Business

BT Group has announced its results for the second quarter and half-year to 30 September 2012. Profit before tax in the second quarter was �608m – an increase of 7pc – while profit in the half-year was �1,186m, up 8pc. Revenue for the second quarter was up 9pc at �4,474m, while revenue for the half-year was �8,958m, an increase of 7pc. BT Ireland’s revenue increased by 1pc in the period, which also saw the company entering into a wholesale deal to provide Sky with managed voice and broadband services. “We have delivered another solid quarter of growth in profit before tax despite the economic conditions and regulatory impacts,” said chief…

Kilkenny Group is creating 60 new jobs in its shops throughout the country and its online store. The new positions will bring the number of staff employed in the Irish-owned, family-run company to 265. Kilkenny Group has opened four new stores since last year and plans to open a further three by the end of next year. Just recently it opened an outlet on Grafton Street in Dublin. It has also invested significantly in the expansion and relaunch of its online offering. According to chief executive officer Marian O’Gorman, Irish consumers are recognising the importance of buying Irish and there has never been a greater need to support indigenous craft…

Attitudes towards women in technology are changing rapidly and female participation continues to increase in this sector in Ireland, a briefing heard today. The Connecting Women in Technology (CWIT) breakfast briefing took place at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, involving more than 200 women working in the technology sector. Set up in 2009, CWIT is a collaborative initiative of senior women from Ernst & Young, HP, Microsoft, Accenture, Google, Facebook, Dell and IBM which aims to attract more women to the sector. Marie Treacy, partner at Ernst & Young hosted the event and guest speakers included Triona Campbell, beActive International and Regina Moran, Fijitsu Ireland. “The recent establishment by Enterprise…

Ulster Bank has appointed a receiver to Glencullen Holdings, which operates the two car dealerships Bill Cullen had left, in Swords and Liffey Valley in Dublin. Reported to owe the bank around €12m, the two dealerships employ 45 people and Cullen said they had dropped 70pc in value over the past two years. Falling car sales and other factors led to the end of the road for Cullen, who has been in the motor trade for 55 years and went on to be the front man for the TV3 series ‘The Apprentice’. Cullen lost the Renault dealership last August, having held the national franchise for the French carmaker from 1986…

Former Anglo Irish Bank executives Seán FitzPatrick, Willie McAteer and Pat Whelan were today sent forward for trial at the Circuit Criminal Court on charges of providing unlawful financial assistance to 16 individuals in July 2008. The former chairman, finance director and managing director were served the books of evidence during the hearing at the Criminal Courts of Justice. They were charged, indicted and released on bail last July following a three-and-a-half year investigation by detectives from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Anglo Irish Bank. The three were today remanded on continuing bail to appear again at the next sitting of the Circuit Criminal…

Sysco Corporation has acquired the food service division of Keelings’ group, which specialises in fresh produce, employs 160 and has operations based in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Wexford. Reporting through Pallas Foods , the business will retain its existing brand identity and management team.  All employees will remain with the business. The wider Keelings Group , headquartered in North County Dublin, has operations in Ireland, the UK, Europe and Asia. Keelings is a fresh produce specialist and is the largest grower of fruit in Ireland. The Keelings Group will continue to operate its retail, market, international and solutions divisions. Tim Geary, Chairman of Pallas Foods, said: “Keelings’ food services’ business is a strong entity…

Primark opens first Austrian store in Innsbruck Primark has today opened its first store in Austria. This is the company’s 50th store outside Ireland and the UK and brings its total number to 246. The company also has stores in Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Belgium. Located at the Sillpark Shopping Centre in Innsbruck, the new store covers 40,000 square feet and will employ 250 people. Primark will open two stores next week, the first in Thanet in the UK on Monday 1 October and the other in Zaragoza, Spain on Thursday 4 October. Grainne Rothery

Boston based marketing software provider HubSpot is opening a European headquarters in Dublin next January which will create 150 new jobs. Its first-ever branch office, it will oversee all international operations, supporting more than 600 customers and 100 resellers. The new jobs in Dublin will be in sales, marketing, account management and support. HubSpot serves nearly 8,000 customers in 56 countries with 30pc of inbound sales leads originating outside the US. Its international business is growing 200pc per year, and HubSpot projects that 20pc of its revenue will come from its global market within the next three years. “The market for our software outside the US is several times the…

Bribery and corruption has risen since the downturn — E&Y There has been an increase in bribery and corrupt practices since the economic downturn, according to 28pc of Irish respondents on Ernst & Young’s 2012 Global Fraud Survey. This compares to 16pc in Western Europe as a whole. Over 1,700 executives across 43 countries, including CFOs, heads of legal and internal audit participated in the survey for their views of fraud, bribery and corruption . The survey reveals that over 20pc of Irish respondents believe that bribery occurs widely in Ireland, compared to one third of global respondents. Bribery is perceived to be significantly higher in the rapid-growth markets such as…

German company arvato Finance has moved to new premises in Dublin’s Eastpoint Business Park and is creating 100 additional jobs, after having reached its target 150 new jobs two years early. The 150 jobs promised last year have been already filled in IT, consulting, finance and accounting, project management and customer services roles. Supporting the growing demand for business process outsourcing services, arvato is set to expand further and 100 positions have been created across its network with over 60 positions currently available and 40 recently recruited. Dublin continues to be a strategic centre of knowledge and innovation for arvato Finance, which has been operating from Ireland for over 16…