€1m FUND TO ENCOURAGE LONGFORD BUSINESSES - With small businesses still complaining of not being able to get credit from banks, a group of business people in Longford have taken the matter into their own hands and later today will launch a €1m capital fund.
Seán Gallagher of RTE's Dragon's Den will be there. Mr Gallagher says he met local business people a couple of months ago in Longford, and a model was put together.
20 business people will each put in €50,000, giving a fund of €1m. They are now inviting applications from people who want to set up businesses in the county.
The initiative is also aimed at people outside the county - or returning emigrants - who are looking for a location in which to set up a business
Mr Gallagher said businesses were having to put a stronger case to secure lending from banks, but more entrepreneurs needed to be encouraged, and the new scheme was aimed at bridging that gap.
The initiative would also offer use of business space and mentoring. Mr Gallagher said the scheme could be a model for other counties.
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NEWS IN BRIEF - Amazon.com has reported a drop in profit for the first quarter of this year as its investment in new businesses ate into earnings, but the online retailer's revenue forecast beat Wall Street expectations.
The company also forecast revenue for the current quarter that would beat Wall Street estimates and profit margins were in line with the company's expectations.
The company has been willing to sacrifice some profitability to win customers and build its new businesses. It has invested heavily in areas such as 'cloud computing' - which allows companies to store data on its servers - to take on rivals Google and Apple.
Swiss bank Credit Suisse has reported a 45% drop in first-quarter net profit as it sustained 617 million Swiss francs ($700m) in valuation losses on debt and derivative liabilities.
Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 1.1 billion Swiss francs in the first quarter, the banking group said in a statement, largely in line with analysts' forecasts.
