D Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Business 17 Edited by Alan Caulfield news@metroherald.ie Business & Finance DOWNDOWN v$v$ DOWNDOWN vv DOWNDOWN ISEQISEQ by 45.71 at 3,053.97$1.45 0.90 Business Bites TESCO hailed its strongest Christmas performance in three years as recession-weary customers bought festive treats and a bumper voucher handout paid off. The supermarket giant said sales in the six weeks to January 9 grew 4.9 per cent, excluding petrol and adjusted for changes in VAT. However, Tesco kept up its policy of not giving a breakdown of sales between Ireland and the UK. The supermarket giant said its Finest range was a real winner, growing 16 per cent, while 35 per cent more bottles of Champagne were sold than last year. Elsewhere, Irish retailers have blamed the recent cold weather for a 38 per cent drop in sales as customers struggled to get to shops. Christmas sales up 5% for Tesco Michael Hoey, managing director of Country Crest, left, with potato grower Willie Rogan with the first crop of new Irish potatoes at Smithfield Market. The first harvest of spuds will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to charity Picture: Fennells All eyes on first spud crop WEB retailer Komplett ASA has said it will sell its operations in Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. The firm, which sells technology products and trades under Komplett.ie here, will sell Komplett BV, which runs the three web stores, to Dutch firm ParaDigit Holding BV by April 1. Komplett ASA will have the option to buy the stores back in three years. Country manager for Komplett Ireland Aaron McKenna said it was a positive move. I think it will bring real benefits both to our business and to our customers in the very near future, he said. ARE you as confused by the Irish tax system as Bertie Ahern? If so, a new book by Aidan Kelly Get Your Tax Back: The Irish Guide To Unlocking Your Allowances may be just for you. And thanks to Liberties Press, we have five copies of this essential guide to give away. Just send an e-mail to business@metroherald.ie with the answer to the following question to win your copy: Name the last three Ministers for Finance. CADBURY yesterday set out its case for independence as it urged shareholders not to let US giant Kraft steal your company. The British chocolate companys latest response to Kraft was contained in a new defence document setting out details of Cadburys outstanding trading in 2009 and forecasting sales growth of up to seven per cent this year. Shareholders have until February 2 to accept Krafts take-over offer, which values the firm at around 10.5billion (11.7bn). Cadbury chairman Roger Carr warned shareholders: Dont let Kraft steal your company with its derisory offer. Investors voice anger but vote for bad bank By Con Doherty BANK of Ireland shareholders yes- terday overwhelmingly approved joining the countrys bad bank, which it said would help avoid falling completely into State ownership. Governor Pat Molloy said he could not predict how big a stake the Gov- ernment would take after it transfers toxic loans with a book value of up to 16billion to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). Mr Molloy said the discount the Government will pay for the property loans in the bail-out scheme should not be greater than 30 per cent. He told shareholders at an extraordi- nary general meeting in Dublin trans- ferring the loans improves our pros- pects of raising capital in the future. It will restore confidence. Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan has said it was possible the Government would have to take a ma- jority stake in Bank of Ireland and in Allied Irish Banks, whose investors voted last month to join Nama. AIB will sell loans nominally worth about 24billion, and both banks, in which the Government already holds indirect 25-per cent stakes, will look for fresh capital, first from private sources and in the last instance from the Government. Despite backing Nama, many share- holders in the bank who have seen their investments practically wiped out voiced their anger at the top brass from the floor. At the moment, you have no credi- bility whatsoever, one shareholder told the board. He added there were far too many fat cats in the bank. Independent senator and journalist Shane Ross questioned Mr Molloys decision to take up his position as gov- ernor last July without first demanding the sacking of directors who were in key positions when the banks were lending recklessly including current chief executive Richie Boucher. Mistakes had been made, Senator Ross told Mr Molloy. The problem is you have 13 of those mistakes sitting beside you, he added. Old guard: Richie Boucher GENETIC modification giant Monsanto has signed a deal to exclusively use a Limerick-based firms patented gene analysis technology. Stokes Bios system uses microfluidic technology to identify the seeds or plants with the most desirable characteristics, such as better yield or disease resistance. It is much faster and cheaper than existing methods and is able to use much smaller sample sizes. The University of Limerick spin-off company will deliver the instruments to the US company this year. Monsanto has for many years been the focus of protests by opponents of genetic modification, who claim it is a risk to health and the environment. Monsanto to use Irish technology index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html