Elon Musk’s controversial involvement in US politics and a weak line-up saw Tesla report a 39 per cent slump in first-quarter profit after markets closed on Tuesday. Revenue and adjusted net income came in substantially below analyst expectations.
Aviva Insurance Ireland gave up €70 million of net underwriting profit to its UK owner last year, lowering the profits of the Irish business, as it reinsured most of the motor, home and commercial insurance business written in the Republic with its parent. And they’re not alone among Irish insurers, writes Joe Brennan.
Private bus company Go Ahead Ireland says permission for a new bus depot in north Dublin would see it employ up to 450 workers and grow revenue by around €50 million per annum. Gordon Deegan reports on the planning application.
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund warns that the increase in tariffs and in the uncertainty caused by US president Donald Trump’s protectionist trade measures would lead to a significant slowdown in global growth in the near term. But, writes Eoin Burk-Kennedy, it stopped short of predicting a worldwide recession.
Eoin separately looks as Central Statistics Office data showing that the State’s national debt stood at €218.2 billion at the end of last year, equating to €40,550 for every man, woman and child in the State.
Devotees of the “financial independence retire early” (FIRE) movement adhere to a programme of living frugally, saving hard and investing. Their goal is to build a money pot that will enable them to quit work, sometimes decades earlier than the norm. But how does it work? And is it possible, or even desirable, to live this way? Joanne Hunt investigates.
And as Dublin’s four local authorities prepare the ground for the tax on hotel stays, John McManus notes that it amounts to little more than getting tourists to pay for local authority services rather than exercising latitude already available under Local Property Tax to raise the same amount from householders, albeit at the risk of an electoral backlash.
Back on the news pages, shares in DCC, the energy to technology distribution and services group, fell in London as the £1.05 billion (€1.22 billion) it achieved in a deal to sell its healthcare unit to HealthCo Investment, which is owned by funds run or advised by London-based private equity firm Investindustrial Advisors, disappointed investors.
Job postings were up 15.3 per cent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, Matrix Recruitment says, but it fears the Trump tariffs mean there is potential for sharper-than-expected slowdown. Colin Gleeson reports
And Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has published the 11th annual progress update on the liquidation of IBRC – home to the remnants of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society. Joe Brennan reports that it has handed over €250 million of surplus cash to the Exchequer last week, bringing total distributions in recent years to €360 million.
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