Your business this week: results, indicators and meetings

Thursday’s Future Scope event set to attract 1,200 attendees and 120 speakers

MONDAY

Indicators: Irish retail sales (Apr); German import prices (Apr).

TUESDAY

Results: Kainos, Frutarom, HP.

READ MORE

Indicators: Irish overseas travel (Apr); Euro zone loan growth and money supply (Apr); UK housing prices (May); US consumer confidence (May).

Meetings: Ires Reit agm (Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin 2); Design Thinking Ireland Conference (Helix, DCU, Dublin); Federation of Irish Sports Annual Conference (Trinity College Dublin).

Ires Reit's agm on Tuesday comes hot on its €40 million acquisition of 128 apartments at the Hampton Wood development in the Dublin suburb of Finglas, finalised last week.

The investment is expected to generate a gross yield of 6.25 per cent. At the time of completion, chief executive Margaret Sweeney said the move strengthened its presence in Dublin, bringing the total number of apartments it owns to 2,579.

It follows a trading update earlier this month that showed the property company had generated net income of €6.3 million in the first three months of the year.

Ireland’s largest residential investor reported that its income had increased 7 per cent compared to the same period last year with group occupancy levels remaining at virtually full capacity.

In a recent note Goodbody said the “focus on higher quality, new build suburban property gives Ires the ability to build a competitive income stream over peers, especially given how aggressive pricing has become in the city centre”.

It also emerged this month that David Ehrlich, the founding chief executive who stood down in October, had earned a €4 million profit on the sale of 11.8 million shares in the company.

WEDNESDAY

Results: Analog Devices.

Indicators: Euro-zone services, economic and industrial sentiment (May), business and consumer confidence (May), consumer inflation expectations (May); German retail sales (Apr), unemployment (May), inflation (May); US corporate profits (Q1), GDP (Q1).

Meetings: Data Edge seminar (Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Co Dublin); Smart Cities Summit (Leopardstown Racecourse); National Finance Summit (RDS, Dublin 4); National Sales and Marketing Summit (RDS, Dublin 4); Tech Connect Live for SMEs (RDS, Dublin 4).

THURSDAY

Indicators: Euro zone inflation (May), unemployment (Apr); UK consumer confidence (May), consumer credit (Apr), net lending to individuals (Apr), mortgage lending (Apr).

Meetings: Total Produce agm (Marker Hotel, Docklands, Dublin 2); Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association of Ireland National Conference and Gala Dinner (Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, Killiney, Co Dublin); ESRI conference on banking crises (ESRI, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2), Future Scope event on business collaboration (Convention Centre Dublin); Chartered Institute of Management Accountants business briefing Supporting Irish businesses in an Uncertain Economic World (EY, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2).

With the march of technology, thematic questions around the future of business and how things might develop are easy to find and difficult to keep up with. Whether it is the new regulations around data protection, the online threat to traditional retail or the prospect of robots “taking our jobs”, technology and business are an increasingly fused puzzle.

On Thursday, the fifth annual Future Scope event – promoting collaboration between the entrepreneurial community and multinationals – will adopt as one of its key themes the future of data analytics and AI.

Among the 1,200 attendees and 120 speakers will be representatives from Vodafone, Enterprise Ireland, Facebook, IBM, Google, Alltech, Blueface, Circle, Newswhip, Jobbio and Science Foundation Ireland.

"The central premise of the event is to create a platform for global multinationals, large innovative Irish companies and successful entrepreneurs to explore business opportunities," said Michael Culligan, chief executive of Dublin BIC (Business Innovation Centre) which organises the conference.

The event also sees the presentation of its “One2Watch” award which selects a single Irish start-up offering the “most scalable” early-stage business idea.

FRIDAY

Results: Abercrombie & Fitch.

Indicators: Irish manufacturing PMI (May); Euro zone manufacturing PMI (May); UK manufacturing PMI (May); German manufacturing PMI (May); US unemployment and non-farm payrolls (May), manufacturing PMI (May), vehicle sales (May).