Developer Johnny Ronan has missed out to rivals in bidding for a number of properties on a list of 11 of his assets that were put on the market earlier this year with a price tag of €150 million by receivers appointed over the portfolio, according to the Sunday Times.
It emerged in June that Mr Ronan had secured backing from European investment firm Landfair to bid for the entire lot of 11 properties, including the historic Bewley’s cafe on Grafton Street, Connaught House on Burlington Road, AIB Investment House on Percy Place in Dublin 4, Kingram House in Dublin 2, and Kilmore House in Spencer Dock.
However, property website Green Street News reported last week that his bid of €100 million was considered too low by the receivers, who had been appointed by AIB and Bank of Ireland, lenders over the portfolio.
The Sunday Times reported that Davy Real Estate has agreed to buy the remaining shares of three properties it co-owns with Mr Ronan, while other investors are leading the bidding for assets elsewhere in the portfolio.
The loans from AIB and Bank of Ireland to which the receiver has been appointed amount to about €130 million.
Government plans larger-than-targeted €13bn budget giveaway
The Government is preparing a €13 billion pre-election budget giveaway, which is much larger than the €8.3 billion packet it recently pitched, as it uses manoeuvres to mask the size of the plan, according to the Business Post.
The Government says the official €8.3 billion package increases expenditure by 6.9 per cent, which already breaches its own 5 per cent spending rule. However, the newspaper reported that the Government has quietly changed the definition of its own spending rule and also plans to a cost-of-living spending package that will be accounted for this year in order to “mask” the extent of the planned largesse.
The definition change sees previous temporary spending added to the spending base, which has increased the base off of which future increases are calculated, the newspaper said. This marks a big policy departure, it added.
The Government had been urged by a number of institutions in the State, including the Central Bank, Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Economic and Social Research Institute not to go for a giveaway budget in October, for fear that it could further stoke consumer prices at a time when central banks are winning the fight against inflation.
The next election must be held by early March, but there is speculation that it could be called soon after Budget 2025 is announced.
PTSB loan sale may pave way for earlier dividends
The Sunday Times reports that PTSB has opened the possibility of restarting dividend payments sooner than expected, after it agreed on Friday to sell a portfolio of mainly deep-in-arrears mortgages with a gross value of €348 million to a group comprising US private equity giant Apollo and loan servicing firm Mars Capital.
The bank is due to outline next month when it plans to resume dividends for the first time since the financial crisis, after regulators lifted a so-called blocker on its paying dividends late last year.
The newspaper cited Davy analyst Diarmaid Sheridan as saying that while he had been expecting PTSB to pay its first post-crisis dividend in early 2026 on 2025 earnings, the loan sale may bring this forward by a year. Mr Sheridan also said it may make more sense for PTSB to use spare capital to buy back some of the State’s remaining 57 per cent stake in the bank.
PTSB is alone among the three remaining retail banks in the State not to restart shareholder payouts since the 2008 crash.
Aircoach cancels number of services amid rostering row
Aircoach, the airport bus operator, has quietly cancelled as much as a third of its timetabled services on some routes in recent days amid a dispute with its drivers over rostering, the Sunday Independent reports.
Trade union group Siptu says that workers for Aircoach have been “working under protest” since July 6th, after the company unilaterally brought in significant roster changes without agreement, according to the report.
Aircoach, which is owned by UK transport multinational FirstGroup, said that the issue is “temporary” and that it does not believe that it is in breach of the provisions of services under its National Transport Authority licence, the newspaper said.
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