With schools and tradesmen looking to exit, it's the end of the cheque era
It’s around this time of year that the back-to-school costs surveys start to pile up, drawing attention once again to the ever-rising costs of putting a child through a primary or secondary school system that is supposed to be ‘free’.
One of the more interesting findings in the report from parenting forum Mummypages.ie, which surveyed nearly 1,800 parents, was that 91pc of mums would favour a phased payment system throughout …
Weak euro helps manufacturing sector bounces back from 16 month low
Irish manufacturing sector growth rebounded from a 16-month low in July as the weak euro boosted exports, a new survey has shown.
The Investec Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 56.7 in July from 54.6 in June. But it remained below the 15-year high of 57.5 posted in February.
The index has held above the 50 line denoting growth since May 2013, when Ireland was in an international bailout programme.
…
UK government starts privatisation of Ulster Bank parent company RBS
Britain has sold a £2.1bn (€3bn) stake in Royal Bank of Scotland to kick off the disposal of its holding seven years after bailing out the bank.
Finance Minister George Osborne hailed the sale this morning as “an important first step in returning the bank to private ownership” and said it was right to start selling the stake at a loss to the price paid for the shares in 2008.
…
GDP returns to its pre-crash level but slowing of house prices expected to continue
House-price growth of 9pc in Ireland this year is set to be the fastest in Europe, but will slow sharply in 2016 and 2017, including because from the effect of strict new lending rules, according to Standard & Poors.
The overall size of the economy here has now exceeded the pre-crash peak of 2007, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) confirmed yesterday, although population growth means economic activity per head remains …
SMEs get €45m from Strategic Bank
The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) has revealed that €44.7m worth of loans has een drawn down by small and medium businesses since mid-March.
The SBCI, which was set up last year to provide low-cost loans to small businesses, said that since the first SBCI loans were made available from mid-March this year 1,626 SMEs have drawn down funding.
The SBCI works through third-party lenders, giving them money at …
Bank of Ireland profits more than double to €743m
Underlying profits at Bank of Ireland more than doubled in the six months to the end of June to €743m according to new results from the bank.
This was an improvement of €416m compared to the €327m underlying profit recorded in the same period last year.
The value of defaulted loans was reduced by €1bn in the six month period and defaulted loans are now down by more than 25pc …
Laya Healthcare announces price hikes
Over half of Laya Healthcare policies are set to increase by an average of 4% from September, the health insurer has announced.
Earlier this year, the company said that it had no plans to increase its premiums, however it has now confirmed that 55% of its policies will increase from September 1.
It said this was necessary as a result of a big increase in the volume and cost of …
Ireland sees sharpest industrial output fall in Europe
Ireland’s first annual decline in industrial production, recorded in May, was the sharpest fall in industrial production recorded in any European country in that month, according to new data.
The figures from the European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, show that as a whole industrial production in the Eurozone fell by 0.4pc in May compared to April. In the European Union as a whole production was down by 0.3pc. Ireland recorded …
Mortgage cases cast shadow on PTSB return to profit
Permanent TSB yesterday reported an underlying profit of €1m for the first half of 2015.
However, the bailed-out bank’s first profit since 2007 was overshadowed by confirmation that at least 22 of its customers had lost their homes as a result of overcharging by the State-owned bank. In all, close to 1,400 customers were affected.
A scheme to redress customers was announced yesterday, which includes payments of up to €50,000 …
Stripe worth $5bn: Collison brothers company gets new round of funding
Stripe, the online payments company founded by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison, has raised fresh funding that values the startup at €4.6bn ($5bn).
Chief executive Patrick Collison told The New York Times that the five-year-old firm has taken new investment from Visa, American Express and venture capital company Sequoia Capital. The new investment round, which the company says is “less than $100m”, brings Stripe’s overall funding to over €200m …