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Smurfit Kappa shares rose this morning after its first quarter core profit fell sharply year-on-year but was higher than the final quarter of 2023 when it had signalled a dip in demand for packaging was at an end. Smurfit Kappa, Europe’s largest paper packaging producer, posted a 16% year-on-year fall in core profit to €487m…

Balance for Better Business (B4BB), an independent review group established by the Government, has today launched a new strategy, targets and roadmap to improve gender balance at board and leadership level among businesses in Ireland. The group has set a new target for organisations to exceed 40% female representation on boards and leadership teams in…

Trade unions will mark May Day today which is celebrated as International Workers’ Day. A rally and march will be held this evening at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin. Ireland’s first ‘Trade Union Week’ began on Monday and includes a series of events to promote union membership. As part of the campaign, the Government…

Activity in the manufacturing sector deteriorated again in April, new data shows. The latest AIB Purchasing Managers Index shows that the fall last month was the sharpest rate of decline in nine months. The headline index dropped from 49.6 in March to 47.6. Readings above 50 indicate overall growth in activity. The drop in the…

The euro zone economy grew by more than expected in the first quarter of 2024, buoyed by a return to growth for Germany and strong expansion in Spain, preliminary data from the European statistics agency Eurostat showed today. Gross domestic product increased by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter for a 0.5% year-on-year rise, compared with market expectations that…

Bank of Ireland has today lifted its net interest income guidance for 2024 to reflect its revised expectations that there will be one fewer round of central bank interest rate cuts this year. The country’s biggest lender said in a trading update that it expects 2024 net interest income to be 3% to 4% lower…

The latest “flash” estimate of inflation from the Central Statistics Office shows that the annual rate slowed to 1.6% in the year to April from a rate of 1.7% in the year to March. The CSO said this compares to a rate of 2.4% in the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Price inflation (HICP) for…

Ireland’s first Trade Union week begins today. It will see thousands of workers across the island taking part in events and activities over the next seven days. The initiative is part of an Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) campaign to promote trade union membership. There will be activities in schools, colleges and universities, as…

The number of claims related to accidents caused by drivers who were either uninsured or untraced rose 11% last year. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland said 1,927 claims were received during the year, up 187 on 2022. The largest number of claims came in Dublin where there were 822, followed by Cork which recorded…

KBC Bank Ireland will return its banking licence to the Central Bank of Ireland next week, in its last act before exiting the Irish market. Three years after announcing its intention to leave Ireland, the bank confirmed that it had received approval from the European Central Bank to return the licence on Tuesday, April 30.…