News

KBC Bank said it will look at buying bank or insurance businesses here after taking a decision to remain in the Irish market. Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB have long been tipped as potential tie-up partners for KBC Ireland. A merger with one or both would add scale to the business here, which is dwarfed […]

Former CRH chief executive Myles Lee is joining the board of UDG Healthcare as a non-executive director. He’ll take up the role in April. It’s the third directorship Mr Lee has taken at a stockmarket-listed company since he retired from CRH in December 2013. In 2015, he joined the board of global firm Ingersoll Rand, […]

THE EU faces a crisis that threatens the sustainability of the eurozone after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that Greece’s debts are on an “explosive” path despite years of austerity measures and economic reforms. Global financiers at the IMF are increasingly unwilling to fund endless bailouts for the eurozone’s most troubled country, passing more […]

Almost a fifth of wholesale finance activity within the European Union could shift to Ireland after Brexit, a Brussels-based think tank has projected. It would make this country a major European financial power house. London currently dominates the sector, which includes large-scale banking for other banks, large corporations and finance houses. The Bruegel think tank […]

European stocks drifted lower on Monday as investors turned cautious on the region’s assets, including bonds and the euro, as their focus shifted to potential political risks. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.7pc at the close, with 18 of 19 sectors lower. The benchmark index, which has moved mostly sideways this year, is up […]

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of online security firm Symantec last year decreased by 36pc to €16m. New figures show that Symantec Ltd sustained the drop in pre-tax profits after revenues decreased by 18pc, going from €1.6bn to €1.32bn in the 12 months to the end of April 1 last. The drop in revenues […]

Almost 15,000 new homes were completed last year, the largest number since 2009. New figures to be published by the Department of Housing today will show that while the construction industry is slowly getting back to business, the market is still a long way off what is considered normal. The second quarterly report of the […]

Many young people will find it harder to get their feet onto the property ladder and have been forced to rethink their plans to inherit the family home after the Government clamped down on a popular tax relief over Christmas, tax experts are warning. Finance Minister Michael Noonan tightened up the rules around the dwelling […]

Office construction in Dublin surged last year, jumping tenfold on the completion levels seen in 2015, property firm HWBC has said. Prime office rents jumped 9pc last year, with even rent for car parking spaces on the rise. HWBC said a city space now yields an estimated €4,000 per annum – up 14pc in the […]

More than 13,000 civil servants would pay nothing towards their own pensions if unions get their way at new talks. Unions will demand the pension levy, brought in during the financial crisis, be abolished at negotiations expected to start in May on a deal to succeed the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA). Figures released by the […]