Search for:

January growth in services industry highest in ten years

The country’s services sector grew at its fastest pace in almost a decade last month as new business in Europe’s fastest growing economy expanded strongly, a survey showed today.

The Investec purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of activity in services, which covers businesses from banks to hotels, rose to 64 in January from December’s 61.8. This was its highest level since June 2006.

The sector has recorded over three and a half years of unbroken growth, denoted by a reading over 50.

It last fell below the 60 mark in February 2014 when the country was emerging from a three-year international bailout.

All of the monitored sectors – financial services, technology, business services media and telecoms and transport and leisure – recorded growth in new business for the 32nd month in a row.

Investec noted that the biggest increase was seen in financial services companies for the second successive month.

The jump in January in the overall index was driven by a sharp increase in the new business subindex to 66.2 from 62.7 a month earlier, only the second time it is has reached such a level in over 15 years.

Higher workloads also resulted in more job creation in the sector last month. Employment has now grown in the services sector for the past 41 months.

However, a sharp rise in input costs was seen in January as the effect of higher wages outweighed the downward impact of lower fuel costs.

Investec also noted that the Services PMI recorded the sharpest increase in profits last month since the series began in May 2006. This surpassed the previous record in July 2014.

Another survey from Investec on Monday showed manufacturing activity at a six-month high in January.

But the economist also cautioned that Ireland will not be immune to any slowdown in international trade.

For more on this article, please visit: RTE Business News

New changes to the Credit Guarantee Bill could help SMEs

The passing of all stages of the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015 officially took place yesterday. The bill has now been sent to President Higgins to be signed into law this week.

The Government claims the Credit Guarantee Scheme will help viable businesses which have been refused conventional bank credit facilities access a state-backed guarantee. When it was originally introduced the guarantee covered 75% of their loan. The borrower pays a 2% annual premium, which partially covers the cost of providing the guarantee.

Some 279 companies have availed of the Credit Guarantee Scheme since its inception and more than €45 million has been loaned to these companies right across the country. The Government estimates that these loans helped to create 1,142 new jobs and to maintain 907 existing jobs.

Some of the changes to the Credit Guarantee scheme now include broadening of the definition of lender in order to cover additional financial product providers such as lessors, invoice discounters and other non-bank financiers, as well as changing the definition of loan agreements to include non-credit products such as invoice finance and leasing, and to include overdrafts.

It also re-balances the level of risk between the State and the extended finance providers, with the State taking an 80% share, up from 75% previously.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Irish businesses will face huge EU fines in the event of a data breach

Irish businesses will be obliged to pay more attention to their data protection procedures in future in order to avoid facing huge EU fines in the event of a data breach.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is expected to be approved by the EU parliament in the coming days, is aimed at developing a more coherent and uniform data protection regime across the EU Member States.

It will require Irish companies to ensure privacy is in-built into systems and products, and to report privacy breaches to authorities, or face sanctions of as much as 4% of global revenues.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Ireland’s biggest digital conference for SMEs to take place in Cork on April 7th

Today it has been announced that Ireland’s biggest digital conference for SMEs will take place at City Hall, Cork on April 7, 2016.

The aim of the conference is to provide small and medium business owners and employees with the knowledge to drive their business forward, through the delivery of real and relevant information from experts in the online space.

Attendees will learn from leading brands including Google, Facebook, YouTube and PayPal on how to attract new customers, increase sales and build their profile in a cost effective way.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Ireland signs up to tackle tax avoidance by multinationals with 30 other OECD countries

Ireland is among 31 OECD countries that have signed up to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement designed to tackle tax avoidance and evasion by multinationals.

The move follows concerns about how some multinationals move their profits to countries with lower corporation tax rates.

It means these multinationals must now pay tax in the country where the profits are made and they will have to disclose their earnings from each jurisdiction and share it.

The development comes at a time of new transfer pricing reporting standards by the OECD’s Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Sharing.

Article source: Irish Independent

Dublin chosen to launch major EU start-up initiative

Dublin has been chosen to launch Start-up Europe Week at the beginning of February, with a DCU event to be live streamed to the European Commission (EC) to kick off five days of talks that will be simultaneously held across 28 countries.

Aimed at helping start-ups negotiate the regulatory bureaucracy of the EU, the EC set up Start-up Europe to help 350 regions host events all over the union.

Dublin’s tech hub means most eyes will be on the Irish capital, with the launch event on 1 February in demand on the continent. The whole thing runs until 5 February, with a wrap-up event that Friday night.

For more on this article, please visit: Silicon Republic