Business

Insurers take a hit; airlines’ anger at Government; and Johnny Ronan close to deal

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Business interruption claims related to Covid-19 dragged insurers in the Republic to an operating loss of €128 million on business written for employers and public liability and commercial property. Photograph: Alan Betson

Dominic Coyle's face
Dominic Coyle
Wed Jun 22 2022 - 06:35

Business interruption claims related to Covid-19 dragged insurers in the Republic to an operating loss of €128 million on business written for employers and public liability and commercial property, the Central Bank says in a report released this morning. Joe Brennnan writes that the figures - relating to 2020 - cover three lines of insurance typically sold as a package to businesses ranging from corner shops to large drug companies. It’s an area that has hurt the industry since 2015, the Central Bank data show.

Government officials are looking to organise a meeting with a group of North American airlines that claim problems at Dublin Airport caused many passengers to miss connecting flights in the US. Barry O’Halloran reports that the group - representing American Airlines, Delta, United and Air Canada - claims delays at the Irish airport could damage their business over the summer.

Developer Johnny Ronan is reportedly close to completing a bank refinancing on €142 million of loans against 12 high profile properties valued at around €300 million that are in receivership. Joe Brennan reports that the properties include the Connaught House office building on Burlington Road in Dublin 4, a stake in a nearby Percy Place property that is majority-owned by a Davy property fund, the Bewley’s Cafe building on Grafton Street and a mansion in Paris.

Pretax profits at the company behind Manor Farm, the largest chicken processor in the State, fell by 90 per cent in 2021, as inflation, Covid-19 and avian flu bit in the latter half of the year. Ian Curran reports that soaring chicken feed and energy costs were behind much of the decline, according to new accounts filed by Carton Bros Unlimited.

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Web Summit is back in the news after yet another court hearing, this time involving motions for discovery from shareholder Dabid Kelly and his Graigueridda group for documents he thinks will back up his claim that company funds may have been used in a defamation payout over a tweet by the company’s chief executive, Patrick Cosgrave. He is also looking for financial records to bolster his view of the valuation of his holding.

Figures from Eurostat paint a less than attractive picture of prices in Ireland. According to the data, the State is, with Denmark, the most expensive European Union country for basic goods and services last year - with prices that were 40 per cent higher than the EU average. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

AIB has made another move to gets its books in order, agreeing to sell a portfolio of mainly deep-in-default loans originally understood to be worth over €700 million for €400 million to a consortium led by US distressed debt group Cerberus. Joe Brennan writes that the average loan in the portfolio was about nine years in default.

Business woes continued last year for casino and arcade owner, Richard Quirke as his business recorded pretax losses of €14 million, writes Gordon Deegan. Mr Quirke was already dealing with an alleged €2.56 million fraud perpetrated on his business that was first uncovered by himself and another director in December 2020.

Gordon also reports that An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission to Dairygold for a €237 million residential scheme that includes a 15-storey tower in the south-central suburbs of Cork city - one of 11 blocks containing 609 dwellings on the former CMP Dairies site on Kinsale Road.

In RTÉ, it was announced that Jon Williams will stand down from his role as managing director of news and current affairs at RTÉ in July after five-and-a-half years in the role. He is heading home to the UK, writes Ian Curran.

Barry O’Halloran has a reports from private coach companies, released this morning, that claims a taxpayer-funded scheme to cut State bus and rail prices by 20 per cent threatens their survival. Private operators were excluded from the €505 million scheme.

In his column, Martin Wolf argues that from treating trade as optional to overstating the merits of self-sufficiency, there are errors to avoid as we head into a more difficult world.

In Commercial Property, the focus is down south, as Fine Grain Property secures full ownership of Shannon’s Westpark campus in a €20 million deal. And Seán Gallagher’s Clyde Real Estate sells an office block it owns in Shannon to a French investor for €14.7 million.

Elsewhere, St Finian’s Diocesan Trust seeks buyer for 12-acre holding on Dublin Road in Mullingar that has scope for 116 new homes.

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