Ryanair is to return up to €1bn to shareholders over the coming two years, via two separate share buy-back programmes or a special dividend payout.

Aurivo Co-operative Society Ltd has been endorsed by Connacht Gold shareholders as the west coast co-op’s new name.

A restructuring of its core business helped Donegal Creameries return to profit last year.

A difficult potato season has severely impacted on Donegal Creameries’ half-year results.

Padraig Gibbons has been re-elected chairman of Connacht Gold, the €400m multi-purpose co-operative.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up 1.21% to 3091.

Connacht Gold’s year-end milk price projections in the “mid-to-high twenties” could lead to some dairy farmers taking a hit of more than 25% in their present incomes.

Connacht Gold has reported that their turnover reached €345m compared to €296m in 2010, a 16% increase in 2011.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up 0.69% at 3,232 points.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares was flat at close this evening.

Donegal Creameries fell into the red last year, showing a pre-tax loss of nearly €3.2 million, but boosted revenues by almost 14%.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up 56 points to 3,196, a rise of 1.8%.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares remained largely unchanged today, closing down 0.01% at 3306.

EUROPEAN stock markets showed moderate gains yesterday, as investors seemed not to be put off by the weekend’s widespread eurozone downgrading actions of credit rating giant Standard & Poor’s.

THE ISEQ index began the week with a gain of 5.28 points to 2,731.68, as bargain hunters were to the fore.

BETTER-than-expected business sentiment data from Germany failed to halt falls on international stock markets yesterday but helped slow their declines.

EUROPEAN markets dropped further yesterday chiefly on the back of rising bond yields and uncertainty over the new Italian government doing little to convince investors that the debt crisis is close to coming under control.

INTERNATIONAL stockmarkets advanced for a second day’s growth, yesterday, on the back of the European Central Bank’s unexpected interest rate cut and news that a referendum on the latest Greek bailout is now unlikely in its intended form.

CONNACHT Gold Co-op has boosted its milk pool to 370 million litres by acquiring Donegal Creameries’ milk and retail store businesses for €13.5m, ending months of stop-start negotiations.

IRELAND’S ISEQ index showed the highest growth yesterday in percentage terms among European stock exchanges, on what was a positive start to the week for international markets.

JUDGES found exceptional cleanliness on the farm of Michael and Thomas Enright from Ballynorth, Askeaton, Co Limerick, overall winners of the 2011 National Dairy Council Quality Milk Awards.

DETERMINED talk regarding a firm set of Franco-German solutions to the eurozone debt crisis had investors breathing easier yesterday and international stock markets rising.

EUROPEAN stockmarkets including Ireland’s ISEQ index recovered yesterday, but fears of a Greek exit from the eurozone or debt default marginalised any gains.

DONEGAL Creameries has given a positive outlook for the full year, despite a tough first half which saw year-on-year profit decline and an increase in net debt.

IRISH investors suffered a double whammy yesterday, with the ISEQ starting the week with a fresh decline and new figures showing recent dramatic falls in domestic pension fund values.

AIB ended its 44-year run as a listed entity on the main Irish Stock Exchange (ISEQ), yesterday, by falling a further 7% — or 2c — to 25c.

The Irish Stock Exchange ignored talks of economic doom today to post a gain of 23.12 points to finish on 2,798.47.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares lost 18.31 points to slip to 2,694.77 today.

SPEED dating was devised as a solution to help couples get together. And in the conference centre of the Radisson Hotel in Cork yesterday it seemed like every business in Ireland was looking for love.

FIGURES from Donegal Creameries show good first-half returns, with sales up 4.9% for the period.

Donegal Creameries has reported a near six-fold increase in half-year profit to €3.6m thanks partly to an increase in milk prices.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares fell back slightly today, closing 10.76 points down at 2,884.23.

A 74.96-point loss saw the ISEQ move dangerously close to the psychologically significant 3,000 mark today, finishing on 3,001.82.

Irish shares lost almost 1.5% of their value today, as the ISEQ index fell 45.86 points to 3,075.88 by midday today.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares surged 114.89 points to 3,371.91 today after yesterday’s big falls.

Gloom descended on the Irish Stock Exchange today as uncertainty continued regarding the Greek debt crisis.

Shares in Bank of Ireland closed over 6% higher this evening after losing more than 5% at one point.

Shares in Bank Of Ireland have fallen by almost 5% since this morning.

DONEGAL Creameries has reported a sharp fall in profits for 2009, which at €46,000 were well off the €739,000 achieved in 2008.

There were more losses than gains in early trading on the Irish Stock Exchange as the ISEQ index was down 22.11 points in early trading.

There was good news on the Irish Stock Exchange today as the ISEQ index climbed 34.93 points to 2,897.84.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares slipped 6.59 points to 3,101.58 by close of business today.

There was little movement on the Irish Stock Exchange today, as the ISEQ index of Irish shares crept down 3.63 points to 2,918.70 in morning trading.

The value of Irish shares sunk by almost 3% in a day that saw no gains of any significance on the Irish Stock Exchange.