Irish Business News - Online Business and Finance

Armada Hotel owner John Burke at Spanish Point, Co Clare. Photo: Arthur Ellis

Interview: 'Hotel boss reaches summit of success'

Struggling up Mount Everest, west Clare hotelier John Burke knew he couldn't go on and collapsed in a heap.

Plans for Shannon gas terminal scaled back as it faces delay

The company behind a planned €500m liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal planned on the Shannon wants to reduce the footprint of the controversial project in a significant move that affects one of the scheme's main elements.

Carlyle Cardinal fund backs sport clinic

Irish private equity fund Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI) has agreed to take a 38pc stake in the well-known Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry, north Dublin.

US adventure: Smurfit to put gambling firm GAN on the market

Shares in Dermot Smurfit jr's gambling software provder GAN fell almost 4pc yesterday.

Assessment: Richard Bruton’s department is at odds with Cnooc’s report on the environment

China-backed oil drilling project faces site-probe delay

The Government has still not given the go-ahead for a major, multimillion-euro oil exploratoration drilling programme off the south-west coast by a firm backed by Chinese state company Cnooc and energy giant Exxon Mobil.

Protected: customers will be covered by Central Bank statutory codes of conduct. Stock image

No mortgage in BoI 'bad loan' pot in 90-day arrears

None of the loans in a portfolio of Bank of Ireland mortgages classified as non-performing by regulators is more than two months in arrears, and the average loan-to value ratio is over 80pc, the Irish Independent has learned.

Smurfit Jr’s Gan considers sale, as revenue jumps 16pc

Dermot Smurfit Jr's Gan is undertaking a review of various "strategic alternatives" open to it, in order to maximize value for shareholders.

Toast to success - Teeling Whiskey is officially world’s best as its 24-Year-Old-Single Malt Pictured (L-R): Jack Teeling, founder and MD, Teeling Whiskey; and Stephen Teeling, sales and marketing director, Teeling Whiskey .

Teeling Whiskey’s 24-year-old single malt named the world’s best

Teeling Whiskey’s 24-year-old single malt has been crowned the ‘World’s Best Single Malt’ at the 2019 World Whiskies Awards.

Cannabis next big thing, says John Teeling, the man who revived Irish whiskey

Chain: Powercity operates 11 stores in and around Dublin

Powercity family get €3m payout as profits surge

The McKenna family behind the Powercity electrical chain was paid a €3m dividend by the firm during its last financial year, according to accounts for the business just filed at the Companies Registration Office.

Ryanair's potential 'not seen in share price'

Ryanair's current share price "fails to reflect its structural growth capability and cash generation potential", according to Davy Stockbrokers, the airline's own corporate broker.

Up for sale: Mcor, co-founded by Dr Conor MacCormack, is seeking a buyer

Receiver for 3D printing firm Mcor

Highly-tipped 3D-printer firm Mcor Technologies has had a receiver appointed and is now up for sale.

Aer Lingus rapped over cabin crew member's grievance

The Labour Court has found that Aer Lingus caused 'gratuitous distress' to a cabin crew member in how it dealt with an allegation by her concerning remarks made by an Aer Lingus captain.

Chairman of Eir shareholder faces fine

The chairman of Eir's French shareholder Iliad faces a €1m fine after regulators accused him of insider trading shortly before the firm made a surprise takeover bid for T-Mobile US back in 2014.

Tony Cummins, an ESB volunteer on Business in the Community Ireland’s ‘Time to Read’ literacy volunteering programme, partnered with Amber and Rhianna Skerritt from St. Mary’s school in Fairview, Co Dublin.

Business is giving back: Funds and time set aside for Irish charities

Some 60 companies in Ireland contributed more than €30m and 264,700 hours to charities last year.

SSE will continue to operate the wind farm, while its Airtricity arm will continue to offtake the energy generated by it. Stock image

Greencoat pays €34m for wind farm stake

Airtricity owner SSE has sold a 25pc stake in the Cloosh Valley wind farm in Co Galway to Greencoat Renewables for €34.5m.

Plunder: Vikings and Badlands stars and crew share €36.5m

Two major international TV productions shot in Ireland, 'Vikings' and 'Into The Badlands' last year paid out combined wages of €36.5m to their stars and crew.

Scisys works on the system for the European Space Agency

Scisys says €20m of contracts mean Irish move already paying off

Dublin-listed Scisys has said the benefits of its re-domicile from the UK to Ireland ahead of Brexit are "already being reflected".

Chair: Ian Curley, a former Smurfit Kappa and Ardagh Group executive, was brought in as Malin chairman last year

State-backed Malin sued by pharma giant Mallinckrodt

State-backed investment fund Malin is being sued in the US by pharma giant Mallinckrodt in a patents row.

Pay rules hitting Paddy Power - McGann

Paddy Power faces problems getting top talent because it's a UK-listed PLC, when many of its competitors are not, according to the bookie's chairman Gary McGann.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. Photo: Frank McGrath

Financial firms report 23,000 suspicious deals

Financial institutions here and other designated bodies reported 23,422 suspicious financial transactions to gardaí and the Revenue Commissioners last year, a drop of 5pc from 2017.

Meeting: Datalex CEO Aidan Brogan is among the directors who’ll face shareholders when the company holds its AGM in the summer. Photo: Michael Chester

John Mulligan: 'A raft of questions remain for Datalex board following report'

A huge number of questions remain to be answered by management at Datalex.

Top role: Conor O’Kelly is the head of the National Treasury Management Agency. Photo: Fennell Photography

NTMA spent €14.5bn to tear up Anglo debt

The State has paid a further €500m to buy and tear up a batch of bonds linked to the liquidation of the former Anglo Irish Bank.

Datalex debacle likely to result in official probes

Datalex faces the prospect of intense scrutiny from outside agencies, including the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, after it confirmed that "significant accounting...

Finance veteran: Agustin Carstens, who heads the Bank for International Settlements, has first-hand experience of a debt crisis from his time as Mexico’s finance minister. Photo: Bloomberg

Easy money brings hard choices

Central banks saved the world during the financial crisis, but an over-reliance on easy money may well be the reason economic growth has been so tepid since then, one of the world's top financiers has told the Irish Independent.

Sweet deal: Irish investor Causeway rescued coffee and cakes chain Patisserie Valerie

Irish Patisserie Valerie buyer Causeway on hunt for more acquisitions

The Irish investor buying Patisserie Valerie in the UK is on the hunt for more deals, saying it has €2.5m-€10m available for individual transactions.

Outgoing Central Bank Governor Philip Lane.
Photo: Bloomberg

Lane urges action to deal with over-reliance on multinationals

Concerns about Ireland being too reliant on multinationals "need to be addressed" according to outgoing Central Bank governor Philip Lane.

The Chinese market opened to Irish beef in June 2018 and demand has been strong. Stock image

ABP adds new lines as it beefs up its China exports

ABP is extending its range of online beef products for Chinese consumers on the JD.com platform, due to what it described as "extremely" positive demand.

Upbeat: Starwood said Dublin features low prime-office vacancy rates

Irish property market 'leads way in Europe'

Growth in Ireland's property market remains "significantly ahead" of the rest of Europe, according to the European arm of US investment giant Starwood Capital.

On the up: The firm’s pre-tax profits increased almost 15-fold last year, from €119,246 to €1.729m

Fashion hit: Profits increase at Michael Kors

OPERATING profits at the Irish arm of US fashion brand Michael Kors last year increased by 2pc, to €128,667.

Sell-off: AIB, headed by CEO Colin Hunt, is under pressure to reduce its bad loans

AIB set to close €1bn distressed loan sale to US giant Cerberus

AIB is poised to sign off on a controversial €1bn sale of bad loans, including mortgages, to US fund Cerberus, it is understood.

Brexit strikes fear into Irish firms, but few ready for change

Irish companies are the most pessimistic they have been in eight years as Brexit approaches, according a new survey published this morning.

MEPs claim Ireland is among EU's 'tax havens'

The European Parliament has urged EU member states to curb money-laundering in the bloc by ending programmes to sell visas and passports - a step the multibillion-dollar industry said would...

Feel the Bern: Bernie Madoff firm had engaged in a €57.5bn Ponzi scam for decades

Deloitte in Ireland sued over Madoff firm audits

THE liquidators of two foreign investment firms found to be insolvent after Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was uncovered are suing accountants in Ireland who audited their books for two years.

Checking out: Family sells Harvey's Point to Davy fund

The award-winning Harvey's Point hotel on Lough Eske in Co Donegal has been sold by long-time family owners to an investment fund managed by Davy Real Estate.

Good year: exports rose 8.9pc with the trade surplus at a record high of €1bn a week. Stock image

Investec pares growth forecasts as it predicts export boom will slow

The economy will grow more slowly than expected this year in large part due to a weaker export environment, according to the latest forecasts from Investec.

The departure gates at Terminal 1 in Dublin Airport (Brian Lawless/PA)

Council wants details on DAA's runway changes

The DAA has been told by Fingal County Council to provide more information about plans to make changes to infrastructure including taxiways planned as part of its €320m runway project at...

Lane warns vulture fund law would push up rates

Central Bank Governor Philip Lane is to tell politicians that legislation to regulate the sale of mortgages to vulture funds will push up interest rates on home loans.

Opportunity: IFG CEO Kathryn Purves said the deal was a chance for shareholders ‘to realise an immediate and attractive cash value’

IFG shares soar on €240m Epiris deal

Financial services firm IFG is to be sold to private equity firm Epiris GP for £206m (€240.6m).

Mergers and acquisitions on the continent are down 35pc so far this year

Europe's slump knocks shine off global deals

European dealmaking is on course for its worst first quarter since the height of the credit crisis.

Autonomy 'inflated sales', UK court told

Tipperary-born technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch artificially inflated revenue at Autonomy, his UK software company, before selling it to Hewlett Packard for $11bn (€9.7bn), the US firm's...

Zurich hits out at Irish Life plan to double office space in Ballsbridge

Zurich Insurance Ireland has raised concerns with Dublin City Council over plans by Irish Life Assurance to more than double office space at three office buildings in Dublin 4.

Objections: developer Johnny Ronan faces opposition to plans to expand the Spencer Place Development scheme

Ronan docklands project under fire from residents

Plans by developer Johnny Ronan to increase the scale of a residential and aparthotel development in Dublin's docklands are being opposed by a number of local residents.