Davy ‘for sale’ sign, Irish mortgage costs and the murky world of fake online reviews

The former executives at Davy who were at the heart of a bond-trading scandal at the stockbroking firm are poised to agree to allow the remaining board members to put it up for sale. Davy is expected to confirm before the weekend that the business is being put on the market. Joe Brennan and Cliff Taylor have the latest.

Cantillon wonders how much Davy might be worth in light of its troubles, citing corporate governance Niamh Brennan's observations on the Inside Business podcast that the Davy brand has become "toxic", rendering the firm akin to a "wounded animal" vulnerable to "predators" looking to buy it on the cheap.

Irish consumers are still paying a massive premium on their mortgages compared to their European counterparts. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports on Central Bank figures that suggest the difference between average interest rates here and in the euro zone could cost homebuyers an additional €80,000 on a typical €300,000 loan.

In her weekly Net Results column, Karlin Lillington explores the murky world of online reviews and finds the global trade in co-ordinated fake reviews is thriving.

Former Davy executives poised to back sale of crisis-stricken firm

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Urgent need to discuss the future of banking, says union

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Decawave investors step in to back TCD spinout Danalto

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Johnson & Johnson ‘under stress’ to meet EU second-quarter vaccine supply goal

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In our technology feature, NewsWhip co-founder and chief executive Paul Quigley talks to Ciara O'Brien about the challenges of identifying trustworthy news amid the Covid-19 "infodemic".

Irish aircraft lessor Aercap is poised to create the biggest business in its industry by the end of this year after agreeing to buy rival GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) for €25 billion. Barry O'Halloran reports on what the deal means as the sector eyes a post-pandemic recovery.

Meanwhile, plans by airport operator DAA to install new paid drop-off and pick-up zones at Dublin Airport have suffered a major setback after Fingal County Council refused planning permission to allow the proposed scheme to proceed. Gordon Deegan has the details.

In technology news, angel investors who realised huge gains from the $400 million (€336 million) sale of Irish chip maker Decawave last year, have backed Trinity College Dublin spinout Danalto in a new €1 million seed round, writes Charlie Taylor.

The Irish advertising market will make a partial recovery from Covid-19 this year, increasing by 8.9 per cent to €983.6 million after a pandemic-wracked 2020, according to forecasts from marketing group Core.

Business activity and employment in the capital continues to be "severely affected" by Covid-19 restrictions, the latest Dublin Economic Monitor shows, in what it called a "damaging chapter" of the pandemic. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

Finally, you don't have to go all the way to Mars to find that satellites and drones are shaping the future of farming here on Earth, writes Chris Horn in his Innovation column.

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