Business Today Newsletter

Inflation hits 18 month low; companies face higher audit costs; and just how big is Ticketmaster?

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

Ticketmaster dominates the market in Ireland. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP

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Peter Flanagan
Fri Aug 11 2023 - 06:39

We start with the good news that inflation in the Irish economy fell to an 18-month low of 5.8 per cent in July as the cost of basic items such as clothing and footwear fell back and the original energy price shock faded. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

Companies could see their audit costs double over the coming years as a growing number of accountancy practices move away from the business, one of Ireland’s accountancy bodies has warned. Dominic Coyle reports, it is calling for a review of the audit standards which must be applied to smaller businesses.

Long-running tensions between Europe’s biggest online travel companies and Ryanair are rising after the booking agents called on UK regulators to investigate the low-cost carrier’s data requirements for passengers who do not book directly through its website.

In Any Other Business, John Burns reports on GoCars price hikes, the Web Summit’s new PR handlers, as well as what Smurfit Kappa CEO Tony Smurfit thinks of carbon capture.

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After revealing the incentives Ticketmaster offers the GAA to earn its business earlier this week, Barry O’Halloran delves into the Irish ticketing scene and answers the question, how big is Ticketmaster, really?

A return to normal trading conditions following the lifting of tough public health restrictions saw the company behind the Conrad Dublin hotel bounce back into the black last year after losing more than €3.6 million in 2021. Despite strong demand, however, the directors of Earlsfort Centre Hotel Proprietors (ECHP) have warned that the hospitality sector’s recovery is still clouded by uncertainty and remains “susceptible to further shocks”. Ian Curran has read the accounts.

Global real estate adviser Savills has flagged a “significant” drop in revenue in the Irish market for the first half of the year, with similar weakness recorded in other European markets including Germany, France and Sweden.

Ian also reports that Irish Life’s health insurance subsidiary incurred a total of €126.3 million in claims last year, a 6.6 per cent increase from 2021 as private health services ramped up again in the aftermath of the pandemic. Pretax profits were stable year on year at €35.2 million compared with €35.3 million in 2021.

Bad News for Disney+ subscribers. They face a price hike from November. Ciara O’Brien has the grim details.

When is it okay to get an email from your boss late at night, or out of regular hours generally? Olive Keogh looks at what companies are doing to avoid that scenario.

In his column, despite all that has happened in recent years, the link between trade and democratic liberalisation still hold true, argues Martin Sandbu.

Pay rises totalling 9.5 per cent over three years have been recommended by the Labour Court for 300 general operatives working for the healthcare services firm Uniphar. Emmet Malone has the details.

Emmet also reports that a system for considering cases for regrading in the public sector will need to be included in the forthcoming national pay agreement, according to John King, Siptu’s deputy general secretary.

Finally Wild Geese looks at the Irish woman with a key role for a Japanese car maker based in Spain.

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