The Irish Times - Finance

Wilson Hartnell puts best foot forward in Sockies

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

WILSON HARTNELL PR, part of the Ogilvy Ireland group, has been crowned agency of the year at the Bord Gáis Energy Social Media Awards – aka the Sockies.

'T'weetour' to trap more visitors from Mice sector

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

BUSINESS TOURISTS from Britain – or more specifically the “meetings, incentives, conferences and events” sector (Mice) – are the focus of Tourism Ireland’s latest Twitter marketing venture, which it is calling a “t’weetour”.

Just who in the media world 'gets' digital?

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

MEDIA & MARKETING:SOME DAY there will be a McCarthyite tribunal into whether or not media people “get” digital. You hear it a lot, these whispers, albeit usually on digital forums: “He/She/Company X does a lot of amazing stuff, but I’m just not sure if they really get digital.”

Demise of analogue creates a problem for digital 'black spots'

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

“D-DAY” FOR analogue television services is now five months away and TDs representing areas in west Cork cursed with digital terrestrial television “black spots” are taking up the cause of constituents facing either a snowy screen or the €300 purchase of a satellite dish.

Sky's the target of new UPC service

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

THE INVITATIONS are in the post. UPC has this week sent information on its new on-demand television service to 200,000 customers, inviting them to sit back on their sofas with a bowl of popcorn, press the “on demand” button on their remote controls and not emerge from their living rooms until winter.

Software giant SAP to pay $4.3bn for Ariba

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

Cloud computing

Xintec to receive €900,000 funding

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

Investment

Realex apologises for service break with 7,000 clients affected

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

Online payments

The new generation of tinkerers are chips off the old block

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:46 GMT

WIRED:FOR A PLACE built on the silicon chip and printed circuit boards, the public side of Silicon Valley has spent a long time away from tiny black and green mazeworks. Chip factories, which used to squat across the valley, have long ago moved to China.

Get a room: helping small hotels to keep tabs on bookings and availability

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

START-UP NATION: Frontdesk Anywhere:A RANDOM conversation with a hotel owner in the spectacular Yosemite Valley in the US sparked the creative juices that led to Joe Kiernan launching his first tech start-up – a company that is becoming a global enterprise.

Web Log

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

ByMARIE BORAN

Tech Tools

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

ByCIARA O'BRIEN

Dublin-based Brite:Bill secures new equity funding of €1.25m

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

DUBLIN-BASED communications software firm Brite:Bill has secured €1.25 million in new equity funding from the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund.

Get smart on marketing, tech firms told

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

THE IRISH tech sector may be keen to adopt new approaches to building successful companies that can compete on the global stage but it still lags behind in key areas, a new survey said.

Innovation centre for Kilkenny

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

A NEW centre, which will see entrepreneurs, academics and start-up companies working side by side, is to be formally opened in Kilkenny today.

'These students aren't learning science - they are scientists'

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:45 GMT

At an Intel science fair held in Pittsburgh last week, 1,500 of the brightest young minds from all over the world demonstrated that world-beating ingenuity is not the sole preserve of the experts

Is it possible to chat to a computer?

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:44 GMT

YOUR HORSE IS stuck in a ditch. You’ve tried luring it out with a sugar lump, but it’s not budging. Whipping out the smartphone, thumbs shaking, you Google “Annie”, the RSPCA’s virtual assistant. Reassured, you see Annie has handled this sort of thing before.

China reaffirms commitment to growth policies

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:44 GMT

Economy

Facebook sued by shareholders

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:44 GMT

Facebook and banks including Morgan Stanley are being sued by the social networking leader’s shareholders, who claim the defendants hid Facebook’s weakened growth forecasts ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).

Bacon says Spain could learn from Ireland on bank crisis

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:44 GMT

Spain could learn lessons from Ireland’s handling of its banking crisis, according to economic consultant Peter Bacon, the architect of the National Assets Management Agency (Nama).

IMF urges UK to cut interest rates

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:44 GMT

The International Monetary Fund has called on the Bank of England to cut interest rates and resume printing money to boost demand. It has also asked the UK government to prepare plans for deficit reduction if these measures do not work.

Advertising firm to reinvent itself as energy business

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:44 GMT

Advertising company Captive Audience Display Solutions (Cads) is poised to reinvent itself as a renewable energy business after shareholders approved a merger with a UK-registered firm yesterday.

PTT raises offer in joust with Shell to buy Cove

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

THAILAND’S PTT Exploration and Production has stoked the bid battle for Cove Energy, topping Royal Dutch Shell with a £1.22 billion offer that underscores interest in new east African gas finds.

Mazda and Fiat to develop sports car

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

MAZDA, JAPAN’S least profitable car maker, and Italian car firm Fiat have agreed to jointly develop a sports car and discuss further cooperation in Europe as part of a broader partnership.

Burberry profit warning ahead of investments

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

BURBERRY GROUP, the UK’s largest luxury-goods company, says profitability may decline in the first half of the fiscal year as it boosts spending on new stores and digital platforms.

Markets worldwide fall on euro fears

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

GLOBAL STOCKS fell again as euro zone leaders prepared to meet in Brussels amid growing fears that Greece may leave the currency bloc. The euro fell to a 21- month low against the US dollar.

Smartbox to create 70 jobs at international centre in Dublin

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

GIFT VOUCHER firm Smartbox is to set up a new international centre in Dublin which could create up to 70 jobs at the firm.

Golden Discs records losses of €73,000

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

LOSSES AT Golden Discs narrowed significantly last year to €73,000, according to results published yesterday. This compared with losses of €710,000 in 2010, and €1.6 million in 2009 for Golden Disc Group Ltd.

Key role at Paddy Power for McCarthy

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

FORMER ULSTER Bank chief executive Cormac McCarthy will take over as chief financial officer of listed bookmaker Paddy Power this year.

Legal firm and bank clash over valuations

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:43 GMT

KBC BANK and a legal firm have clashed over property valuations which are relevant to the sum of damages to be paid by the lawyers over “very serious failures” to ensure the bank had proper security for substantial loans made to property developer John Kelly and struck-off solicitor Thomas Byrne. More than €20 million in damages are being sought.

Court hears of McKillen 'antipathy' to Barclays

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:42 GMT

PROPERTY DEVELOPER Paddy McKillen has displayed “an unjustified antipathy” to the billionaire Barclay brothers and has not been a truthful witness, the High Court in London has been told.

McDonald's €350m contract to create 65 jobs

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:42 GMT

SOME 65 permanent jobs are to be created in Co Waterford, as well as 100 construction posts, following the announcement that Dawn Meats has been awarded a €300 million contract to process up to 18,000 tonnes of Irish beef a year for McDonald’s Europe.

Intel picks Irish plant for new chip

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:42 GMT

INTEL CHIEF executive Paul Otellini has confirmed it has selected its plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare, as one of three locations where it will manufacture its next generation of computer chips.

Cantillon

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:42 GMT

Inside the world of business

Beades gets time to reply to bank claim

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:42 GMT

BANK OF Scotland is pursuing developer Jerry Beades in the High Court for the repayment of a €9.7 million personal loan given to him to develop an apartment complex in Dublin.

€4.56bn in zero-rate German bonds sold

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:42 GMT

GERMANY SOLD €4.56 billion of bonds carrying a 0 per cent coupon yesterday, its first sale of debt offering investors no regular return and underscoring its safe-haven appeal at a time of turmoil in the euro currency zone.

Focus on entrepreneurship at European science forum in Dublin

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:41 GMT

IF YOU have an invention and want to sell it to the world make plans to attend the Euroscience Open Forum in Dublin this July.

Campaign in US highlights need to get social media strategy right

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:41 GMT

NET RESULTS:PERHAPS NOTHING demonstrates how immature our general understanding is of social media than a US presidential campaign.

Banks abusing customer data, say brokers

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:41 GMT

BANKS HAVE been accused of breaking consumer protection laws by monitoring account transactions and using information gleaned from them to put pressure on consumers to switch from independently sourced products to products sold by the banks, according to the State’s largest group of financial brokers.

Nama plans to invest €2bn in construction from cash reserves

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:40 GMT

THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency aims to spend €2 billion completing buildings and starting new projects from its own cash reserves, rather than new borrowings, and still meet its debt-repayment targets up to 2020.

Voluntary package at Ulster Bank is oversubscribed

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:40 GMT

ULSTER BANK has received 1,100 applications from staff for 950 voluntary redundancies sought but has yet to decide whether this will rule out a requirement for compulsory layoffs.

McKillen 'owns property worth €45m'

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:39 GMT

PROPERTY DEVELOPER Patrick McKillen owns €45 million worth of properties around the world that have not been used as security against his debts, according to a court document.

Ritz up your mobile

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:13:59 GMT

ROAD WARRIOR:THE BUSINESS OF TRAVELLING FOR WORK

China will buy dairy 'til cows come home - but don't expect investment

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:13:59 GMT

China doesn’t figure as a foreign direct investor in Europe, never mind Ireland. Beijing accounts for just 1 per cent of FDI

Inside Track Q&A

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:36 GMT

Martin McCloskey, founder and chief executive of Western Building Systems, Coalisland, Co Tyrone

Cure lies in faster adjusting to crisis

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:36 GMT

ECONOMIC COMMENT:I SYMPATHISE with the Germans. This is not because I agree with their prevailing view of how the crisis occurred or what to do about it.

Smartphone demand boosts Best Buy results

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:36 GMT

BEST BUY, the largest US consumer electronics retailer, reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates, helped by demand for smartphones.

Modest forecast from Ralph Lauren

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:36 GMT

RALPH LAUREN Corp reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday, helped by soaring sales, but said it expected the pace of revenue growth to slow, in part because of Europe’s economic problems.

Xstrata takes punt on copper market recovery

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:36 GMT

GLOBAL MINER Xstrata is betting sluggish copper demand in China will pick up in the second half as it makes plans to boost production of the metal by 60 per cent, shrugging off more cautious approaches by rivals.

Rising hopes lift European stocks

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:36 GMT

RISING EXPECTATIONS of increased efforts to boost economic growth in Europe and China led to a bounce back on the European markets yesterday.

Regulators' concern over Facebook IPO

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

Facebook’s shares fell sharply again yesterday and two senior US financial regulators called for a review of the circumstances surrounding its troubled initial public offering last week.

Three investors buy 21% stake in Formula One

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

Three investment groups have bought a 21 per cent stake in Formula One from private equity firm CVC Capital for $1.6 billion (€1.26 billion) ahead of the motor racing company’s planned flotation in Singapore.

O'Brien's €45.5m takeover of Siteserv approved

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

The Competition Authority yesterday gave its approval for Denis O’Brien’s takeover of Siteserv.

Qantas to split its flying unit

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

Qantas Airways, Australias largest carrier, will split its main flying unit into domestic and international businesses as it deals with rising fuel prices and losses on long-haul routes.

Google purchase of Motorola Mobility clears final hurdle

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

Google has won approval from Chinese regulators for its $12.5 billion (€9.8 billion) purchase of Motorola Mobility, clearing a final hurdle for a deal that boosts its patents portfolio and steps up competition with Apple.

British car industry gets the lead out

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

After withering for decades, British car manufacturing is returning to something resembling the good old days – albeit with foreign owners and vastly changed work practices

Now for another billion-dollar question - did Mr and Mrs Zuckerberg sign a pre-nup?

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

The fascination with Facebook and the billions it is generating continues – this time, the focus is on the Zuckerberg nuptials

Milk quota abolition could create up to 15,000 jobs

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

THE IRISH dairy industry has the potential to create up to 15,000 extra jobs following the abolition of milk quotas in 2015, attendees at the National Dairy Council’s annual conference heard yesterday.

Flahavans' healthy rise in profit and turnover

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

BOTH PROFITS and turnover at the Co Waterford food business Flahavans increased in the 2011 financial year, according to accounts just filed.

OECD warns on euro crisis spillover

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

GLOBAL RECOVERY could be derailed by the euro crisis, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned yesterday.

UPC launches catch-up, box set and film service

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

UPC WILL bring on-demand television to its digital customers from Friday, the company said.

Music firms' challenge over 'three strikes' deal begins

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

A CHALLENGE by four music companies to a notice of the Data Protection Commissioner which they fear will effectively unwind their “three strikes and you’re out” agreement with Eircom aimed at combating the widespread illegal downloading of music has opened before the Commercial Court.

High Court approves Eircom survival plan

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

A FIVE-YEAR survival scheme for Eircom approved by the High Court will see it and related companies exit the State’s biggest examinership on June 11th next.

Pay still a hot topic despite Tesco chief's gesture

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:35 GMT

LONDON BRIEFING:THREE cheers for Phil Clarke, chief executive of Tesco, who has turned down a bonus of £372,000 because of the retailer’s poor performance.

Customers vent as part of bank's 'humble' drive

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:34 GMT

ANALYSIS:IL&P’s Alan Cook takes it on the chin as a handful of disgruntled shareholders let fly over interest rates

Judge challenges McKillen stance on £660m debt sale

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:34 GMT

BONUS PAYMENTS from Qatari investors interested in buying three luxury London hotels would have been “far more attractive” to financier Derek Quinlan than promises to forgive his debts by the billionaire Barclay brothers, a judge in London said yesterday.

Scheme to compensate spread-bet firm clients

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:34 GMT

ALMOST ALL 15,000 clients of collapsed financial spread-betting firm Worldspreads are covered by a compensation scheme operated by its UK regulator.

Vodafone reports significant rise in smartphone users

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:34 GMT

DATA USE on Vodafone’s Irish network rose in the first quarter of 2012 as a growing number of customers signed up for smartphones, while the wider group cut sales growth targets.

Greencore revenue increases by 50% following acquisition

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:33 GMT

FOOD COMPANY Greencore posted a strong set of interim results yesterday, in the first major trading update since the acquisition of British company Uniq last year.

IL&P had considered closing bank division

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:33 GMT

THE BOARD of Irish Life & Permanent Group Holdings considered closing its banking subsidiary during talks on the restructuring of the group with the troika, chairman Alan Cook told shareholders at its annual meeting in Dublin yesterday.

UK court of appeal dismisses Ryanair action

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:33 GMT

THE UK’S court of appeal has dismissed an action by Ryanair that the UK office of fair trading (OFT) was “not in time” with its investigation of its 29.8 per cent shareholding in Aer Lingus.

Blair was against transfer to Nama of London hotel debts

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:33 GMT

FORMER BRITISH prime minister Tony Blair believed in 2010 that the debts of a luxury London hotel group at the centre of a long-running High Court case in London should not have been taken over by the National Asset Management Agency.

Value for Money

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:46:22 GMT

PizzaMarks and Spencer Mozzarella and Tomato Pizza €5.99

Be sure to play your cards right

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:46:22 GMT

Most people are aware of the dangers of skimming, but the criminal’s current favourite is the lesser known ‘card-not-present’ fraud, which accounts for 80-85 per cent of losses, writesAOIFE CARR

Later State pension may mean income gap for many workers

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:46:21 GMT

The Government plans to postpone the age at which employees get their State pension. But labour force participation by the over-65s is only about 9%, and firms have been slow to react to the change, writesFIONA REDDAN