Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman, Sean FitzPatrick, had a €22m pension fund from Anglo Irish Bank when he retired as CEO in 2005, he told the High Court.

The $23bn (€18.6bn) debut trading day for Spotify, the music streaming service, helped lighten the gloom for embattled technology shares and gave European stock markets their first lift in over a week.

GDP figures showing the economy is Europe’s fastest growing has the potential to keep up the pace in 2018, despite Brexit headwinds, analysts have predicted.

GDP figures showing the economy is Europe’s fastest growing has the potential to keep up the pace in 2018, despite Brexit headwinds, analysts have predicted.

A potential for a snap election has generated huge interest from abroad but Irish bonds and the euro were left untouched as investors bet the effect on the looming Brexit summit would be limited, writes Eamon Quinn.

Shares in FBD jumped over 11% on rising hopes of a resumption of dividend payments, in time.

Kerry Group shares dipped marginally and Merrion Stockbrokers reiterated its ‘hold’ recommendation on the stock, yesterday, despite the Tralee-based food giant announcing a US acquisition and a strong organic growth outlook for the next five years.

The owners of the five-star Merrion Hotel in Dublin shared a bumper €7.6m dividend payout, last year, as profits at the hotel soared.

Shares in consumer foods group Greencore fell a further 8% yesterday, even after management rushed to soothe investor fears over share price erosion in recent days.

Pre-tax profits at the family-owned hotel group that owns a number of hotels, including the Europa Hotel in Belfast, the Culloden in Co Down, and also co-owns Dublin’s Merrion Hotel increased 21% to £4.9m (€5.5m).

The huge run up for shares of US giants, such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and the Alphabet-owned Google, as well as semiconductor stocks, may have peaked, according to the latest global outlook from Merrion Capital.

Soaring home prices has boosted household wealth but Irish people are still the fourth most indebted in the EU a decade after the start of the crash, Central Bank figures show.

A potential ECB hike in interest rates in the first half of next year would hit Irish households and firms hard, Merrion Capital has warned.

Strikes by French air traffic control and by ground staff in Berlin have pushed up “multiple headwinds” against Ryanair achieving its earnings guidance, according to Merrion Capital analysts.

Farmers have given a cautious welcome to Glanbia’s plan to sell 60% of its Irish dairy business to Glanbia Co-op, creating a new Glanbia Ireland joint venture in a deal worth €112m.

Kingspan is eyeing more European and north American acquisitions as it seeks further growth on the back of a year of record revenues.

The president of a new far-wing party has alleged that immigrants should leave the country, as they contributed to the collapse in the economy.

Two of Ireland’s largest food companies — Kerry Group and Glanbia — have seen an analyst upgrade on the back of strong quarterly updates showing they are weathering currency headwinds.

The cost of imports may have risen but the depreciation of sterling has given a boost to the UK economy and lower and middle income earners will benefit, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Ireland is still expected to turn a record trade surplus this year, despite latest preliminary data from the CSO showing export performance beginning to wane even before last month’s Brexit vote.

Stock markets investors should avoid Europe-wide shares for the time being, Merion Capital has warned, though a very small handful of Irish companies, including Fyffes and Irish Residential Properties REIT, may offer some shelter from further storms ahead.

Ryanair is expected, in the coming months, to announce an extension to its share buyback programme which will have returned €800m to investors when scheduled to run its course in September.

Investors in the Irish stock market should favour Irish firms that have less exposure to the UK — until the outcome of the British referendum on membership of the EU is known, Merrion Capital has said in a major report.

CRH chief executive Albert Manifold will see his pay increased by 8.5% this year. 

The introduction of the Central Bank’s rules on mortgage lending earlier this year is dampening the growth of house prices, according to economists.

House prices are likely to rise again rapidly as the economy posts another set of strong economic growth numbers through 2016, a major stockbroking firm has predicted.

One51 — the investment firm which is owned by, among others, 50 agricultural co-ops around the country — has received an approach from private equity fund CapVest of €1.80 per share, it has been confirmed.

Consumers spending again on the Irish high street will now start driving the economic recovery, even though households are still juggling with huge debts and unemployment levels are still high, a leading economist has predicted.

Pre-tax profits at the hotel group that co-owns the luxury five-star Merrion Hotel, in Dublin, increased 9% last year to £2.19m (€3m).

Shares in Dublin-listed exploration firm Dragon Oil hit a record high, yesterday, as the company agreed to improved takeover terms tabled by its majority shareholder.

A broad-based recovery built on strong exports and improving domestic demand will see unemployment fall to around 9% this year.

Unemployment is set to fall below 10% for the first time since the economic crash as domestic demand picks up and external forces help GDP growth tick towards 4% again this year.

Builders, merchanting, and DIY group Grafton increased revenues by almost 10% last year, helped by exposure to the recovering construction sectors in Ireland and the UK.

Glanbia has agreed to purchase US-based sports nutrition company Isopure for $153m.

Profits at one of Ireland’s most exclusive hotels remained relatively constant last year, with some of the world’s biggest music stars helping to boost its coffers.

Dublin: Last month saw Aer Lingus Regional — the airline’s secondary destination service, operated by Stobart Air (Aer Arann) — have up its 12th consecutive month of growth, with more than 130,000 passengers carried.

Two members of Davy Stockbrokers’s Private Client division who joined the firm following the collapse of Bloxham Stockbrokers in 2012, are both leaving the firm.

The hotel group that co-owns the luxury five-star Merrion Hotel in Dublin last year sustained an 18% drop in pre-tax profits to £2m (€2.43m).

Merrion Capital Group’s head of private clients Shane Nolan is preparing a management-led buyout of the firm, according to sources.