Clerys doesn't seem too keen on change

CurrentAccount: Just as the wrecker's ball looms over the Jurys hotels in Ballsbridge, the losses at Clerys iconic store on O'Connell Street indicate that another landmark business in Dublin is struggling.

A pretax deficit of €742,875 looks all the worse when set against the revival of Henry Street and the boom in consumer spending. Clerys hopes to recover lost ground with its €22 million refurbishment, but it was years behind a trend that has seen Roches Stores and Arnotts up their game considerably in recent years.

Change was expected after the death, at the age of 103, last August of Clerys chairwoman for 63 years, Mary Guiney. But nothing has so far emerged to suggest that Clerys is reappraising a business that loses money while its rivals thrive.

There is no sign of fresh blood on the board, where 43-year-old chief executive PJ Timmins is the sole member below retirement age. The other members - Denis Ryan, Denis Collins, Micheal Culhane, Frank McAuliffe and Mervin Phelan - were all born between 1927 and 1937.

A the top end of the market, word has it that British chain Harvey Nichols has secured rights to sell the Armani brand when it opens in Dundrum in September, snatching exclusivity in the Irish market from the hands of Brown Thomas. Watch this space. A store cannot survive on one brand alone.

Outside insider wanted for top bank job

Interviews are well under way for the top job at National Irish Bank (NIB), with new owner Danske wanting to revive a franchise it bought with Northern Bank for €1.4 billion. An appointment is expected next month, ahead of Danske's half-year results on August 11th.

Chatter among bankers suggests the Danes will choose from outside NIB but within the Irish industry. New to the market as they are, the Danes will want to hire an insider to guard the shop in Dublin.

With a new generation of chiefs taking charge at AIB, Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish Bank, speculation about the NIB job centres on candidates not selected when Eugene Sheehy, Brian Goggin and David Drumm secured their posts. Thus are Donal Forde of AIB and Des Crowley of Bank of Ireland mentioned by those who believe Dankse will want a retail specialist to run NIB. But it is unclear whether either of these men would opt to leave a powerful role in a major institution for a smaller outfit.

An alternative scenario suggests that Danske might well approach Anglo's Tom Browne. The emphasis in that case would be on entrepreneurship instead of a retail background.

Anyone travelling to Copenhagen should look around the front of the plane for familiar faces.

Goodbody advice

The economy in Northern Ireland would not be the only beneficiary of the reduction in corporation tax recommended by Goodbody Stockbrokers economist Dermot O'Leary in his report on the Northern economy published this week.

A cut in tax rates from the 30 per cent that applies across the UK to something close to the 12.5 per cent that companies pay in the Republic would be a huge bonus for profitable Northern Irish-based companies. First among them must be AIB Group (UK) plc, which includes First Trust in the North and Allied Irish Bank (GB) in the rest of the UK.

The group, which is registered in Northern Ireland made profits of €377 million before tax in 2003. A reduction in the tax rate from 30 per cent to 12.5 per cent would be worth a tidy €66 million for its parent AIB, which just happens to also be the parent of... wait for it... Goodbody Stockbrokers.

RTE sits on a fortune

Sticking with Jurys, the sale of its site in the centre of Ballsbridge is expected to fetch €200 million, possibly more .

While the nature of any development on the site is not yet known, a reasonably well thought out residential/commercial developed on the site is likely to re-pay its owners handsomely.

What the purchase price tells us, more than anything else, is that valuations in the Donnybrook/Ballsbridge areas are extraordinarily robust. Anyone cashing in their property chips in Dublin 4 over the next decade is likely to reap a staggering financial return. Particularly if you have occupied the building for decades.

RTÉ's Montrose headquarters has got be worth well in excess of €150 million. So why doesn't it sell up and move to the outskirts of Dublin? The property is already costing the station money. In the 2004 accounts the station took a €10 million hit which is going towards upgrading the buildings.