Facebook Inc. shares plunged on their second day on the stock market, partly because the opening price of the initial public offering (IPO) was priced to maximise the cash that could be raise from the sale of shares.
A new Market Research Centre to support Irish companies in developing their export plans has opened at Enterprise Ireland today.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities: Spain to contract again in second quarter; Yahoo sells half stake back to China’s Alibaba.
Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner.
Ryanair, Europe’s biggest low cost airline today reported a 25% increase in full year profits to €503m. Revenue increased 19% to €4,325m as traffic grew 5% and average fares rose 16%. Unit costs rose by 13% due to a 30% increase in fuel costs and a 6% increase in sector length. Excluding fuel, sector length adjusted unit costs were flat.
Irish Economy 2012: The results of the latest Business Monitor for Q1 2012 issued by InterTradeIreland, show that 85% of businesses across the island of Ireland are not growing. The protracted downturn continues to have a significant adverse impact on businesses in Ireland, where just over a tenth (13%) of those surveyed are either growing or expanding. This impact appears to be greater in Ireland than for their counterparts in Northern Ireland where just over a fifth (21%) of businesses report that they are growing.
Leaders of the G-8 countries (Group of Eight: United States; Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Canada and Russia) have urged Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, to boost stalling Eurozone growth. There was also agreement to increase pressure on Iran with a decision to release oil from strategic reserves if there is further disruption to supply.
Irish Economy 2012: The IBF/PwC Mortgage Market Profile report published Friday, shows that 2,630 new mortgages to the value of €450m were issued during the first quarter of 2012. The current series of official statistics are from 1970 and the annualised quarterly performance in 2012 is 16% below the level in 1970 - - back possibly 45 years into the 1960s.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities: Facebook valued at $104bn; Spanish banks downgraded; Trading updates from INM, IFG, Datalex and Total Produce.
Irish House Rentals: The average rent nationwide in the first quarter of 2012 was largely unchanged from a year previously (down 0.1%), according to the latest report published by Ireland’s biggest property website, Daft.ie. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter of stable rents, with the average rent nationwide now €812.