It’s hard to imagine that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) won’t feel renewed pressure in both the US and Europe over new revelations that the iPhone manufacturer paid virtually no corporation tax for years on billions of dollars of revenue earned in other countries using the infamous ‘double Irish’. Apple: Unexplained lower...
In an earlier Valuewalk article, we examined how the Irish government was allowing the cost of health insurance in Ireland to spiral out of control, while simultaneously introducing legislation that was hampering competition in the sector. Now it seems ‘Obamacare’, or the Affordable Care Act in the US, signed...
Major changes are coming at troubled Ulster Bank. The institution, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS) (LON:RBS), has been losing money hand over fist since the banking crisis first erupted in Ireland in 2008. Operating losses rose to £1.457 billion last year from £1.040 in 2012. It’s...
A number of Irish Companies made waves at the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February. The trade show is the biggest of its type in the telecoms sector and attracted more than 85,000 attendees with interests in the mobile phone sector from over 200 countries. People...
Eagle Alpha, the Dublin-based social media start-up for market-related information and data, is set to expand. Set up by Emmett Kilduff in 2012, the firm now has operations in New York and London, and has just secured funding worth $1.5 million from a group of current and former senior...
The special liquidators of the IBRC (the former Anglo Irish Bank) have announced the successful conclusion of the sale of the Rock and Salt projects within the IBRC portfolio worth €7.3bn. The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, welcomed the news of the sale, consisting mostly of commercial real estate...
Despite good figures in the North American market, Diageo plc (ADR) (NYSE:DEO) (LON:DGE)’s half-year results in January were weaker than expected and it’s not surprising. In the emerging markets, which account for 43% of the drink giant’s sales, the company took a hammering: "Sustained performance in the US and improved...
Open source software was once the realm of hackers and bedroom developers. That’s certainly no longer the case, as more and more big businesses power their enterprises with the latest open source platforms applications. Instead of charging for licenses, open source developers have built businesses around providing add-on services such...
Hardly a month goes by without another story about Bitcoin in the mainstream media. Despite volatility and mixed reaction from economists, all the signs are there that both retailers and investors are beginning to take the digital currency seriously. Just last year, for example, a story broke about an...
As online sales exploded over the Christmas period, some of the UK and Ireland’s biggest ‘brick-and-mortar’ retailers are reeling from lower than expected sales. In particular, Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain, Wm. Morrison Supermarkets plc (LON:MRW), has been hit hard, pulling forward their trading announcement for the festive season...
Diminishing disposable income in Ireland could soon affect share prices, as consumers spend less money in the private sector. Inflation beating increases in items such as alcohol and health insurance, combined with a raft of new government taxes has meant that the Irish public has less to spend than...
Many Irish mortgage holders are at risk from having their mortgages sold onto unregulated ‘vulture funds’ that could hike variable rates mercilessly. For those in negative equity, the results could be catastrophic. Irish mortgage holders could lose vital protections As banks are wound up or leave Ireland, their loan books are...
The US business software maker, Workday Inc (NYSE:WDAY), has shifted a chunk of its intellectual property to Ireland in a move to cut its tax bill. With a current valuation of $15.6bn, the rival to software giants SAP AG (ADR) (NYSE:SAP) and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) joins a host of...
The latest statistics from Eurostat show Ireland as one of the most expensive places to live in Europe. One area that stood out most was health insurance. In just three years, some policies have risen 70%. With the recession hitting hard, many customers are simply cancelling their cover. Premiums...
In the commercial property sector, Green REIT (OTCMKTS:GREEF) (LON:GRN) (Real Estate Investment Trust) was one of the big recovery stories of 2013 and that looks set to continue this year. Led by Stephen Vernon and Pat Gunne, shares in Green REIT floated at €1 last July and following a string...
Five former directors from FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) oil producer Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW) (OTCMKTS:TUWLF) have teamed up to float a new oil and gas venture in Senegal. Led by Pat Plunkett, who chaired Tullow for 12 years, T5 Oil & Gas plan to list on AIM in London this autumn. Lack...
Some Irish Thomas Cook Group plc (LON:TCG) (OTCMKTS:TCKGY) customers were disappointed when their 2014 brochure didn’t arrive in the mail at the beginning of the New Year. But the firm’s subsequent announcement that it was pulling out of the Irish travel market, where it has been selling package holidays for...
We recently looked at two online payment companies coming out of Ireland and now it appears that one, Stripe, is on the verge of inking a multi-million deal with social networking platform Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Formed by two brothers from Limerick, John and Patrick Collison, Stripe employs some 60 people,...
Dublin based Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:JAZZ) has seen its share price rise steadily since the beginning of January, fueling speculation that the company may be about to become the target of a takeover bid. Hardly surprising when you consider the number of pharmaceutical giants from around the world that have...
With so many banks pulling out of the Irish market and many of the remaining financial institutions wary about offering mortgages in what has become a difficult sector, is there an opportunity for a mortgage provider to do things differently? John Casey, the new head of the Broker and Intermediary...
Hardly a week seems to go by without Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) announcing some new policy as part of their new ‘customer-friendly’ initiative. This week, Michael O’Leary says that he is working on a partnership with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) that will dramatically change how we buy plane tickets in future. "There...
Furniture and homeware giant IKEA has said it has abandoned its plans to double sales between 2012 and 2020 to €50 billion, stating that the level of growth anticipated was ‘unrealistic’ given the global economic slowdown. "Our goal has so far proved to be too aggressive," said Goeran Grosskopf, chairman...
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