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Unsolicited bid for Brown Thomas Arnotts, nursing home losses, and Dalton Philips plan to rebuild profits at Greencore

The best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Greencore Group, where he trying to rebuild its profitabiilty.

Ciarán Hancock's face
Ciarán Hancock
Fri Jan 26 2024 - 06:31

The Brown Thomas store on Grafton Street had a record month of trading in December in spite of the first two weeks being quiet as a result of consumer nervousness on shopping in the city centre following the Dublin riot in late November, its chief executive Donald McDonald told Ciarán Hancock.

In a related story, the Brown Thomas Arnotts chief also revealed how its parent company had received an unsolicited bid last August from a third party. He explains to Ciarán Hancock how the bid ultimately came to nothing.

In our Agenda big read, Joe Brennan does a deep dive into the accounts of the leading foreign-owned nursing homes group in Ireland and finds that they have accumulated huge losses in recent years.

In our Interview of the Week, self-confessed foodie Dalton Philips, the chief executive of convenience food operator Greencore, explains his plan to rebuild its profits after four years of “absolute carnage”. He spoke with Ciarán Hancock.

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Mount Juliet, the five-star Kilkenny hotel and golf resort, is set to host a meeting of the 26 members of the European Central Bank governing council in May, writes Joe Brennan.

Mortgage drawdowns for first-time buyers (FTBs) rose to its highest level since 2007 last year despite an overall slowdown in mortgage activity, a new report by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has indicated. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports

Holidaymakers face high fares again this summer as demand for flying grows and aircraft manufacturers push to meet a shortfall in supply left by pandemic restrictions, according to leading Irish aviation financier Avolon. Barry O’Halloran has the details.

In his weekly column, John FitzGerald says we should look to France for a peek at the Green future.

In our work feature, Olive Keogh examines why people are now willing to turn their backs on opportunities with the Big Four accounting firms.

If people are buying with their cards, why do they still want to keep cash? Cliff Taylor examines this burning question in the light of Government legislation to underpin the availability of cash in the economy.

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