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What a difference a year makes...  JANUARY
THE YEAR 2007 began with drinks group C&C and maker of Magners cider
being named in Standard Life’s picks for the next 12 months following
on from a year when its share price more than doubled on the back of strong
demand for its cider brand.
It also began with a report in the Irish Labour Market Review saying the
construction industry was likely to avoid a crash-landing and would instead
experience a slight cooling following on from the construction industry
estimating that 90,000 new homes were built in the Republic during 2006.
As well as this we heard that house prices grew by 11.8 per cent in 2006,
exceeding the previous year’s growth rate of 9.3 per cent.
How things would soon change.
Also it was a great month for tech junkies with Apple confirming rumours
of the iPhone. In a move that would see it in the news for the reminder
of the year, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced: “We have
reinvented the phone.”
FEBRUARY
A MAJOR hangover faced Christmas shoppers in Ireland as the Central Bank
revealed they spent €166million more on their credit cards last December
than they did a year previously.
It was a pity these shoppers couldn’t dip into Government coffers
which ended January €1.69billion in the black.
Inflation however wasn’t looking good as the rate hit a six-year
peak.
In the property sector, Donegal developer Pat Doherty announced he had
acquired the former headquarters in London of the Conservative Party in
a £30.5million (€45.72million) deal and Blackrock International
Land, the property group which was spun off from Fyffe revealed profits
of €13.9million for last year.
Also Ryanair had smiles on its faces when its shares soared amid a series
of broker upgrades after it revealed better than expected third-quarter
results and raised its full-year profit forecast for the third time.
MARCH
C&C started the month announcing it expected to increase operating
profits by 15 to 25 per cent over the next 12 months.
The first week of March also saw the Irish stock market ending up with
its eighth consecutive day in the red.
The cooling property market made headlines as new figures showed the annual
rate of growth in house prices slowed to 10.6 per cent in January according
to the Permanent TSB/ Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) house
price index.
This was in addition to the cost of servicing a mortgage rising following
a decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) to increase its key lending
rate by one-quarter of a percentage point.
Also listed bookmaker Paddy Power said it made profits of almost €50million
last year beating market expectations and British media group Emap announced
it was selling its Irish radio stations, Today FM, Dublin-based FM104
and Donegal’s Highland Radio which were then valued at about €170million.
APRIL
The month started with a shock warning from the ESRI saying house prices
in Ireland were overvalued by 15 per cent.
But those living in Dublin could console themselves with the news that
Ireland’s capital was ranked eighth in the EU and 27th in the world
for overall quality of life, in a global survey by Mercer Human Resource
Consulting.
One of the major stories of the year was US drug giant Amgen saying
it was pushing back by two years plans to build an $820million manufacturing
plant in Co. Cork.
Also Ryanair said it was planning to launch a service to five or six
US cities within three to four years for as little as $10.
Sterling surged to its highest level in more than a quarter of a century,
rising above $2.01 in the month while the dollar fell to a record low
against the euro in the wake of disappointing data on the US economy.
MAY
Media group News Corp controlled by Rupert Murdoch started the month
by launching a $5billion (€3.67billion) bid for Dow Jones, the owner
of the Wall Street Journal. As well as this Dutch banking giant ABN Amro
rejected a $24.5 billion (€17.99billion) offer for its US bank LaSalle
from a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Back on Irish soil Smurfit Kappa announced the closure of its carton manufacturing
plant in Coolock with the loss of 140 jobs. It was also announced that
the number of redundancies in Ireland rose 15.1 per cent year-on-year
in April, with 2,162 people made redundant during the month.
Also a company headed by Clare-based property developers Seán
Lyne and Noel Connellan said it was seeking to raise $100million to invest
in potential residential sites in the south of England.
JUNE
Despite Bank of Ireland saying it increased its pretax profit last year
by 28 per cent to a record €1.96billion bad news came with figures
showing the number of new mortgages lent by Irish financial institutions
dropped by 19 per cent in the first three months of the year compared
to the same period in 2006.
Also a consortium of investors led by Quinlan Private won the battle
to purchase the Jurys Inns division of the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group with
a €1.165billion cash bid and Waterford Wedgwood failed in a bid to
stop a South African wine maker from using the Waterford name as a trademark
in Europe.
As well as this Dublin was crowned the 16th most expensive city in the
world and a more expensive place to buy a cup of coffee than London, Paris
or New York.
Also with 540,000 new customers signing up to do business with its Post
Office joint venture in Britain over the past 12 months, Bank of Ireland
chief executive Brian Goggin decided the time was ripe to extend the arrangement
to 2020.
JULY
Building materials giant CRH were the big spenders splashing out close
to ?1billion on acquisitions over the past six months but it’s not
the same for millionaire motor distributor Bill Cullen who it was reported
will lose annual revenues of approximately €175million as a result
of Renault’s decision to take control of its Irish franchise from
his group Glencullen.
There was bleak news on the construction front with activity slowing for
the first time in almost four years in June, according to the Ulster Bank
Construction PMI survey.
But the big losers in July were C&C which said persistent rain wiped
half a billion off the value of the alcoholic drinks group which was followed
by a profit warning and share fall.
Also Ryanair threatened to sue the European Commission for what it said
was a failure to tackle state aid to some of its rival airlines.
AUGUST
The Mean Fiddler Music Group said is it was to concentrate on promoting
big music festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and Fleadh under the
new name Festival Republic following the sale of several of its intimate
live music venues to the media organisation that manages Kaiser Chiefs
and Franz Ferdinand.
Also a dismal summer for C&C which started the month saying poor
cider sales could leave its first-half profits trailing 2006 by as much
as €40million.
The cider maker followed up this announcement with news it was to cut
up to 70 permanent jobs from its production plant in Clonmel.
But the Irish banks would not be following in the footsteps of C&C
with AIB’s interim operating profits crossing the €1billion
barrier for the first time, Bank of Scotland Ireland making pre-tax profits
of €118million in the first half of 2007 and operating profits at
Ulster Bank increasing 20 per cent to £238million (€353million)
in the first half of the year.
SEPTEMBER
House prices and mortgages took a battering as it’s revealed average
houses prices in Ireland fell for the fifth consecutive month in July,
bringing the total decline since the start of the year to 3 per cent.
Also the number of new mortgages issued in the three months to the end
of June slumped by 23 per cent.
But Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary didn’t
have to worry as figures showed he was paid €992,000 in the 12 months
to the end of March, a 22.7 per cent increase on the previous year.
It’s announced the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is set to net
£210million (€302.5million) from the sale also of its 24.125
per cent stake in Birmingham airport.
OCTOBER
Irish investment firm, FL Partners said they would buy the Racing Post
business from British publisher Trinity Mirror for €250million. The
deal followed several months of talks.
Tesco Ireland’s revenues rose by 8 per cent to €1.29billion
in the six months until the end of August.
Irish wind energy group Airtricity agreed to sell its operations in
the US and Canada to German-giant Eon in a deal valued at $1.4billion
(€1billion).
Drinks group C&C announced an extensive restructuring and cost reduction
programmeas summer rain and reinvigorated competition from Scottish &
Newcastle saw its first-half operating profits decline 33 per cent.
Also Irish construction firms said they could be in line for a €500million
boost as a result of the London Olympics, according to Enterprise Ireland.
NOVEMBER Workers left Waterford Crystal in Waterford after it was announced
that the plant was to shed almost half its manufacturing jobs, 470 out of
1,000. Twenty years ago it employed 3,200 people.
The number of people made redundant by firms in the Republic in the year
passed the 20,000 mark in October, and is now running 9.6 per cent ahead
of last year.
Vodafone agreed to acquire Dublin-based fixed-line telecoms provider
Perlico for up to €80million in a move aimed at giving it a full
offering of telephone services.
Also it was announced Tesco Group was a bigger export market for Irish
businesses than France and is worth €2.5 billion a year.
DECEMBER
The six Bewley’s hotels in Dublin and Britain were sold to the
Dublin-based Moran Hotel Group for more than €500million. The three-star
hotels have a total of 2,094 bedrooms.
Denis O’Brien’s €200million takeover of British media
group Emap’s three Irish radio stations was app-roved by the Competition
Authority subject to him selling Dublin station FM104.
Also the rise in the Consumer Price Index, from 4.8 per cent in October,
brought the inflation rate back to July levels, with overall prices having
risen by 0.6 per cent between October and November. |
