Welcome to the Business Post’s Live News section. We’re here all day to keep you up to date on developments in business, tech and current affairs.
The Iseq All Share continued its red run for the week, falling 0.84 per cent (80.59 points) since previous close.
Bottom performer Corre Energy was down a substantial amount, falling 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the top performer on the Irish market was Mincon Group (+7.3 per cent).
Live Nation Limited’s latest financial accounts have revealed a significant drop in profits.
Company accounts for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, reported profits dropped 76 per cent from £363,214 (€431,732) to £85,897 (€102,101).
Live Nation, founded in 2010 following a merger with Ticketmaster, promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internationally.
Emma Hanrahan has the full story.
A payment for recently unemployed people based on their previous PRSI contributions will commence in March 2025, the Department of Social Protection has confirmed.
The new Pay-Related Benefit scheme will be available to people who recently lost their jobs and are seeking work.
This differs from the jobseekers’ allowance because the scale of payment differs depending on PRSI contributions over the last five years.
Turkish stocks are nearing a bear market as rising tensions in the Middle East further dampen sentiment, already weakened by a declining interest in equities and uncertainty about the economic outlook.
The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index dropped up to 1 per cent on Thursday, bringing its fall from its late-July peak to nearly 20 per cent.
Tesla announced today that it will recall over 27,000 Cybertrucks in the US due to delayed rear-view camera images that could hinder driver visibility and elevate crash risks. The company noted that a software update would address the issue.
This is the largest recall for the electric truck model so far. Earlier this year, Tesla issued a recall in April to rectify a loose accelerator pedal pad and another in June over concerns with windshield wipers and exterior trim.
AerCap, the Irish-based aircraft leasing company, has secured $500 million (€452 million) through a sukuk issuance.
The sukuk, carrying a 4.5% profit rate and a five-year maturity, was issued via its subsidiary, AerCap Sukuk.
The proceeds will be directed towards “general corporate purposes,” including the acquisition and investment in aircraft assets, as well as debt repayment, according to the company.
Rebecca Roche has the entire story here.
Financial services firm Carne Group has appointed ex-Wells Fargo International executive John Cotter as its new chief financial officer.
Cotter spent four years as Wells Fargo International’s chief financial officer, and was previously chief executive of financial services company IFG Group.
He previously held senior roles in London with Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Morgan Stanley, leading the latter’s European team in financial, regulatory and treasury finance.
Eoin O’Hare has the story in full.
The major indices in the US had a slow start in early morning trading on Thursday, following the Nasdaq by opening in the red.
The S&P 500 fell by 0.21 per cent to 5,697.59, while the Dow Jones Industrial dropped by 0.51 per cent to 41,980.74.
Yahoo Finance has reported that traders’ focus “tentatively turned back to the economy and the monthly jobs report”, as well as lumbering concerns over geopolitical tensions taking effect.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq opened in the red as of 14.34 Irish time, with the major US markets predicted to have a soft opening due to ongoing geopolitical tension.
Both the Nasdaq Composite and the Nasdaq-10 opened in the red, down 0.28 per cent and 0.31 per cent respecitively.
Law firm Matheson has bolstered its international listing and IT teams with the appointment of Anthony Byrne and Luke Tyrrell to senior roles.
Bryne has been appointed as director of Matheson’s international listing services team, which provides listing services to a range of stock exchanges, including Euronext Dublin, Vienna, Luxembourg, London, Cayman Islands and the International Stock Exchange.
Meanwhile Tyrrell is joining the firm’s IT division as director. He has more than 20 years’ experience in tech leadership across the financial services, healthcare and construction sectors in Ireland and abroad, as well as a number of executive roles on Euronext Dublin (then known as the Irish Stock Exchange) and the International Stock Exchange.
Nvidia insiders have cashed in on shares worth more than $1.8 billion (€1.6 billion) so far this year, with nearly 11 million shares having been sold by Nvidia executives and directors in 2024.
This figure is the most in a year since at least 2020 after adjusting for stock splits, according to data compiled by the Washington Service.
Although it represents a tiny percentage of the company’s 24.5-billion outstanding shares, the sales come at a time when investors are already on edge about Nvidia’s delayed Blackwell chips and the longevity of artificial intelligence-related spending. However, more sales are planned.
The National Hydrogen Strategy has “achieved little” since its publication in 2023, according to representative body Hydrogen Ireland.
The all-island body, which is comprised of industry and academic figures, said that the “lack of visible progress is frustrating”, especially compared with the progress being achieved elsewhere in the world.
Paul McCormack, chief executive of Hydrogen Ireland, said: “We welcomed the National Hydrogen Strategy as a key catalyst to attracting investment in Ireland’s clean energy sector, and we believe that potential remains.
“Private industry is putting resources into hydrogen in Ireland but its possibilities as an energy vector for the future can’t be achieved without visible commitment and the kind of progress policymakers can enable.”
Glenmar Shellfish, a subsidiary of Cork-based Lisavaird Food Group, has acquired Chef’s Choice Fish Company, trading as Mary’s Fish, in Ballybrit, Co. Galway for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition marks Glenmar Shellfish’s first expansion into the west of Ireland, with the company currently operating in Dublin, Wexford, Midleton, west Cork and now Galway.
Mary’s Fish, a family-run business that was established 10 years ago, will now operate under the Glenmar brand, and all 15 staff will remain employed under the brand.
A coalition of businesses groups who have grouped together to form a taxi representative body are to meet with the National Transport Authority (NTA) over concerns over late-night taxi shortages, reports RTÉ.
The Taxis for Ireland Coalition has prepared a series of proposals for the industry ahead of a meeting with the NTA’s Small Public Service Vehicle’s Advisory Committee.
Among the recommendations are that at specific strategy be developed for the Small Public Service Vehicle (SPSV) sector, as well as seeking a review of taxi availability in urban areas in the night-time hours.
The Grand Social nightclub and music venue in Dublin has been sold to Eoin Pardy and Rory Keogh, owners and operators of the Bad Ass Café in Temple Bar, reports the Irish Independent.
The deal, reported to be in the region of €1.5 million, was driven by the new owners’ appreciation of the club’s location, which is on Liffey Street and overlooks both the River Liffey and the Ha’penney Bridge.
The property was sold by Frank Gleeson, the owner and operator of restaurants including Farrier & Draper on South William Street, the Green Hen on Wicklow Street and Indo-Chine on Leeson Street.
Online ordering system provider Ordú has secured €1.5 million in funding from global kiosk manufacturer Lazenby Group, reports BusinessPlus.ie.
The funding will result in the creation of up to 10 product development jobs over the next year, and expect their partnership to generate €9 million in extra turnover for Ordú over the next three years.
It will also support the expansion of Ordú into developing a further customer base across fast food, hospitality, pubs and restaurants, retail, and pharmacies.
The euro is poised for its longest losing streak since April as traders bet on an increasingly aggressive path for interest-rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The currency is set for a fifth-straight day of declines on the market, a stark contrast to the 14-month high touched just last week.
Since then, traders have raised the odds on an ECB cut this month to around 90 per cent as slowing inflation and deteriorating business sentiment prompts central bank officials to endorse easing.
Eurostat, the EU’s statistics organisation, has resumed its partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s statistics organisation, reports the FT.
The two organisations’ ties were severed following the UK leaving the bloc in 2020, meaning that the UK is removed from any Europe-wide statistical datasets, which often include non-EU, European countries’ data.
Mariana Kotzeva, deputy director-general for European Statistics, said: “This arrangement is an important landmark towards a new working relationship between Eurostat and the UK Office for National Statistics.”
An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission sought by Dublin’s Temple Bar pub owner Tom Cleary for a new hotel in the Temple Bar area.
The board said the planned roof extension “would be an overly dominant and obtrusive form of development”. It added the extension “would be injurious to the character and appearance of the host building and the visual amenity of the surrounding conservation area”.
The application included the proposed change of the use of a building known as the Shamrock Chambers, which is a five-story building. The unit is vacant except for a small retail unit on the corner of Dame Street and Eustace Street.
Irish Rail has reverted its attempts to introduce a new timeline after increased public outcry over its new timetable, which caused numerous delays upon implementation, reports RTÉ.
The transport body confirmed that its old timetable will be reintroduced from October 14, after it also made some changes to the schedule in September.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Irish Rail spokesperson Barry Kenny said that the authority “got it wrong”.
“People build their work, their education, their childcare around their travel with us and we have let them down. We’re sorry for that,” he said.
Employees will not be entitled to claim tax relief for contributions to the auto-enrolment pension scheme, according to documents released by the Department of Finance.
The scheme will provide workplace pension coverage to employees aged between 23 and 60 who earn more than €20,000 a year.
“As the state is making a direct contribution for employees within the AE scheme, there is no tax relief being provided for employee contributions to AE,” according to Department of Finance officials.
Rebecca Roche has the full story.
Long lines of container ships queued up outside major US ports on Thursday as the biggest dockworker strike in nearly half a century entered its third day preventing unloading and threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts.
No negotiations were scheduled between the International Longshoremen’s Association and employers, but the port owners, under pressure from the White House to hike their pay offer to land a deal, signalled late on Wednesday they were open to new talks.
Oil rose for a third day as traders assessed supply risks in the Middle East, ahead of an expected retaliatory attack from Israel on Iran, reports Bloomberg.
Brent crude climbed near $75 (€67.95) a barrel, on course for the longest run of daily gains since August, while West Texas Intermediate was above $71.
A major strike by Israel on Iran’s export capacity could take 1.5 million barrels of daily supply off the market, according to Citigroup.
If Israel struck minor infrastructure, such as downstream assets, 300,000 to 450,000 barrels of output could be lost, analysts including Francesco Martoccia said in a note.
Dublin Airport has moved closer to breaking the controversial 32 million passenger cap after it had its busiest September on record, with figures from airport operator DAA showing a 4 per cent lift in passenger numbers to 3.08 million.
The busiest day of the month was September 1, when 119,570 passengers went through the airport’s two terminals, and passenger numbers exceeded 100,000 on a further 23 days in the month.
So far this year, a total of 25.8 million passengers have passed through the doors of Dublin Airport, an increase of 5.3 per cent on the same period in 2023.
Aircraft leasing firm Avolon has detailed the purchase of 134 aircraft in the first three quarters of 2024, with the firm also selling some 85 aircrafts in this timeframe.
For the most recent quarter, it sold 11 aircraft during the quarter, ending the quarter with 59 aircraft agreed for sale.
It now has some 577 aircraft in its fleet, with total orders and commitments for 442. It has a customer base of 141 airlines operating in 62 countries.
The proportion of housing completions in the west of Ireland has fallen from 22 per cent in 1999 to just 11 per cent this year, despite the region making up 17.2 per cent of the country’s population.
According to a new report from the Western Development Commission (WDC), just 3,444 new homes in total were granted planning permission in western counties in 2023, down 80 per cent from the 17,494 units approved in 1999.
According to the report, underinvestment in road infrastructure remains a “major barrier” to growth in Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Clare.
The cocktail bar in Belfast’s Merchant Hotel has been awarded the two-pin status from the Pinnacle Guide, which is thought of as the Michelin Guide for bars.
The bar was one of 13 awarded the status this year, which two pins standing for “outstanding” status, reports the Irish News.
London cocktail bar Lyaness is the only venue to date to achieve ‘three pin’ status.
Over the Merchant’s 18 year lifespan, it has received roughly 150 accolades, including the AA five red star rating and five star hotel bar of the year at the Bar of The Year Awards.
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the French luxury goods company known as LVMH, has announced a major sponsorship deal with the F1, replacing long-time sponsors Rolex.
The brand has ramped up its sports coverage in recent years. LVMH was a major sponsor for the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Paris over the summer, providing financial support worth €150 million.
Swiss brand Rolex has sponsored the F1 since 2013, and the loss of the sponsorship deal is a setback for the world’s most successful watch brand. It has become closely associated with the top tier of motor racing and also sponsors tennis and equestrian events
London-listed construction equipment rental firm VP has acquired a 90 per cent stake in Irish firm Charleville Plant Hire, according to a release on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Thursday morning.
According to the release, VP’s majority stake in Cork-based construction equipment supplier was acquired for an initial cash consideration of €12.1 million.
The remaining 10 per cent of CPH shares, the update noted, are set to be acquired by VP over a three-year period, with further payment of €21.7 million across the three years subject to business performance.
The Iseq All Share opened in the red on Thursday, falling 0.70 per cent (-67.30) to 9,521.08.
This could be attributed to bottom performers such as Ryanair (-1.18 per cent) and Kingspan (-1.86 per cent). Meanwhile, the top performer on the Irish market was FBD Holdings (+0.4 per cent).
In contrast, the FTSE 100 opened in the green. The London market was up 0.19 per cent to 8,308.22 in early trading.
Markets in Europe were in the red at market open, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index and the Dax Composite Index were down 0.41 per cent and 0.50 per cent respectively.
The French Treasury plans to raise as much as €12 billion through four notes that mature in 10 to 30 years, as the new government plans to reduce its budget deficit, reports Bloomberg.
Senior officials had earlier this week told Bloomberg that the government plans to stockpile around €60 billion in savings to bring the budget shortfall to 5 per cent of economic output.
The fiscal gap is forecast to widen to 6.1 per cent of output this year, more than double the threshold demanded by the European Union
Irish food company Kepak has invested €8 million in its ‘state-of-the-art’ facility in Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath.
The investment will see the site boost its production efficiency while reducing its environmental impact.
It forms part of a broader €28 million investment from Kepak into its Irish sites.
Moving flights to smaller, regional airports will not solve the issues surrounding the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, Ryanair’s head of communications Jade Kirwan has said, as per the Irish Examiner.
“The problem is, contrary to belief, the demand is not there. You have 600,000 people in Cork Airport’s surrounding area while there are 2 million around Dublin Airport,” Kirwan said.
“We see demand rising and are responding accordingly, but Cork and Dublin are in different divisions. They are both performing well, but Dublin is in a separate league, playing with some of Europe’s larger cities.
“It is not as simple as picking up an aircraft and putting it out of Dublin and to Cork,” she said.
The EU has warned Ireland and a number of other countries that they must speed up planning permission for green energy projects as part of an EU directive, per the Irish Times.
The Renewable Energy Directive 2023/2413, which all EU member states signed, directed that legislation must be brought in to speed up planning processes for green energy related projects and infrastructure by July 1 of this year.
However, only Denmark has successfully introduced the directive out of 26 countries.
Tesco raised its profit outlook for this fiscal year, saying that it now expects to deliver £2.9 billion (€3.46 billion) in adjusted profit on a previous guidance of £2.8 billion.
Its like-for-like sales grew in Ireland were up 4.7 per cent to £1.449 billion in the first half of the year, food sales in Ireland grew by 5.4 per cent while non-food sales in its Irish shops declined by 0.8 per cent.
Tesco said it has now gained market share in Ireland for 31 consecutive four-week periods, taking its share to 23.5 per cent at the end of the first half. It noted that Clubcard sales penetration stepped up by a further 5 points year-on-year to 85.3 per cent.
The president of the Dublin Chamber has said that the body will call for half of all new homes in the state to be built in Dublin, reports RTÉ.
Siobhan O’Shea, director of scaled business success at Indeed, said in her keynote speech that infrastructure is one of the key challenges facing both Dublin and Ireland as a whole.
She is also set to call for an acceleration in the delivery of public transport and energy initiatives to tackle capacity constraints in the city which are growing.
The European Commission (EC) has opened infringement proceedings against Ireland, alleging that it hasn’t fully transposed a directive on insolvency into law.
The EC sent a letter to Ireland in late September, saying that the country missed a July 17 deadline on explaining how it will introduce electronic communications for three areas of insolvency.
The directive was signed off in July 2019, but countries were given until July 17 of this year to fully transpose the directive into law.
Chinese markets remained shuttered as the country has its Golden Week holiday this week, leaving the impetus up to its Asian neighbours.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.06 per cent in overnight trading as the yen continues to weaken amidst political change.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell however, dropping 1.01 per cent to 22,216.37, despite an earlier rally driven by real estate.
South Korea’s KOSPI followed suit, recording a 1.22 per cent fall to 2,561.69 in overnight trading in Busan.
Good morning from the Business Post.
Fionn Thompson here with you for the day to keep you up-to-date with the all the latest news.
To get the day started Daniel Murray has a piece on the latest thinking in the Department of Finance about the €14bn Apple tax.
And Killian Woods has taken a look at top chef Richard Corrigan’s latest accounts.
