Welcome to the Business Post’s Live News section. Catch up here on today’s developments in business, tech and current affairs.
17.00 - Ireland will work will US ‘in a constructive manner’ - Chambers
Ireland will work with the new US administration “in a constructive manner”, Jack Chambers, outgoing Minister for Finance, has said.
The Minister was speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce Thanksgiving lunch in Dublin a day before Ireland heads to the polls.
“Looking to the future, I'm confident that our excellent bilateral relations will continue to the benefit of both of our countries. Clearly, there is significant economic integration and investment between Ireland and the US that has grown over decades, and this will continue to form the basis of a mutually beneficial and enduring relationship,” he said.
Read more from Ellie Donnelly and Sarah Collins here.
16.45 - Ireland not doing enough to tackle tax avoidance - report
Ireland has yet to issue fines to tax advisers or accountants for failing to disclose potentially harmful cross-border tax arrangements, despite new regulations introduced in recent years, according to an audit.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) highlighted deficiencies in measures designed to curb corporate tax avoidance and profit shifting, with Ireland among the countries singled out for criticism.
Recent reforms have left gaps that corporations could exploit to reduce their tax liabilities, the report said.
The Irish Times has the full story.
16.30 - Iseq closes in the green
The Iseq All Share index closed in the green today, up 0.57 per cent, or 52 points, since previous close.
Malin Corporation, Permanent TSB and Kingspan were among the top risers, while Datalex, Kenamre Resources and Greencoat Renewables were all down today.
16.15 - Simon Harris reacts to Red C poll
Simon Harris has insisted the general election is “all to play for” after the results of the most recent Business Post/Red C poll showed support for Fine Gael had dropped below Fianna Fáil with the party now tied on 20 per cent with Sinn Féin.
Speaking ahead of polling day on Friday, the taoiseach and Fine Gael leader asked voters to consider transferring to other centrist parties after Sinn Féin claimed the recent polling data showed it had the momentum to lead the next government.
Our political correspondent Cónal Thomas has more.
16.00 - Kerry Group target price raised by Deutsche Bank after sale of dairy business
Analysts at Deutsche Bank Group have increased the share price target for Kerry Group after the Irish flavours and nutrition giant’s disposal of its “low-growth, low-value” dairy business.
In a note on Thursday, the analysts, led by Virginie Boucher-Ferte, managing director of Deutsche Bank, upgraded the company’s shares to “buy” after keeping it on “hold” in its previous update, and increased its price target from €93 to €100.
Vish Gain has the story.
15.45 - Europe’s €1.705 trillion bond sales in 2024 beat pandemic record
European bond issuance has reached a record-breaking €1.705 trillion this year, passing the high-water mark previously set in 2020.
Debt sales in the region’s publicly-syndicated market hit the milestone on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The figure includes publicly syndicated issuance of euro, sterling and Reg S dollar-denominated offerings sold in Europe.
Read the full story here.
15.30 - Euro eases, dollar perks up in muted Thanksgiving trade
The euro edged lower against the dollar on Thursday as traders scaled back expectations of further rate cuts by the European Central Bank.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen slipped to 151.58 per dollar but is on track for its strongest weekly performance in three months, with a 2.1 per cent gain this week erasing losses from earlier in the year.
15.15 - Eir fined €2.8m after regulator probe
Eir has agreed to a €2.8m fine after accepting it didn not allow other businesses proper access to its infrastructure records.
The penalty comes after a five-year investigation by ComReg, starting in August 2019, into whether Eir met its obligations for access provision.
John Burns of Independent.ie has the full story.
15.00 - Google asks US appeals court to reject app store monopoly verdict
Google urged a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to overturn a jury verdict and a judge's directive to overhaul its app store, Play.
In its opening argument to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Google argued that the trial judge made critical legal missteps, unfairly favouring Epic Games, the creator of "Fortnite."
Google warned that a "radical redesign" of its Google Play platform and the Android operating system would negatively impact app developers and users alike, according to its court filing.
14.45 - Tullow Oil shares slide as it cuts free cash flow guidance for 2024
Africa-focused oil company cut its full year free cash flow guidance.
In a trading update, Tullow Oil said it expects free cash flow for 2024 to be between $150 million (€142.3 million) and $200 million, falling below earlier projections of $200 million to $300 million, due in part to the timing of various payments.
The London-listed oil company’s share creped higher in the afternoon to 21.32, down almost 6 percent since markets opened.
Andrew Ross has the latest.
14.30 - Buswells Hotel sale agreed, as trading rebounds to pre-Covid levels
An agreement has been reached over the sale of the Buswells Hotel in Dublin, new documents show.
According to filings with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), the sale of the Kildare St hotel was agreed in November, with completion of the process expected by the end of the year.
In accounts filed by Buswells Hospitality, the hotel operator returned to pre-Covid trading levels in 2023, with its results outperforming budget projections.
Eoin O’Hare reports.
14.15 - Wetherspoons drops Conor McGregor stout
Pub chain Wetherspoons will no longer sell Conor McGregor’s Forged Irish Stout in its seven Irish locations, confirming the move to Independent.ie.
The number of retail outlets who have stopped selling alcohol brands associated with the MMA fighter continues to grow. It comes after a High Court jury found that McGregor assaulted Nikita Hand.
The Irish Independent has the story.
14.00 - Top Tech Jobs: Workhuman, TikTok, SiriusXM, Ryanair
There might have been a slowdown in hiring but top companies are still seeking good talent in tech.
Vish Gain presents Business Post subscribers with a selection of positions available in the tech sector.
13.45 - Oil prices tick up as Israel says ceasefire violated
Oil prices ticked up today after Israel said its ceasefire with Hezbollah was breached. Lebanese security sources said Israeli tanks attacked six areas of southern Lebanon.
Brent crude futures edged up by 41 cents to $73.24 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 35 cents, 0.5 per cent, at $69.07. Trading is expected to be light because US Thanksgiving holiday today.
13.30 - Law firms Flynn O’Driscoll and Vincent & Beatty announce merger
Irish corporate law firm Flynn O’Driscoll and Dublin-based commercial law firm Vincent & Beatty announced on Thursday they have agreed to merge, with the deal set to take effect on January 1, 2025.
The agreement will see the two firms, which together represent a wide range of clients including multinational corporations, public bodies, and private individuals, combine their expertise.
Andrew Ross has the update.
13.15 - Australia passes law banning under 16s from social media
On Thursday Australia passed a law to ban social media for children aged under 16 after days of heated debate.
The law, expected to take effect in November 2025, sets some of the toughest social media controls in the world and will force social media platforms to take reasonable steps to ensure age-verification protections are in place.
13.00 - Monthly retail sales down 0.9% in October - CSO
The volume of retail sales decreased by 0.1% per cent in the month, which was up by 0.9 per cent in the 12 months from October 2023. Books, newspapers and stationery recorded the largest monthly volume increases at 5.2 per cent.
The value of retail sales fell by 0.1 per cent in the month and rose by 0.1 per cent in the 12 months to October 2024.
RTE has the full CSO findings.
12.45 - Aberdeen Lodge owners back in High Court as repossession battle continues
The case comes to the High Court this week with a long and storied history. At the heart of it is Aberdeen Lodge in Sandymount, a 16-bedroom house in the upmarket Dublin 4 neighborhood worth millions of euros.
Halpin and Ann Keane, his wife, live there and operate the premises as a popular guesthouse which has hundreds of glowing reviews on a number of online booking websites.
They have also been fighting the repossession of the property for over a decade.
Catherine Sanz brings you the story.
12.30 - Almost €12m in grants left unclaimed in hospitality and retail
Hospitality and retail businesses have missed out on nearly €12m as applications for the Government’s Power Up grant scheme close.
The grant, administered by local authorities for the Department of Enterprise, was announced in the recent budget. A total of €170m was allocated for the initiative.
The Irish Independent has the full story.
12.15 - Wholesale electricity prices rose by nearly 10% in October - CSO
Wholesale electricity prices increased by 9.6 per cent in the month to October 2024, but were 1.5% lower than the same time last year, CSO figure show.
The Wholesale Price Index showed that electricity prices were over 68 per cent lower than its peak in August 2022.
The most notable changes in producer prices over the 12 months to October included dairy products (up 9.8 per cent), and Grain Milling, Starches & Animal Feeds (down 4 per cent).
11.55 - RSM Ireland appoints new partners and directors to ‘accelerate growth’
RSM Ireland, the accountancy firm, has announced the appointment of three partners and three directors, to further strengthen its audit, tax and consulting teams.
Ronan Gilmartin become an audit partner from KPMG, Alison Hodgson becomes a consulting partner with over 20 years’ experience in HR, and Liam Kenny joins as a tax partner from Grant Thornton.
Meanwhile, Sunil Adhikary joins as an audit director from Deloitte, Simon Rattigan moves from EY to become a director in the consulting practice, and Seán McCarthy returns to the firm from PWC as a tax director.
Matthew Joyce has the story.
11.40 - Uber to be probed over subscription plan
Uber is facing an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission into its flagship subscription service, Bloomberg reports.
The FTC’s probe, which was launched earlier this year, is looking at enrollment and cancellation aspects of the product.
The Uber One subscription gives discounts on trips and delivery orders, with around 25 million people paying for it.
11.25 - Consumer prices up 0.5% in November - flash estimate
Consumer prices increased by 0.5 per cent in the year to November, according to the CSO
In a flash estimate of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), consumer prices rose by its highest level in three months - after rising by 0.1 per cent in October.
Food prices are estimated to have risen by 0.3 per cent in the last month, and by 1.7 per cent in the last 12 months.
11.10 - Colm Lauder and Andrew Teacher launch consultancy firm
Colm Lauder, the former head of real estate at Goodbody, has teamed up with Blackstock Consulting founder Andrew Teacher to launch a new investor relations consultancy.
The leadership of London-headquartered Lauder Teacher, specialising in strategic communications, advocacy and investor relations, will comprise senior executives with expertise in investment banking, surveying, reputation management, marketing and public affairs.
Eoin O’Hare has more.
10.55 - Loophole allowing co-living to be used for Airbnb-style short lets
A planning loophole has permitted co-living apartments to operate as short-term holiday rentals akin to Airbnb, according to the Irish Times.
These co-living arrangements were initially introduced as a separate housing category by former housing minister Eoghan Murphy, who described them as “very trendy” and comparable to “boutique hotels.”
The situation arises as Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council discontinued a planning enforcement case against a co-living developer following legal advice
10.40 - NTMA plans to issue up to €10 billion of bonds in 2025
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has said it plans to issue between €6 billion and €10 billion of bonds next year.
It comes as the agency has published its annual funding plan for 2025.
The agency says it also plans to conduct at least one syndicated bond deal next year, but doesn’t expect to issue any Treasury Bills in 2025.
10.25 - Tullow Oil’s 2024 free cash flow guidance falls below earlier projections
Tullow Oil has said it expects free cash flow for 2024 to be between $150 million (€142.3 million) and $200 million, falling below earlier projections of $200 million to $300 million, due in part to the timing of various payments.
The London-listed oil company, which continues to grapple with operational setbacks in Ghana, projects year-end net debt at approximately $1.4 billion, which is in line with forecasts by analysts at Davy
Andrew Ross has more.
10.00 - 51 per cent of nursing homes not making a profit - survey
More than half of Irish nursing homes did not report a profit last year, according to a survey by BDO Ireland, which was conducted for representative body Nursing Homes Ireland.
The survey found that 34 homes had closed in the past two years, with just 17 new homes opening.
It noted that the worst hit region for closures across all sectors was the West (Galway/Mayo/Roscommon), where eight nursing homes closed and just one opening.
The report is based on 2023 financial data and is the first produced on the sector in two years.
09.45 - Struggling bootmaker Dr Martens reports first-half loss
Dr Martens said that the autumn-winter festive season had got off to an encouraging start after the struggling bootmaker swung to a first-half pre-tax loss on weak demand in the United States, its biggest market.
Its shares, which have lost about a quarter of their value so far this year, rose 16 per cent in early trade.
The British company, whose chunky lace-up boots popularly known as "Docs" were originally made for workers before becoming a fashion statement in the 1960s, has been contending with a weak North American market and is betting on the festive season to shore up its sales and profit.
Read the full article on Reuters.
09.30 - Cross-Border worker numbers falling because of tax rules
Private employers on both parts of the island are increasingly reluctant to hire cross-Border workers because of complications about taxes and pensions, complicated by the growth in hybrid and remote working, a major new report has found.
Companies large and small “appear to be struggling” to comply with rules, according to a study of the all-island labour market commissioned by the Labour Employer and Economic Forum Shared Island Working Group.
Workers living in the Republic but working in Northern Ireland run foul of tax rules if they work at home at all, even to handle out-of-work calls, the report makes clear. But many workers are unaware of the rules.
Read the full article on the Irish Times.
09.15 - French 10-year borrowing costs match Greece’s for first time
France’s benchmark bond yield matched Greece’s for the first time on record, putting the bloc’s second-largest economy on an equal footing with a country once at the heart of the European sovereign debt crisis.
The rate on 10-year French notes, traditionally considered among the safest in the euro area, and rated AA- by S&P Global Ratings, rose to as high as 3.03 per cent.
That’s the same as comparable Greek bonds, which only last year were still classified as junk by major credit-rating firms.
Read the full article here.
09.00 - Direct Line surges after rejecting Aviva's takeover bid
Shares in UK insurer Direct Line Insurance soared over 36 per cent in early trade in London today after it rejected a £3.28 billion takeover offer from bigger rival Aviva, saying it "substantially undervalued" the company.
Aviva shares fell about 3 per cent to be the top percentage loser on the blue-chip FTSE 100.
On November 19, Aviva made a 250-pence-per-share offer, which represented a nearly 60 per cent premium to the stock's close a day earlier.
08.45 - ECB’s Lagarde urges Europe to negotiate, not retaliate on trade
European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde suggested European Union might be in a better position if it talks with the US about potential trade tariffs instead of immediately imposing countermeasures.
“We seem to err more on what I would call a checkbook strategy,” she told the Financial Times in an interview published Thursday, highlighting that last time the EU’s strategy was “not to retaliate, but to negotiate.”
Lagarde repeated earlier warnings on the negative effects of a full-blown trade war and said that “we could offer to buy certain things from the United States and signal that we are prepared to sit at the table and see how we can work together.”
Read the full article here.
08.30 - UK and European markets update
The FTSE 100 opened in the green, increasing marginally by 0.15 per cent (+12.58) at market open to 8,287.33.
The top performer on the London market was manufacturing company, Spirax Group, which increased 3.04 per cent.
The bottom performer was insurance company, Aviva, which fell 1.76 per cent after rival insurer, Direct Line, rejected the company’s takeover bid
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 and Dax Composite indices are both in the green, rising 0.57 and 0.64 per cent respectively.
08.15 - Irish markets update
The Iseq All Share was up on Thursday morning, rising 0.77 per cent (+72.46) to 9,525.26.
The top performers on the market were pharmaceutical company, Uniphar, (+2.73 per cent) and Glenveagh Properties (+1.45 per cent).
Meanwhile, main faller on the market at early trading was Corre Energy which fell 9.09 per cent to €0.10.
Similarly, Kingspan Group dropped 3.30 per cent to €70.35 per share, despite the building company announcing it bought a fire protection system producer from a Polish entity and also acquired a major stake of a Chilean manufacturer earlier this week.
08.00 - US regulators approve first round-the-clock stock exchange
24 Exchange announced that it received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to operate 24X National Exchange as the first national securities exchange in the US that allows trading of US securities 23 hours each workday.
24X National Exchange will be launched in two stages. A first stage will open in the second half of 2025, with the Exchange operating from4 am ET to 7 pm ETon weekdays.
The second stage, which will launch once the conditions noted above are met, will offer trading in US equities from8 pm ET on Sundaythrough7 pm ET on Friday.
A one-hour operational pause will occur during each trading day to accommodate routine software upgrades and functionality testing.
Read the full story on the Financial Times.
07.45 - Microsoft faces wide-ranging US antitrust probe
The US Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The probe was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in January. The election of Donald Trump as US president, and the expectation he will appoint a fellow Republican with a softer approach toward business, leaves the outcome of the investigation up in the air.
07.30 - Asian markets update
Asian markets are quiet with the Nikkei (+0.76 per cent) and the S&P/ASX 200 (+0.45 per cent) performing well, the Kospi (+0.13 per cent) is also higher. However, Chinese stocks are underperforming with the Hang Seng (-1.07 per cent) being the bottom performer. The CSI (-0.57 per cent) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.10 per cent) are also lower.
This decline is occurring as the Biden administration is considering imposing additional restrictions on the sale of crucial semiconductors to China, possibly as early as next week.
07.15 - AI accountability lab launched at Trinity College Dublin
A new research group designed to advance accountability in artificial intelligence (AI) has been launched at Trinity College Dublin.
The AI Accountability Lab will examine the broader impacts of AI and hold powerful entities accountable for technological harms.
The team behind the lab said that AI technologies have been shown to encode and exacerbate existing societal norms and inequalities, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups.
The new lab will be led by Dr Abeba Birhane, Research Fellow in the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre at the School of Computer Science and Statistics in Trinity.
Read the full article by Vish Gain.
07.00 - Good morning
Emma Hanrahan here with you today to keep you up-to-date with all the latest news.
Leading the Business Post website this morning is the Red C Poll by political correspondent, Cónal Thomas, the final poll of General Election 2024 which shows the main parties in a near dead heat as the campaign draws to a close. Read more here.
Elsewhere, Almost half (48 per cent) of respondents to an American Chamber FDI insights survey expect the number of employees in their Irish operations to increase over the next 12 months. Read more here.
