News

Amid the entire clamour about Brexit and the consequent topsy turvy behaviour of the stock and foreign exchange markets, a few of the old rules still apply. In times of uncertainty, defensive stocks are the safest. It was during the search for one of these defensive investments among the ‘small cap’ UK companies that I […]

The US maker of a controversial $1,000-a-day hepatitis treatment may be benefiting from an Irish tax deal, a US lobby group has claimed. Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) has told US markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that a tax loophole has facilitated Gilead Sciences’s three-fold increase in untaxed offshore profits, which rose […]

Consumers have been warned not to let their contactless bank cards out of their sight in bars and restaurants over fears that they could be scammed. It comes as AIB has decided to wait until the end of the year before charging customers for paying with a contactless card. It was due to impose charges […]

Ordinary workers are bearing a massive burden of higher income taxes to bail out the State since the crash. New calculations show that workers are now paying €5bn a year extra in income tax alone since the boom. This is despite fewer workers in the system as unemployment remains elevated. Workers are bearing the higher […]

Kerry Group might divert some investment activity from Ireland to the UK following June’s Brexit vote, chief executive Stan McCarthy has warned. He said a decision will depend on what trade agreements are ultimately engineered between the UK and the EU. “There are some investments that we will have to reconsider – that we would […]

London Stock Exchange-listed property giant Kennedy Wilson has said it is alert to both risks and opportunities that may present themselves in the investment and occupier markets, following Brexit. The company said it will “actively monitor” the risk of investment and market volatility in its European markets, which includes Ireland. Kennedy Wilson recently appointed John […]

The Central Bank did not want Department of Finance officials attending meetings on financial supervision during an International Monetary Fund (IMF) visit earlier this year, the Irish Independent has learned. Citing legal “confidentiality obligations”, Central Bank Governor Philip Lane argued against the attendance by Departmental officials at as many as 17 meetings related largely to […]

CREDIT ratings agency Standard & Poor’s expects the “robust recovery” in the housing market here to continue this year. It said prices would rise by 6pc, aided by the ongoing improvement in the labour market and a housing supply shortage. The rise in property prices was likely despite the vote in Britain to leave the […]

Growth in the Irish services industry fell to its lowest rate since February 2014 as the fallout from Brexit continues to take its toll, new research has shown. According to the Investec Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a slight weakening was reported for a second successive month in new business. However, the index points out that […]

A Canadian oil firm has agreed a deal to purchase Whitegate Oil refinery in Cork from its US owners. Irving Oil confirmed it has reached agreement with Houston-based Phillips 66 to acquire Whitegate for an undisclosed sum. The east Cork plant currently has a workforce of 160. The refinery’s future had been in doubt for […]