Business Week: Mortgages, construction, Ryanair takes off . . .

We've been hearing for weeks now how the recovery in the wider economy is in full swing, but there was a reminder in recent days of the very different reality still facing tens of thousands of individuals in mortgage difficulty.

That Ulster Bank is lining up the sale of €875 million worth of troubled mortgages belonging to customers deep in arrears; litigation will be of some concern to the Government, which has said the housing crisis is its number one priority.

The mortgages, a third of which are against 900 private dwellings, are part of a broader portfolio of loans worth €2.5 billion.

It is understood that 88 per cent of the mortgage loans are more than three years in arrears, while most have had two court dates.

This is seen as the last major portfolio sale by Ulster Bank, after years of restructuring and asset sales. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been hired to sell the loan book, which has been given a working title of Project Oyster.

AIB was also reported to be considering the sale of some troubled mortgages. Sources said the bank had not yet made any decision but it was one of a number of options being considered.

“We keep all options under consideration; however, we have no active project,” a spokeswoman for the bank said. “Our primary objective is to work with borrowers under stress to return their borrowings to a satisfactory position.”

AIB said in a trading update that it posted “strong” profits in the first quarter. Impaired loans at the State-owned bank fell by €1 billion to €12 billion, marking a 59 per cent reduction from their peak in 2013.

The bank's chairman Richard Pym also moved to draw a line under claims from a whistleblower that the bank misrepresented its progress in dealing with distressed loans. He said the bank had "comprehensively reviewed" its reporting on non-performing loans and provisions.

In terms of the wider economy, there were more signs of improvement. The property market is recovering, the construction industry is booming and consumer confidence is growing.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show the average cost of buying a house in the Republic climbed by 7.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of April.

The increases over the last 12 months are significantly lower than 12 months previously when a year-on-year rise of 15.8 per cent was reported.

On the jobs front, unemployment dipped below 8 per cent for the first time since the crash, with the number of people working in the State on course to reach two million this year.

Female employment is rising at a faster rate than male employment, but there has also been a strong rebound in construction employment . The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) says the sector is currently the biggest generator of jobs in the State.

It is hiring at a rate of about a 1,000 people a month, and the federation says there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of architectural jobs on offer so far this year. Quantity surveyors and building surveyors remain in particularly short supply.

All of that is helping consumer confidence. The amount that Irish people spend on everyday grocery items has increased for the fourth consecutive quarter. Year-on-year figures by market analysts Nielsen show the volume of fast-moving consumer goods bought in the Republic rose by 1.1 per cent over the year to the end of March.

The average prices paid by shoppers climbed by the same amount. The combined figures mean that grocery retailers saw a 2.2 per cent rise in takings over the 12 months.

In company news, Ryanair profits sky-rocketed by 43 per cent to more than €1.24 billion. The airline said it carried more than 106 million passengers in the 12 months ended March 31st and generated €6.54 billion in revenues.

It might be time to dig out that bottle of factor 50 as Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary signalled he is likely to cut fares by 7 per cent to fill aircraft. Both Ryanair and its rivals are expected to add more capacity in the coming months.

There was also positive news for Maxol, the forecourts network owned by the McMullan family. A move to buy three service stations formerly owned by Esso got the go ahead, while plans to invest €2 million in two sites in Mayo were also unveiled.

It wants to transform itself into “a fresh foods business with fuel attached” as it expands in the face of growing competition. The Mayo investment will involve the acquisition of the lease on a former car showroom in Castlebar that it will transform into a food court.

Another food court, including Maxol’s Moreish deli offering, will also be introduced as part of an expansion of another site in Westport. It said it would heavily expand Moreish in the next 18 months, increasing the number of outlets from 31 to about 40.

The week wasn't as rosy for Debenhams, the British retail chain with 11 outlets in Ireland employing 2,200 staff, which has become embroiled in a row with the Roche family that once owned Roches Stores. The row came to light in court documents as the company's Irish division sought an application for examinership this week.

Debenhams bought Roches Stores from the Roche family for €29 million in 2006 and rebranded it, although the family held on to the properties.

Debenhams wants to cut staff costs and also for its landlords to slash its upwards-only rents, warning it could go bust otherwise. The Roche family has since sold most of the properties, but remains the landlord on upwards-only rent agreements on Henry Street in Dublin and on St Patrick’s Street in Cork.

IrishCentral, the New York- based news and entertainment website, has been sold by Niall O'Dowd to Liam Lynch (39), a New York-based venture capitalist and investor in digital companies, and a number of Irish technology and media entrepreneurs for $3 million (€2.7 million).

Lynch says he hopes to double the monthly unique viewers to the website from three million over the next two to three years. The website, which is profitable, has seven staff in Manhattan. O’Dowd’s Irish Voice newspaper and Irish America magazine are not part of the transaction.

Closer to home, accumulated profits at Pat Kenny's media firm climbed to almost €1 million last year, according to accounts filed to the Companies Office. The Newstalk broadcaster's company, Pat Kenny Media Services Limited, reported a profit increase of €139,982 to €982,749 during the financial year to the end of last June.

Kenny (68) owns 99 per cent of the shares in the company and is listed as a director along with his wife Kathy (53). The firm’s directors were paid remuneration of €430,066 last year.

Over at Kenny's former home in Donnybrook, RTÉ football pundit Richard Sadlier (37) made a profit of almost €40,000 last year with his media firm Knocksink Media Limited. It was set up by the former Ireland international in 2014 and filed its first full-year financial statements last week.

The accounts show that the company reported profits of €39,725 during 2015 and had accumulated a cash balance of €28,163 by the end of its first year in business. Sadlier is the sole company shareholder and is listed as a director, along with Catherine Sadlier (34).