level and routes to market level.
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MORNING BUSINESS NEWS - Eircom has reported a 5.6% fall in quarterly revenues as the company's adjusted earnings before tax and interest were flat at €168m. Revenues for the company's first fiscal quarter ending September fell to €442m from €468m and Eircom said its net debt remains high and warned that its financial covenants may be breached within the coming 12 months. Eircom says it sees not sings of growth or increased spending by customers, adding that it does not see this situation changing in the near to medium term. Eircom said that 280,00 customers are using its 8Mb uncongested broadband service. It added that total DSL subscribers across retail and wholesale stood at 695,000 by September.
*** Euro zone nations and its central bank are urging Portugal to apply for a financial bailout from a European rescue fund, Financial Times Deutschland reports today. It quotes a source in Germany's finance ministry as saying: 'If Portugal were to use the fund, it would be good for Spain, because the country is heavily exposed to Portugal.'
*** Europe is bracing itself for another potentially very testing day on the bond markets after yields on Irish, Portuguese and Spanish set fresh historic eurozone highs despite the committment to austerity set out by the Irish government for the next four years. Yesterday, Irish 10-year bond yields rose above 9%, Portuguese yields jumped further above 7% - which Lisbon says is not sustainable - while Spanish yields rose further above 5%.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.3259 US cents and 84.47 pence sterling.
