The boards of directors of Tesco PLC and Dobbies Garden Centres plc have announced that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer for Dobbies by Tesco Holdings Ltd.

Guardian Newspapers chief executive Carolyn McCall has been appointed a non-executive director of Tesco plc.

IRISH stocks gained, paced by Elan after US regulators approved its Prialt painkiller, an artificial copy of a compound found in a marine snail.

Carolyn McCall, chief executive of Guardian Newspapers Ltd, has been appointed a non-executive director to the board of Tesco PLC.

TESCO has started an interest rate price war with AIB and Bank of Ireland by offering fixed rate loans of between €2,500 to €30,000 at lower rates than those offered by the main banks.

The busiest stocks in a relatively quiet day's trading on the ISEQ were:

Tesco Plc, Britain’s biggest grocery chain, is looking to expand into China, the world’s most populous country, as price competition at home crimps profit growth, chief executive Terry Leahy said.

Britain's Northern Foods said trading over Christmas was good and it was making headway in its aim of stabilising second-half profits at the previous year's level after a first-half profits fall.

AS second-half profit at Boots Group Plc’s plummeted by 31% the company said Ireland continues to be its best performing territory.

UK supermarket chains Tesco PLC and Costco lost their latest legal battle to sell cheap Levi jeans in the UK.

A conflict over a security contract is being blamed for the death of a supermarket worker in Thailand.

Irish foods firm Hibernia Foods have announced their fourth UK acquisition after taking over the trade and certain assets of the chilled desserts business of Birmingham firm La Boheme.