A round-up of today's business news stories in brief
Insurance broker fined €18,000 for overcharging
A Carlow-based insurance broker has been ordered to pay a fine of €18,000 by the Financial Regulator after the regulator said it had “reasonable cause” to suspect that the firm overcharged customers.
McHugh O’Leary Insurance Brokers of Dublin Street, Carlow, applied broker fees and administrative charges in respect of premium rebates that were in excess of the maximum fees stated in the firm’s terms of business document.
The suspected breaches of the Consumer Protection Code related to the sale of insurance to commercial customers.
The matter was uncovered during the course of the Financial Regulator’s inspections into charges and premium rebates in the insurance intermediary sector.
Arklow wind farm may supply British grid
GREEN ENERGY group Airtricity is considering connecting its wind farm in Arklow, Co Wicklow to the British national grid. The company announced yesterday it is planning to buy a 25.1 per cent stake in an offshore windfarm 14km from the British coast at Walney, Cumbria, for £63;39 million (€43.4 million), from Danish group, Dong Energy. Airtricity also intends contributing £250 million towards the wind farm's £1 billion development costs. This will be paid in two stages as the 397 mega watt (MW) facility comes on stream. The pair will sell the electricity produced according to their stakes in the project. The power that it will generate will qualify for British government supports for green energy,
Kenmare agrees settlement with contractor
Kenmare Resources has agreed a settlement worth $50 million with a contractor it hired to build a titanium mine in Mozambique, the Irish exploration company revealed yesterday.
Problems with plant and equipment supplied by Multiplex Bateman Joint Venture (MBJV), which Kenmare hired to build the mine at Moma, Mozambique, delayed full production there from 2008 until late this year.
Yesterday Kenmare said that it has agreed a final settlement with MBJV that releases both of the parties from any obligations they have under the original contract.
The delays in reaching full production meant that Kenmare Resources had to renegotiate the terms of its loans with its banks in 2008.
It subsequently put in place a programme designed to address the problems which it completed on schedule.
Confidence up among US consumers
Confidence among US consumers increased in December for the first time in three months as companies slowed the pace of job cuts.
The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 72.5 from 67.4 in November.
David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast in New York, said: “There are signs spending seems to be improving. The trend seems to be moving in the right direction, although not very sharply.” – (Reuters)
Volvo deal set to be finalised in early 2010
Motor manufacturer Ford said yesterday it expected to finalise the sale of Volvo to China’s Geely in the first half of 2010 in a deal that underlines China’s arrival as a major force in the global auto industry.
The deal would be the largest acquisition of a western auto brand by a Chinese company.
Geely is China’s largest private auto-maker. Its charismatic founder, Li Shu Fu, is known as the Chinese Henry Ford. He has pushed for Geely to become a global auto brand. – (Reuters)
Bank of England to keep rates at 0.5%
All nine members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent and maintain the £200 billion (€223 billion) asset buying programme in December, as expected.
Analysts do not expect any further expansion of the central bank’s quantitative easing scheme – pumping money into the economy by buying assets – and are now looking for an indication of when it might start to tighten monetary policy. – (Reuters)
