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ECB plots next move, Kingspan’s Swedish move and hands on with the new iPhone

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

All eyes will be on the European Central Bank in Frankfurt today as the ECB prepares its latest interest rate decision. Photograph: Daniel Ronald/AFP via Getty Images

Peter Flanagan's face
Peter Flanagan
Thu Sep 14 2023 - 07:28

Mortgage holders are braced for the latest interest rate decision today from the European Central Bank, with opinion remaining divided in financial markets about whether another increase is on the way. Cliff Taylor looks ahead to the decision, due at lunchtime today.

As we await the ECB’s decision, Ciarán Hancock reports that the average interest rate on new Irish mortgages rose marginally to 4.06 per cent in July, according to data published by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Staying with rates, thousands of tracker mortgage customers at AIB are getting a four-month reprieve on the most recent ECB rate hikes, Dominic Coyle writes. The bank said around 33,000 tracker mortgage accounts that were transferred across to AIB from Ulster Bank in July will benefit from the freeze on rate rises.

Kingspan said it would launch a takeover offer for Swedish form Nordic Waterproofing, hours after it confirmed it had held “informal discussions” with US construction materials manufacturer Carlisle Companies, but that there is currently “no active engagement” between the parties. Joe Brennan has the story.

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Cantillon meanwhile looks at the power vacuum at the top of BP after Irishman Bernard Looney’s abrupt resignation, and what we can learn from Tesco Ireland’s first set of published accounts.

After Apple unveiled its newest range of iPhones and watches, Ciara O’Brien gets hands on with the iPhone 15 line, while also breaking down the tech giant’s Green credentials. Ciara also analyses the new products and if they event lived up to the hype.

Staying with Apple, French authorities have ordered the tech giant to remove its iPhone 12 line from sale in the country over radiation concerns. Apple disputes the ruling.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has acknowledged that large companies will face “significant challenges” in preparing to comply with a new 15 per cent corporate tax rate. Ellen O’Regan has the story.

Ellen also reports that rising input costs and staff recruitment are the two biggest threats facing food and agribusinesses, according to a new report on the health of the sector.

Investment fund BGF has announced a €7 million investment in the Avoca Clinic, an Irish cosmetic surgery practice. Ciarán has the story.

ChatGPT creator Open AI is to set up an office in Dublin before the end of the year, as the company seeks to expand in Europe. Ciara has the story.

In Net Results, Helen Thomas warns China is leaving Europe in its dust when it comes to electric vehicles.

In Innovation, Patrick Temple-West looks at how accelerator programmes are increasingly focused on climate issues, while the new innovator is a firm that has created a wearable monitor aimed at making impact sports safer.

In Technology, Ciara shows how you can strip the technological waste out of your life, and reviews the Samsung Galaxy 6 Watch Classic.

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