Ulster Bank preps loan sale and did Kielty pass the Toy Show test?

As Ulster Bank continues to wind down its operation here, it is laying the groundwork for the sale of a previously unsellable portfolio of €477 million mortgages by changing the term of the loans, which allowed customers to reduce their interest bill by using savings with the bank. Joe Brennan has the story.

In her column, Laura Slattery assesses Patrick Kielty’s performance on The Toy Show, and asks if it will be enough for the beancounters in RTÉ.

Bewley’s cafe on Grafton Street in Dublin has reported a big turnaround in profit and sales in the wake of Covid, Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports, with the group’s latest set of accounts showing it made a profit of just over €1 million in 2022.

Irish tech company WorkHuman has reported a 29 per cent increase in turnover in 2022, with operating profit for the year of $68 million (€62.23 million). As Ellen O’Regan writes, the human resources software company announced earlier this year that it was cutting 10 per cent of its 1,300 strong global workforce in response to an uncertain economic environment.

CRH puts its hands up over shortcomings on investor dividends

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Clampdown on influencers means #collab won’t cut it anymore

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Will inheritance cause a problem with my weekly disability payment?

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Why are so many people leaving the UK’s workforce?

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An Irish company looking for cures for blood-related cancers has secured orphan status form US regulators for its lead treatment candidate, Mocravimod. Dominic Coyle reports that Priothera said the Food and Drug Administration had granted the orphan drug designation to Mocravimod as a treatment “to improve outcome following hematopoietic [blood-forming] stem cell transplantation in hematologic malignancies”.

In Your Money, Dominic Coyle answers two questions tied to inheritance issues: what happens when the house you were to inherit is sold before the owner dies, and how much can you leave grand children whose father recently died?

Fiona Reddan highlights what is becoming an ever bigger problem: the issues with buying a home later in life.

Aircraft Leasing Ireland, one of the main lobby groups for the sector, has appointed Small Firms’ Association public affairs lead Elizabeth Bowen, as its new director. Barry O’Halloran has the story.

The Workplace Relations Commission has refused to consider a complaint against an Irish investment fund by a UK stockbroking firm which has accused it of discrimination by refusing to let it buy in because its owner is from Russia. Stephen Bourke as at the hearing.

Molten Ventures, the Dublin and London-listed tech investment company formerly known as Draper Esprit, has agreed to buy smaller UK peer Forward Partners in a stock-based deal valued at £41.4 million (€47.7m) as it seeks to take advantage of challenging market conditions in the venture capital sector. Joe has the details.

Friends of the Irish Environment may seek to join Shannon LNG’s High Court challenge to a refusal of planning permission for a €650 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Co Kerry. The court heard on Monday that the environmental organisation has a “bit of a history” with the LNG terminal proposal and is considering whether to apply to join the case as an interested party, which would enable it to make submissions to the court. Ellen O’Riordan was there.

Aryzta’s shares slid off five-year highs on Monday as the Swiss-Irish baked goods group reported that organic sales growth eased sharply in the three months to the end of October. Joe has the report.

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