Billionaire businessman Mike Ashley is on the verge of completing his buy-out of Newcastle after increasing his share in the company.

Mike Ashley is on course to take Newcastle back into private ownership after increasing his stake in the club to 77.06%.

Storage company Norish has announced pre-tax profits of £300,000 (€435,500) for 2004, compared to pre-tax losses of £400,000 (€581,000) after exceptional items of £600,000 (€871,000) for last year.

Construction company Kingspan has applied to the UKLA, the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange to block-list two million ordinary shares of 13c each.