Business Today Newsletter

Inflation of 4% forecast, M&A values falls and when (or not) to say sorry at work

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Pilita Clark has some advice on when and how (or not) to say sorry in the office.

Conn Ó Midheach's face
Conn Ó Midheach
Mon Feb 27 2023 - 06:19

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Ibec is now forecasting inflation to fall below 4 per cent this year, significantly lower than previously anticipated, as lower energy prices internationally ease the pressure on households. In its latest quarterly outlook, the employers’ group also upgraded its forecasts for both consumer spending and overall domestic demand, noting the Irish economy was performing better than expected. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.

There are two sorts of people in the world, writes columnist Pilita Clark, those who know how to recover from a faux pas at work and those who do not. The strategy of pretending nothing has happened works best when the slip-up is, like the Pilots situation, deeply trivial. I deployed it myself the other day while wearing a pair of shoes that make an embarrassing squeak at unpredictable moments.

The value and number of buyouts involving Irish companies fell last year amid a global slowdown in activity linked to “rising interest rates and persistently high inflation”. According to legal firm William Fry, there were 300 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the Republic in 2022, a 2 per cent drop on the previous year, which was considered an outlier. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports

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Timber has the lowest embodied carbon of any mainstream building material, and acts as an ideal substitute for the more carbon-intensive traditional alternatives, writes Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland, in our weekly opinion slot.

Moscow’s military miscalculation in Ukraine is starting to play out economically with its GDP declining, oil and gas revenue falling and its youngest and brightest workers leaving, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Milder-than-expected weather saw Ireland’s gas demand fall by 8 per cent in January compared to December, according to figures from Gas Networks Ireland. Demand was also 7 per cent lower than in January 2022, which was considerably colder, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy. In its latest bulletin, the network operator noted that gas remained the primary source of electricity generation in the first month of 2023, as it was for nine months of 2022. At its peak, gas powered up to 80 per cent of electricity generation.

The Irish arm of UK retailer Marks & Spencer returned to profit last year despite the twin impacts of Brexit and the pandemic, reports Eoin Burke-Kennedy. Recently filed accounts for Marks and Spencer Ireland Ltd (M&S) show the business made a pretax profit of €31.2 million for the 52 weeks up to April 2nd last year, compared to a loss of €13 million for the preceding period, which was described as a “lost year” financially due the pandemic’s impact on sales and operations.

Will my parents face a capital-gains tax bill for selling us derelict property? Dominic Coyle answers your personal finance questions.

The Government’s latest package of cost of living measures includes extra cash payments to social welfare recipients and parents – but no further contributions to our energy bill payments. Does the package go far enough? And by extending – again – a more favourable VAT rate for the hospitality sector, the Government is foregoing tax revenues of €300 million. Why does the return of the rate keep getting pushed back? Ciarán Hancock talks to political reporter Jack Horgan-Jones and columnist Cliff Taylor on our Inside Business podcast. Plus: We’re by now sadly familiar with finance scams using texts, emails and bogus websites to defraud people. The latest method takes advantage of the growing use of digital banking services like Revolut.