Business

More than 500 jobs will be on offer from Irish and international recruiters at Jobs Expo 2013 on 6 and 7 September in Dublin’s Croke Park and on 10 September in Silversprings Moran Hotel, Cork. Thousands of candidates turned up at the last Jobs Expo which took place in February of this year and an even greater amount are expected this time due to the high standard of companies confirmed to be recruiting. Among the companies confirmed are: KBC Bank, which is seeking to recruit retail banking operations administrators, personal banking specialists, underwriters and credit advisers; VM Ware, which is looking for around 15 IT and software developers; and Starwood…

Manufacturing in the eurozone recached its highest level in more than two years in August. Markit’s Flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed business activity across the eurozone picked up at a faster pace than expected, with the index rising to 51.7 from last month’s 50.5. A reading above 50 shows expansion, under 50 indicates manufacturing is contracting. The August figure was the highest since mid-2011. “If the eurozone is picking up then that bodes well for the global economy,” said Chris Williamson, Markit’s chief economist. Image by www.shutterstock.com Karina Corbett

Insulation and building solutions company Kingspan has reported a 6pc rise in trading profit to €55.9m on the back of a 13pc hike in revenue to €858.4m for the half year to 30 June 2013. Chief executive Gene Murtagh described this as a “positive performance against a backdrop of weak European economic conditions and a tough winter across many regions.” “Our strategy of positioning the company at the hub of conversion to lower energy buildings continues to enable us to build the business globally notwithstanding the external conditions,” he said. Sorcha Corcoran

Company incorporations in July 2013 are at their highest since 2008, according to new figures from business and credit risk analyst Vision-net. The figures reveal that 1,014 companies were established in July 2013, a 24pc rise on July 2012, when 819 companies were incorporated. This is the highest number of start-ups since July 2008 when 1,028 incorporations were recorded. According to Vision-net, 2,569 companies and businesses began trading in July – an average of over 100 per day –which is down 3pc on the same month last year. Vision-net said he types of start-up businesses developed by entrepreneurs over the last year show very little fluctuation when compared with previous…

Barclays said today that it is planning to raise £5.8bn through an underwritten rights issue. The bank will offer its existing shareholders one share for every four owned at a cost of £1.85. It said this represents a discount of around 40.1pc on the closing price of £309.05 per share on the London Stock Exchange yesterday. The decision follows the introduction by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) of a 3pc leverage ratio target. Barclays’ PRA leverage ratio stands at 2.2pc, representing a gap of £12.8bn. The underwritten rights issue is part of a series of measures designed to achieve the 3pc target by June 2014. “After careful consideration of the…

Aramark Ireland health and wellness ambassador Katie Taylor was on hand to help launch the company’s Right Track Survey into Irish eating habits among its customer base across Ireland. Taylor is working with Aramark to promote its commitment to health and wellness issues under its ‘Right Track’ programme. The business’s food services division currently serves over 250,000 meals every day and the company spends €50m with Irish suppliers. “We are committed to highlighting the importance of nutrition in the area of health and wellness,” said Grainne Kelliher, vice-president food services, Aramark. “ This survey will provide us with further insight into the eating habits of consumers and allow us to…

Despite a weak start to the year there were clear signs that the economy had picked up in recent months, according to Ibec’s latest Quarterly Economic Outlook. Ibec said that the second half of the year provided a crucial opportunity to restore normality to the property market, which would in turn have significant wider benefits for the economy. The recent annual rise in national property prices suggests the market has finally stabilised; new targets to address the high level of distressed loans will determine if we can restore sustainable growth and a functioning, efficient mortgage market. “It was a difficult start to the year, but there are signs of renewed economic…

University of Limerick launches new ‘Campus Holidays’ enterprise University of Limerick (UL) has announced the launch of its new ‘Campus Holidays’, marking a new innovative business expansion for UL’s ‘Campus Life Services’. The on-campus holiday experience represents a real boost in visitors and tourism to the university, the city and surrounds over the summer months. Campus Life Services is a subsidiary university company that manages, markets and develops the campus and its facilities for conferences, accommodation and events. The company is always looking to new ways of innovation and diversification to generate new revenue streams in non-term time and this year has launched its ‘Campus Holidays’ offer at www.campusholidays.ie. Campus…

The latest figures from the IBF Mortgage Approval Report, published today for the month of June, show an annual increase of 7.3pc in the level of mortgages approved by mainstream lenders. With 92pc of new approvals now accounted for by house purchases, the level of approvals in this key segment also showed a year-on-year increase, rising 8.8pc on the same period in 2012; and the average mortgage approval value for the purposes of house purchase was €174,675 – down by 2.6pc on June 2012. In total, the report shows that 1,652 mortgages were approved by lenders here in June to the value of €280m. The IBF has welcomed the sustained…

So far this year, 182 companies in Ireland have been declared insolvent, which is 17pc lower than the same period last year, according to business and credit risk analyst Vision-net. Of the 812 insolvent companies, 559 were liquidated, 243 entered receivership, and an examiner was appointed to ten. Dublin accounted for most insolvencies (41pc), followed by Cork with 12pc, and Kildare with 5pc. Kilkenny, Carlow, Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Laois, Sligo and Longford all recorded company insolvency rates of less than 1pc. The professional services sector accounted for 18pc of insolvencies so far this year, followed by construction with 17pc, wholesale and retail with 14pc, real estate with 13pc, and manufacturing…