The Irish Times - Finance

Business Diary

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

IRELAND’S €54 BILLION “bad bank”should move another step closer to becoming a reality this week, as the final vote in the Dáil on the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) legislation takes place on Thursday. If voted through, the Nama Bill will then be sent on to President Mary McAleese who will sign it into law.

Reinsurance roars on

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

Ireland’s reinsurance sector has survived the Cologne Re debacle and is in rude good health, writesFiona Reddan

Getting streetwise in the battle against big business

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

BOOK REVIEW:NIMBY Wars: The Politics of Land Useby Michael Saint; €20 ($29.99) - IT IS a few years since Tesco, the supermarket group, had a tricky encounter with a population of burrowing owls in California. The small endangered birds were cited in a legal challenge to the construction of a huge distribution centre east of Los Angeles that now supplies Tesco’s US chain of Fresh Easy grocery stores.

No good can come from marital co-working

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

It is not only MPs who should be banned from working with their spouses, everyone else should be too

Ban on short selling is now long past its sell-by date

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

OPINION:The veto bought the Government some time last year, but there is no justification to retain it, writesJOHN McMANUS

Aer Lingus failure to pay pilot's increment unlawful

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

A RIGHTS commissioner has found that a decision by Aer Lingus not to pay an increment of over €900 due to a pilot last April represented an unlawful deduction of wages.

Ulster Bank surveys show further fall in construction

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

ACTIVITY IN the Irish construction sector fell at a “considerable pace” in October while employment was also “cut sharply again”, according to the latest Ulster Bank Construction PMI survey.

IMF may force banks to pay insurance or future rescues

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) is exploring the idea of making banks pay insurance fees to fund any future rescues in the sector, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said yesterday.

AIB to name O'Connor as executive chairman

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:18:09 GMT

AIB IS set to appoint Dan O’Connor as executive chairman on an interim basis while it continues its search for a suitable external candidate to become its new chief executive.

AIB and BoI stocks improve on volatile day of trading

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq:2,971.96 (+6.67)Settlement date:November 11th

In short

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

A roundup of today's other business news

Authority approves merger of 'Metro' and 'Herald AM'

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

THE COMPETITION Authority has approved a deal that will result in the merger of Dublin freesheet newspapers Metro and Herald AM.

Pharmaceutical industry told to adapt or be left behind

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

IRELAND’S pharmaceutical industry needs to change and adapt if it wants to avoid being left behind, a conference in Cork involving key players in the field has been told.

Primark hopes to become Aldi of the German fashion sector

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

The Irish retailer is considered a major threat to the supremacy of H&M and Zara, writesDEREK SCALLYin Berlin

Property firm of FitzPatrick, O'Brien and Quinn €5m in red in May 2008

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

A PROPERTY company whose backers include former Anglo Irish Bank chief Seán FitzPatrick, media owner Denis O’Brien and ESB chairman Lochlann Quinn, along with a who’s who of Irish business, ended last year in €5 million in the red.

Cantillon

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:37 GMT

Inside The World Of Business

Long-haul sector accounts for fall in passengers at Aer Lingus

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:36 GMT

AER LINGUS carried 902,000 passengers in October, a reduction of 2,000 on the same month of 2008.

BA predicts £1bn slump in revenue but signals business stabilising

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:36 GMT

BRITISH AIRWAYS has signalled business is stabilising, eclipsing news of a worse than expected first-half loss and a prediction that revenue will slump by £1 billion (€1.12 billion) this year.

G20 warned not to repeat errors of Great Depression

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:36 GMT

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned global financial leaders not to repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression and choke off emergency support for their economies too quickly.

Elan updates Tysabri label to warn of risks of brain disease

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:35 GMT

ELAN HAS updated the label on its breakthrough multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri to reflect the increased risk of patients contracting a serious brain disease if they are on the drug for more than two years.

Groups unite to lobby over pension scheme guidelines

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:35 GMT

EMPLOYERS AND union groups have united to lobby Ministers over strict guidelines announced this week for companies looking to restructure significantly underfunded pension schemes by reducing benefits.

Foreign nationals not shaping jobs figures

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:35 GMT

THE INCIDENCE of foreign nationals returning home was not a dominant factor in last month’s fall in the Live Register, according to a detailed breakdown of the figures published yesterday.

Crisis is banks' responsibility, says head of Permanent

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:35 GMT

THE CHIEF executive of Permanent TSB told a gathering of financial service professionals that the banking sector bore chief responsibility for the State’s financial woes, and that the entire industry had been “humbled” by events over the past year.

Loss makes Ulster Bank RBS's worst division

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:35 GMT

ULSTER BANK made an operating loss of £85 million (€95 million) in the third quarter as impairments soared and margins were squeezed, according to a trading update from its parent bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Feedb@ck

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:44 GMT

LAST WEEKWe asked: Are shares in Irish banks now fairly valued by the market? There were 1,870 responses. The result was:Yes 44% No 56%

Tech Tools

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:44 GMT

Compiled byCIARA O'BRIEN

Make it harder for prying eyes to decode private files

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:44 GMT

WIRED:Unencrypted backups preserve valuable data at the risk of exposing it to malicious uses, writesDANNY O'BRIEN

'Gourmet' feels internet bite as too many cooks go online

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:44 GMT

NET RESULTS:The Kitchen Computer has finally come to pass, but not as the makers intended, writesKARLIN LILLINGTON

Portrait of inventor who saw the big picture

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:44 GMT

As a young Kodak employee, Steve Sasson invented the digital camera. Kodak’s failure to commercialise it makes it a bittersweet success, writesRICHARD GILLIS

Cashing in on crisis-proof urge to go shopping

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

Eight years ago, Colm Lyon quit a ‘cosy’ job in banking and entered the risky world of internet sales. Things are even cosier today.IAN CAMPBELLreports

Rebellion manuscripts go digital

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

Behind the scenes of Dublin academia, a vast digitalisation of historical documents is under way. It may well raise the bar for archiving, writesKARLIN LILLINGTON

Perennial bulls' optimism may be misplaced

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

SERIOUS MONEY:The lesson is clear: poor stock market performance has a lasting and meaningful negative impact on new equity fund sales, writesCHARLIE FELL

Payback time for hard-pressed taxpayers

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

With the squeeze on everyone’s wallet, why not investigate if the taxman owes you, for a change? You might be pleasantly surprised, writesFIONA REDDAN

Eastern promise flowers in what was once a broken land

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

The former East Germany is performing better than anyone expected when reunification happened after the fall of communism, writesDEREK SCALLYin Berlin

Boom-time deal in the docklands turns sour

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

One of the biggest deals during the property boom has gone wrong, writesCOLM KEENA,Public Affairs Correspondent

British banks bow to commission

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:43 GMT

The European Commission’s demand that Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds sell assets will be closely watched, writesMARK HENNESSY, London Editor

No escaping need for deep and painful cuts

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:42 GMT

ECONOMICS:Current expenditure on social welfare and public sector pay cannot be sustained, writesJIM O'LEARY

Promoters' spat rocks the music industry

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:42 GMT

A row between two promoters provides fascinating insights into the world of concert promotions, writesSIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent

Iseq performs well as banks win back some lost ground

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:41 GMT

DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 2,965.29 (+41.47) Settlement date: November 10thBANKING STOCKS staged a rally in late trading , with both Bank of Ireland and AIB closing up and pushing the Iseq to outperform the European markets.

Starbucks closes five Dublin outlets

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:41 GMT

STARBUCKS COFFEE Company yesterday announced it has closed five of its stores in Ireland.

FG makes its pitch to business community

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:24:41 GMT

The wishlists were long as Fine Gael’s economic team began its national business forum tour, writesLAURA SLATTERY

Little Things

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

CHRISTMAS IS set to come early for thousands of savvy employees who signed up earlier this year to a savings scheme run by Michael Dawson’s the Gift Voucher Shop.

JetBird struggling to get off the ground

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

AS FINANCIER Dómhnal Slattery plots his re-entry into the aviation leasing industry, his executive jet airline start up, JetBird, still awaits clearance for take-off.

Boucher bemused by Anglo's lack of faith

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

THERE WAS an austere feel to the presentation of Bank of Ireland’s less-than-stellar half-year results on Wednesday, hosted by chief executive Richie Boucher (pictured right).

Balderton goes for touch of Bling

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

BALDERTON CAPITAL, led by Irishman Barry Maloney, announced on Monday that it was the lead investor in a $20 million (€13.44 million) second-stage funding round by Bling Nation, a California-based mobile payments provider.

Casting a cold eye on financial advisers

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

UNDER THE RADAR: Mark O'Bryne, GoldCore

Tech Shorts

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

A round-up of other technology news in brief

Take the plunge this winter with new water quality site

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

BOOKMARK:THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency has teamed up with IBM and local authorities to develop bathingwater.ie, a website that provides the latest data on Irish beaches – from water quality to weather conditions and satellite imagery. Although probably less relevant now that long nights and cold weather are the order of the day, this is a useful resource for anyone visiting the coast.

Latest theatre, film and gig details - all on your iPhone

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

DOWNLOAD:ENTERTAINMENT.IE is the latest Irish web property to branch out as an iPhone app. The popular listings site launched recently and, at the time of writing, is the number-two free app in the iTunes App Store.

The greatest business success stories from home

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

READ:IT MAY have escaped your notice but IDA Ireland is running a major advertising campaign in the US branding this country as the “Innovation Island”.

The gadget that tells you what you really, really want

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:43 GMT

INSTALL:NEED INSPIRATION for a new book, film or gadget to buy? Then get Glue. Available as a plug-in for the Firefox browser, Glue is a recommendation engine that asks you to rate books, movies and other things in your life, and then makes recommendations based on your preferences.

Cork software firm reports rise in revenue to €10.7m in 2008

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

CORK-HEADQUARTED software firm Qumas has reported revenues of $15.9 million (€10.7million) in 2008, up from $12.1 million (€8.9 million) a year earlier, according to documents filed with the Companies Registration Office this week.

Fund to commemorate Dundalk student offers help for start-ups

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

A LOUTH-BASED entrepreneur has launched a fund to help unemployed graduates of DCU and Dundalk Institute of Technology evaluate and develop their best new technology start-up ideas.

Losses at S3 group narrow following investment drive

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

IRISH TECHNOLOGY firm Silicon Software Systems (S3) recorded a pretax net loss of €1.6 million in 2008, down from €5.3 million a year earlier, according to new accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office.

Wi-Fi spots susceptible to data theft, says Deloitte

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

HUNDREDS OF commercial wireless hotspots in Dublin, Limerick and Cork are insecure, leaving users susceptible to having data such as usernames, passwords and bank account details revealed to other users on the network.

Site offers advice on stock-picking

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

FORMER MERRION Stockbrokers executive Rory Gillen has established a new business offering stock market training and stock picks to personal investors.

Commuting and renting in UK, do I owe NPPR here?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

Q&A:DOMINIC COYLEanswers your personal finance questions

Planet Business

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

LAURA SLATTERYrounds up the week in business

Building on a strong foundation

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

FRIDAY INTERVIEW:Liam McCaffrey, Quinn Group

Negative outlook by Commerzbank

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest lender, predicted a difficult fourth quarter as the bank expects it will need to set aside more money for bad loans.

£48m funding for affordable homes

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

Bank of Ireland and Barclays announced a £48 million funding arrangement for affordable homes in Northern Ireland.

Toyota reports quarterly profit

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

Toyota reported a surprise quarterly profit and cut its annual loss forecast by more than half as sales and cost-cutting beat its forecasts, putting it on track to follow Japanese rivals into the black next year.

Karelian records loss of 194,126

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

Karelian Diamond Resources announced a loss after tax of €194,126 for the year to the end of May 2009 compared to a loss of €268,638 in 2008.

EU agrees bill of rights in telecoms

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

The European Union has secured agreement on a telecoms bill to boost consumer rights, competition and fuel investment in the €300 billion a year sector.

Examiner appointed to Tweedy pub group

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

THE HIGH Court has appointed Kevin Hughes as examiner to the Tweedy pub and night club group, which has debts of some €10 million.

Pension sector alarm over board stance

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

THE IRISH pensions industry responded with alarm yesterday to guidelines issued by the Pensions Board in relation to rescue plans for struggling schemes.

Digiweb to acquire Smart Telecom

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

SMART TELECOM, which has been in examinership since August, is to be acquired by rival Digiweb subject the approval of its creditors and the High Court.

UPC Ireland's revenues rise 2.2% to €184.6m in September

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

REVENUES AT UPC Ireland, the company that owns cable TV operators NTL and Chorus, rose by 2.2 per cent year on year to €184.6 million in the nine months to the end of September.

Forum told Irish economy can make up lost ground by 2013

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

THE IRISH economy can make up ground lost over the last two years by 2013, according to National Irish Bank chief economist Dr Ronnie O’Toole, who believes the State’s skilled workforce can lead to a swift recovery.

AIB raises further €750m from bond sale as ECB signals end of aid scheme

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

ALLIED IRISH Banks (AIB) has raised a further €750 million in the sale of another unguaranteed bond as the European Central Bank (ECB) signalled it would end exceptional measures introduced to aid euro zone bank funding.

Zurich sees market share grow 46%

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

ZURICH LIFE in Ireland yesterday announced its market share had grown 46 per cent following a strong pensions performance.

Lenihan not ruling out bringing more lower earners into tax net

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:42 GMT

MINISTER FOR Finance Brian Lenihan yesterday declined to rule out bringing more low-income earners into the tax net, but said that any potential economic recovery would likely be stymied by further increases in taxation.

Anglo board yet to decide on frozen bonuses

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:41 GMT

THE BOARD of State-owned Anglo Irish Bank has not yet decided whether to pay frozen bonuses owing under a long-term incentive plan to staff who sign up for the redundancy plan unveiled by the bank on Wednesday.

Financier fights NIB bid for €6.3m judgment

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:41 GMT

FINANCIER NIALL McFadden is opposing a court application by National Irish Bank for €6.3 million summary judgment orders against him arising from his personal guarantee over loans to acquire the Buy Sell classified ads business.

Summit hears call for global regulation

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:41 GMT

A PANEL of international economists addressed delegates from the Irish business community yesterday, at the inaugural International Financial Services Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin.