A Government setting up a task force sounds impressive. It’s what the Taoiseach told the Dáil on Wednesday. The task force, he said, will deal with the “local situation” in the north inner city.

Icon shares slipped by over 7% at one point yesterday even on the back of the Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical and healthcare services firm reporting a 14% rise in first quarter operating profit and a 3.2% revenue increase.

Icon, the drug development solutions provider which employs more than 1,000 people in Ireland, yesterday revised upwards its earnings and revenue guidance for the year on the back of strong second quarter results.

Revenues at Irish-headquartered drugs group Icon rose more than 10% to €353.8m in the first three months of the year as the firm prepares to take on 200 additional Irish staff. 

Dublin-based pharmaceutical services provider Icon has made its second significant expansion announcement in less than a week, with the acquisition of US market intelligence agency MediMedia Pharma Solutions for $120m (€106m) in cash.

A bid to boost innovation in job creation and focus on helping business outside Dublin has been dismissed as a “spinfest” by opposition political parties.

Irish-based pharmaceutical company Icon has reached an agreement to buy US clinical trial specialist, Aptiv Solutions for $143.5m (€104m).

Pharmaceutical services provider Icon is forecasting revenue growth of up to 10% this year, on the back of a better-than-expected 2013 financial performance.

The NTMA raised €7.5bn last year and invested €1.3bn in the economy through the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF), according to its end-of-year statement.

Icon — the Dublin-based pharmaceutical services provider — has upped its full-year revenue guidance for the second time in as many months, on the back of a strong third-quarter showing.

It is believed that Grafton will be placed around 200 when the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange, which means that it is eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 250.

The person hired by the Irish Stock Exchange to promote Irish companies listing on the exchange has left the position after seven months.

Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical services company Icon, has reported a 23% year-on year jump in first half revenues, to $651m (€492m), with net profit for the period increasing by nearly $30m, to $48.7m.

Icon — the Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical services company — has reported “an encouraging start” to 2013, noting a 26% annualised increase in revenue and a more than doubling of operating profits for the first three months of the year.

Irish pharmaceutical services company Icon has reported a 92% increase in annual net profits, for 2012, to $60.4 million (€45.2m.

Pharmaceutical services company Icon has agreed to acquire the clinical trials division of US group Cross Country Healthcare for an initial cash consideration of $52m (€38.3m).

Shares of EMC, the world’s biggest maker of storage computers, tumbled after forecasting full-year profit that trailed analysts’ estimates and as VMware, the software maker it mostly owns, said it is considering job cuts.

Pharmaceutical services company Icon reported a 1,110% increase in net income for the three months ending Sep 30 compared with the same quarter last year.

CPL, the publicly quoted hirer of IT, professional, and healthcare staff, has seen profits reach €10m. Though it pales in comparison to boomtime figures it’s a positive sign, reports Kyran Fitzgerald

Clinical research company Icon has reported a near 15% increase in first-half revenue to $529m (€437m).

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

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down 1.78% to 3108 this evening.

First-quarter revenues at pharmaceutical services firm Icon rose 10% year-on-year to $252m (€191m).

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up 0.7% to 3255 points this evening.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares finished up 13 points to 3,280, a gain of 0.4%.

Data detailing unexpected falls in production levels across the eurozone’s services and manufacturing sectors in February pulled European markets down for a second consecutive day yesterday.

The company which on Monday hosted Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s jobs initiative announcement, ICON, reported full-year revenue of €728 million in the 12 months to the end of December.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down five points to 3,093, a drop of 0.16%.

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 continued its solid start to the week with another 1% rise, pushing the market back up towards the 3,000 point, a psychological marker it has not breached since May 2011.

EUROPE’s principal stock markets put Wednesday’s disappointing performances behind them with a broad recovery yesterday.

A TURNAROUND in Spain’s debt-selling fortunes went some way to easing investor nerves yesterday, with all major European stock markets showing moderate growth, following Wednesday’s sharp falls.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down 41.33 points to 2,681.21, a drop of 1.52%.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up 20.34 points to 2,741.29, a gain of 0.75%.

EUROPEAN stock markets made a positive start to the week on the back of the continent’s super-powers ramping up attempts to end the eurozone debt crisis and save the future of the single currency.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down 39.278 points to 2,709.78, a drop of 1.43%.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares close up 12.21 points to 2,623.72, a gain of 0.47%.

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

TECHNOLOGY is allowing clubbers to interact with their friends on a night out — even if they’re not in the room.

DISAGREEMENT between Germany and France over the use of the European Central Bank (ECB) as a rescue lender to shore up the eurozone debt crisis; and a continuing rise in borrowing costs, sent international markets back into decline, yesterday.

EACH of the major European markets showed signs of recovery yesterday following a three-day losing streak.

EMC, which employs 2,500 in the Republic of Ireland, most of them at its Ovens and Ballincollig plants in co cork, has reported global third quarter consolidated revenues of €3.6bn.

IRISH bond yields shot back up yesterday, to their highest level in more than three months — another knock-on effect of investor uncertainty over a solution to the eurozone debt crisis being found.