Eircom, the former Irish State telco, announced today a 2% fall in earnings for the first three months of its financial year. Group EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was  €169m for the three months to the end of September while fixed line earnings were down €5m to €140m from the same time last year.

The European Commission is to launch a baby-step stimulus plan today including proposals on lower labour taxes, cut VAT rates, accelerate regional aid and request that EU member countries should agree on fiscal measures that would on an EU27-wide basis be valued at €130 billion - equivalent to 1% of GDP (gross domestic product). The Commission will also call for the European Central Bank to make further interest rate cuts.

The World Bank has cut its 2009 forecast for China’s economic growth to 7.5 percent, from 9.2 percent previously. China’s domestic economy and the government’s stimulus policies will be key to sustaining this vital pole of growth to the world, according to the China Quarterly Update, which was published on Tuesday.

London’s West End and Moscow remain the world’s two most expensive office markets, respectively, while Hong Kong’s CBD (Central Business district), Tokyo’s Inner Central District and Mumbai’s Nariman Point round out the top five, according to CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) Research’s semi-annual Global MarketView/Office Occupancy Costs survey. Dublin has 14th rank and is fifth highest in Europe. Dublin rents are almost double the level in Brussels, the capital of the European Union.

The record plunge of the commercial real-estate securities market has claimed its first major casualty: a $1.5 billion fund with investors including Ross Perot.

Activist investor William Ackman sees something in debt-laden mall owner General Growth Properties that most others don’t.

One consolation is emerging as the stocks of property companies get pounded: some firms are more willing to disclose the details of their financings.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region’s retail sector is under pressure. Developers have bet big on its increasing population and the economy’s links to the energy sector.

Real US gross domestic product (GDP) fell at annual rate of 0.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with a 2.8 percent increase in the second quarter, according to the “preliminary” estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The third quarter growth rate was revised down 0.2 percentage point from the “advance” estimate due to a fall in consumer spending and deceleration in exports.

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