Tesco Sees Increased Sales and Profits
Giant supermarket chain Tesco has reported increased sales and profits for its full financial year ended February 2011. Tesco Ireland Although the group does not reveal a specific breakdown of figures for Ireland, it said that some countries that were slow to recover from the global recession, including Hungary, Ireland, and the western United States were now showing signs of improvement. “In Ireland, like-for-like growth in the year was significantly stronger, and although it was broadly stable during the second half, the two-year trend has continued to improve,” the group said in its trading statement. Excluding petrol, like for like sales grew 3.9pc at Tesco’s Irish division. The majority of…
Read MoreMichael Connolly, Public Sector Lead
Appointment Date: 19.04.2011Company: HP IrelandBusiness Type: ITPosition: Public Sector Lead Michael Connolly has been appointed public sector lead at HP in Ireland. In this newly created role, Connolly will become the single face of HP to the public sector and will promote the company’s solution portfolio. Connolly, who has been with HP and working with its enterprise portfolio since 1987, started with the company as an account engineer. He has also had the roles of network sales engineer and as an enterprise account manager, where he was responsible for the sale of HP enterprise portfolio with the public and private sectors. Connolly graduated as a telecommunications technician from the College…
Read MoreNyberg Report blames “unbelievable” Irish actions for banking crisis
Gov publishes the Nyberg report into banking crisis The main reason for the Irish banking crisis was the “unhindered expansion” of the property bubble financed by the banks using wholesale market funding, the Nyberg Report has found. The report of the Commission of Investigation into the Banking Sector , Misjudging Risk: Causes of the Systemic Banking Crisis In Ireland, more commonly known as the Nyberg Report has been considered by the Cabinet and published by the Minister for Finance this afternoon. The investigation was commissioned by the government to establish exactly what happened to lead to the utter collapse of the Irish banking system in 2008. Every Irish financial institute has now…
Read MoreAuditors did not challenge banks’ actions – Nyberg
The authors of the Nyberg Report have said it is “unfortunate” that a challenging dialogue was not used by auditors to influence the business models and lending practices of financial institutions. Investigating the causes of Irish banking crisis, the Commission said that a sufficient, timely and challenging auditor dialogue could have been used to influence the banks’ business models and lending practices. There is no express requirement for an auditor to do so and the report found that their commentary regularly focuses on issues relating to the accuracy of historic accounts. “In practice, this means that auditors look primarily backwards and at technical issues that may influence the accuracy of…
Read More€20 Irish coin goes on sale for €40
The Central Bank of Ireland has issued a collectors’ item, gold proof €20 coin today, which will be sold for double its value. The coin, one of the smallest in the world, is just 11mm in diameter and features a depiction of a Celtic High Cross. It weighs just 0.5g but will cost collectors €40 to purchase. The design on the miniature coin is the work of renowned Irish artist Thomas Ryan. It pictures the Celtic High Cross in a monastic setting alongside the Irish Round Tower and bears the Irish Harp in “exceptional detail”, said the Central Bank. Ryan has previously designed the 1990 £1 coin, featuring the red…
Read MoreLondon beats Dublin in battle for Twitter
Reports today suggest that Dublin has lost out to London in the battle to secure the new European headquarters of social networking site Twitter. Ireland had been touted as a possible location for the messaging firm’s European base but, seemingly, the company has already started recruiting in London. According to reports today, the company has met with property agents in London and has visited locations in the west end. Vacancies for a sales account manager, sales executive, business development mobile/electronics and communications manager, all based in London have been posted on the Twitter recruitment feed. The European office – wherever it is – is due to open in 2012 and…
Read MoreGreen Economy 2010 Highlights – Chair Of The Sustainability Commission (uk), Will Day, Part I
Will Day, chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, and advisor to the UK cabinet and UN Development Programme, tells Ireland’s leaders that sustainability must move beyond rhetoric, at a Business & Leadership briefing on the Green Economy in Dublin on May 14, 2010
Read MoreJapan asks for objective reporting from media
Japanese authorities have asked the international media to refrain from sensationalist reporting on the continuing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power plant. The Foreign Ministry blamed incorrect and sensationalist reporting for concerns that led to import restrictions on Japanese products. State Foreign Secretary Chiaki Takahashi said some of the reporting since the earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11 has been “excessive”. He cited one story – that the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. has hired homeless people to tackle the ongoing crisis – to highlight how some erroneous reporting had been carried out. Meanwhile, at Fukushima, workers have successfully injected nitrogen into the number 1 reactor to avert…
Read MoreBank Shares Up and Deposits Steady – Noonan
Finance minister Michael Noonan said today that the government has succeeded in restoring confidence to Ireland’s banking system. He noted that Bank of Ireland shares had advanced for three days in-a-row and are currently up about 45pc on last week’s trading price. AIB has seen significant increases in its shares, as well, said Noonan. The minister of finance also said that the amount of deposits being withdrawn from the two “pillar banks” has been reduced substantially since Thursday’s announcements. Noonan told the Dáil that Irish 10-year-bond rates peaked to 10.32pc on March 31 but have since fallen back to below 10pc. He noted the positive response from various credit rating agencies and…
Read MoreGlobal ad spend up 10.6pc to US$503bn in 2010 – Nielsen
World Cup spending, a strong performance in Asia Pacific and growth in emerging consumer regions helped the ad industry globally to come out of recession in 2010 and post an impressive 10.6pc year-on-year increase to US$503bn, according to The Nielsen Company. “2010 was the year of recovery for the advertising industry,” said Randall Beard, global head of advertiser solutions for The Nielsen Company. “All global regions and every traditional medium (television, radio, newspapers and magazines) recorded a positive turnaround with highest percentage ad spend increases coming from Middle East/Africa and Latin America, which rose 26.7pc and 21.2pc respectively. Overall 23 out of 37 global markets posted double-digit ad growth last…
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