CINEMA OPERATOR Ward Anderson pulled a €300,000 dividend out of Galway Multiplex Ltd in March 2009, according to its latest accounts – the same sum as the previous year.
This was in spite of the Galway company recording a 17 per cent decline in profits to €712,795 in the year to the end of October 2009.
No revenue figure was published but the accounts show that profits at Galway Multiplex were down at a gross, operating and pre-tax level. After years of stellar growth, is this the first tentative sign of a softening in Irish cinema attendances?
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Meteor has withdrawn as the sponsor of TV3's reality show The Apprentice, which is fronted by Bill Cullen. ShinAwil, which produces the popular show, is believed to be in talks with two brands for next season.
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The volcanic ash crisis prompted a full-on “rant” this week from Bloxham aviation analyst Joe Gill.
“Our pet theory is that the tree huggers have turned conventional wisdom against airplanes in favour of trains,” he said.
“Has anyone asked the moles, ferrets and blue tits mangled by moving earth for new railways what they think about that ? And how many carbon emissions are caused by manufacturing thousands of kilometres of steel to construct railways? Choo choo.”
