Bula Resources has appointed a new sponsoring broker to replace Davy, which resigned in January, but the company's shares remain suspended from the Dublin and London exchanges. They have not traded since April 11th.

The firm also appointed a new executive director, but there was still no clarity yesterday about when the suspension would be lifted. The troubled oil company has about 46,000 shareholders.

According to a stock exchange statement yesterday, Corporate Synergy will replace Davy as broker for Bula. The firm is based in London, specialising in small firms. Bula's new executive director is Mr Omar Issa Yazigi, a Syrian who has been the firm's regional general manager for north Africa and Malta for a year. He joins its managing director, Mr Tom Kelly, and the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, on the board.

The firm's shares were suspended by the stock markets in Dublin and London on April 11th, pending clarification of its financial position. The firm is understood to have come under pressure to explain itself. Discussions to date have not ended the suspension, indicating that the stock exchange remains dissatisfied with the information coming from Bula. Mr Kelly said: "The position at the moment is that there are discussions going on and now we have our sponsor acting on our behalf."

When asked whether the new broker had been given a deadline to achieve a lifting of the suspension, Mr Kelly said: "I don't want to anticipate what's going on or what will happen. They are a professional group of people and that is what they are hired to be." On Mr Yazigi's appointment, he said: "We've had two directors for too long and that needs to change and we've been saying that for some time."

The company was "a bit short of staff", he added, stating that it was seeking to recruit people for key positions.