Net income beat analysts' expectations by rising to 5.73m in the six months to the end of June, compared with 3.34m for the same period last year.

IFG pared back a foray into the UK financial advice market in order to focus on its corporate trustee and administration business abroad, while paying off debt. The company is also expanding its Irish mortgage business with an equity-loan product aimed at homeowners aged 60 or more.

Shares rose 2% to 2.02 on the back of the results.

They have gained 50% this year, compared with the Iseq's 7.8% advance. IFG is the smallest Irish financial stock, with a market value of 128m.

TRINITY BIOTECH has signed a joint venture agreement with the government of Nigeria to produce diagnostic kits to test for HIV, malaria and hepatitis B and C.

Manufacturing of the kits will be undertaken in the West African country under the auspices of Nigeria's National Biotechnology Development Agency. The agency said the kits will be produced at a "competitive price".

The deal with Trinity Biotech will also involve knowledge transfer, laboratory equipment and the training of Nigerian scientific staff.

TRAVEL SOFTWARE company Datalex has posted a 60% increase in first half profit to 1.3m.

The company benefited from higher margin sales through a new transactionbased business model that charges airlines and accommodation providers for the volume of business they conduct through Datalex's booking engine rather than the licence fee model it used in the past.

The increase in profit came despite the fact that firsthalf sales fell 1.6m to 9.7m compared with the same period in 2005.

Datalex is sacrificing shortterm revenue gains for longer term contracts that carry higher margins and are potentially far more lucrative, according to Datalex chief executive Cormac Whelan.

Whelan said the company, whose customers include Aer Lingus and KLM, recently closed a number of significant transaction-based contracts that will begin to generate revenue over the second half of this year.

DUBLIN-BASED Openet Telecom has signed up its first Latin American customer, Mexican mobile operator Iusacell, and is hoping to complete another two deals with Latin American operators this year.

Openet believes it may generate $1m in revenue from Latin America this year, and hopes to have inked deals with four or five operators in the region by the end of 2007.

Despite the Mexican deal, Openet has said it intends to focus regional activities in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

In the 12 months to the end of June 2004, Openet reported revenue of 16.66m, compared to 9.45m the previous year. It posted an operating loss of 84,000 versus a loss of 4.3m in 2003.

The company has accumulated losses of over 23m.

THE MALL OF SOFIA, Quinlan Private's joint venture with GE Commercial Finance Real Estate in Bulgaria, expects to generate turnover of up to 100m in the fiscal year ended June 2007.

Speaking at a news conference last week, the mall's general manager said that 1.5 million people had visited the shopping centre, which opened at the end of May, in the first 10 weeks of operation.

In 2005 Quinlan Private acquired 20% of the mall, while GE bought 30%. The total deal cost 37m.

In May this year, Quinlan Private acquired an additional 50% of the mall for 90m.