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Oil prices rose for a third day to hit their highest in about eight months on Wednesday, boosted by industry data showing a larger-than-expected drawdown in US crude inventories, worries about attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry and strong Chinese demand for oil.

London Brent crude for August delivery LCOc1 was up 2c at $51.46 a barrel by 0652 GMT, after settling up 89c on Tuesday. It earlier touched $51.57, the highest since Oct. 12.
NYMEX crude for July delivery CLc1 climbed 9c to $50.45 a barrel, after touching $50.58 earlier, the strongest since October 9.

U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels last week, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday after market settlement, compared with expectations for a 2.7-million barrel draw according to a revised Reuters poll. [API/S] [EIA/S]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue official inventory numbers at 1430 GMT on Wednesday.

Chinese trade data showed on Wednesday that its crude oil imports rose 38.7 percent in May from a year ago – the biggest jump in more than six years – and added to hopes that the economy of the world’s second-largest oil user may be stabilising.
“Overall, China’s economic activity is not slowing down as much as expected, which is a support to the market,” said Kaname Gokon at brokerage Okato Shoji.

Worries about global supply disruptions and expectations for oil market rebalancing also supported the market.
The southern Delta swamps in Nigeria have been hit by militant attacks on pipelines which have brought its oil output to a 20-year low, and the government said to scale down a military campaign and talk to the militant group.

Takayuki Nogami, senior economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC), said the start of the summer gasoline demand season, supply disruptions in Nigeria and Canada and a weak dollar because of a possible delay in the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike helped push up the market.
“The Nigerian militants have pledged to continue attacks until production becomes zero, so there are worries over a further slump in output,” he said.

Still, concerns about global oil demand remained. The World Bank slashed its 2016 global growth forecast on Wednesday to 2.4 percent, while China’s central bank stuck to its growth forecast of 6.8 percent this year.
The market was little changed after Reuters reported North Korea has restarted production of plutonium fuel in defiance of international sanctions.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The Government will potentially sell shares in both AIB and Bank of Ireland next year, specialist bank Investec has said.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the sale of no more than 25pc of AIB will take place next year, but there are no plans as yet for the Government to sell down its 14pc stake in Bank of Ireland.
The minister has said the latter would take place at a time that makes sense for the taxpayer.

But Investec analysts John Cronin and Cian Harty said Mr Noonan could also move on Bank of Ireland in 2017.
“We believe the Government intends to pursue a sale of AIB shares in 2017 (as well as potentially selling more stock in BKIR [Bank of Ireland]),” the investor note said.

“We know that Fine Gael is not of the mindset that the State should maintain its interest in the banking sector for the long-term, which is evident in comments made by the Minister for Finance in a recent address.
“However, we do believe the political thought process is that the State has bought itself some time and now has an opportunity to effect the various changes to the banking landscape that it would like to see over the next six to nine months – before a more stable environment emerges again, then paving the way for share sales.”

On variable mortgage interest rates, Investec said it does not expect laws to be introduced that would force banks to push down their SVR rates, although it said “material compression” in mortgage rates will occur.
“We have concerns that the banks will be pushed towards providing more generous debt forgiveness terms, though it is highly uncertain how these arrears proposals will play out,” Investec said.

Investec said that Bank of Ireland will be the least affected by the government proposals.
And it argued that the bank will seek to preserve its back book mortgage rates.

But Investec added that amid the uncertainty, it is pushing down its Net Interest Margin forecasts by two basis points this year, and four basis points in 2017 and 2018.
At its recent agm, Bank of Ireland chairman Archie Kane gave away no ground on the mortgage rate issue.

He said the bank had focused on the pricing of its fixed rate products and had made it as “easy as possible” for existing customers to move from variable rates to fixed rates.
Mr Kane said that the bank’s focus was on its net interest margin. The bank also said it intended paying a dividend to shareholders next year.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The Government will need an extra €6bn over the next five years just to maintain current spending needs, the State’s budgetary watchdog has said.

That’s over half the projected amount of money the Government has estimated is available for extra spending out to 2021.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the amount of leeway the Government has to spend on tax cuts or spending increases over the coming years is around €11bn.

But the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) has warned that the “stand still” requirement – the amount needed to maintain the current level of public services and benefits – is €6bn, accounting for inflation, public sector pay increases and demographics. That’s before any sweeteners or new measures are introduced.
“There is room for new initiatives,” said Fiscal Council chairman Professor John McHale. “But it’s not the full fiscal space. A chunk of it is required to keep doing what we’re doing.”

In its latest economic assessment, the council said there was uncertainty about the fiscal position over the coming years due to a lack of published detail on the commitments in the Programme for Government.
But it said that the planned €900m that had been penned in for tax cuts and spending increases next year, coupled with €900m for existing spending commitments, was prudent, but warned there was no scope to increase spending through supplementary estimates.

The amount of so-called ‘fiscal space’ that would be available to the new Government became a source of controversy during the election campaign, as the council warned that in reality, the Government only had a fraction of what it was claiming to have available because the Department of Finance wasn’t factoring in inflation and the full effect of demographic pressures.
The department said about €8.6bn could be available up to 2021, but the IFAC warned it could actually be as low as €3.2bn, sparking a debate about whether the previous government was over-inflating the amount of resources available to its successor.

Sustainable
In April, before the formation of the Government, Mr Noonan said up to €11bn was available because of an easing in strict European budget rules.

Prof McHale would not state what the council believes is the total leeway, as he said it wanted to wait until the Government provided its updated figures in the coming weeks.
But he added: “We have our own number at the moment. Whatever that number is, €6bn is required just to continue doing what we’re doing.”

The council said that if the economy was growing at a sustainable rate, the Government could use whatever available space was necessary.
But it warns that spending may need to be reined in if there are signs that the economy may be overheating. And it suggested the possibility of a rainy-day fund.

Prof McHale also urged caution around the out-performance of corporation tax receipts, warning that 40pc of corporation tax comes from 10 companies, up from 23pc in recent years.
“Corporation taxes are growing very strongly, but because of the dependence on just a handful of companies you have to be concerned that they could also sharply reverse,” he said.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the council examines capital investment by the State. It points out that reductions in capital investment accounted for a disproportionate share of cutbacks between 2008 and 2014, with public investment falling from a peak of 6pc of GNP in 2008 to 2.2pc in 2015.

The Programme for Government allowed for an additional €4bn in investment compared with the current infrastructural plan out to 2021, which would raise average public investment to 2.4pc of GNP. But this would still remain among the lowest in Europe, the council said.
“From a forecasting perspective, maintaining public capital investment at such low levels might be difficult to sustain taking into account unmet demand following years of curtailed investment since 2008…” the report said.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

Local authorities have failed to build any of the 1,700 ‘shovel-ready’ social houses promised more than a year ago.

Architects and design teams are only now being appointed for some developments – 13 months after the previous Government announced a €312m investment programme which it claimed was part of an “aggressive” plan to tackle the housing crisis.
Delivering homes to the 90,000-plus families on social housing waiting lists is being hampered by delays in completing designs, securing planning permission and, in some cases, finding the necessary land, it has emerged.

It comes after former housing minister Paudie Coffey claimed in May last year that work would go ahead on 100 projects which were “shovel-ready” – but not one of the promised homes has been delivered.
The Irish Independent has learned the Government now plans to send ‘project delivery teams’ into local authorities to speed up delivery of units as the number of people living in homeless accommodation continues to rise.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney said, while there were “genuine challenges” for some local authorities, there were “a lot of things” which could be done to speed up delivery.
“Chief executives (of city and county councils) need to take responsibility. The chief executive needs to drive this with a sense of urgency,” he said.

“We should be able to turn around projects on publicly-owned land quicker. The delays include the tendering, planning, approval, contract sign-off and servicing of sites. There’s a whole project management issue which is taking far too long before a builder moves on site.”
Last March, the Department of the Environment produced a list of projects which had received Stage 1 approval – meaning the scheme had been sanctioned, and councils were allowed go ahead to the detailed planning and design stage.

Some 1,706 homes were approved in May 2015. Another 134 were sanctioned the following July, and 890 last January – a total of 2,730 across 145 individual schemes.
The Irish Independent asked each local authority to provide an update on how the projects were progressing. Three – Kerry, Offaly and Wexford – failed to respond. The data shows:

No social houses have been built by the local authorities from the 2,730 sanctioned as long as a year ago.
Just 26 are under construction in Donegal, Tipperary and Louth. Louth County Council said it expects 12 to be completed this month.

Architects and design teams are only now being appointed for many of the schemes. A significant number have yet to proceed to planning.
Some units have been purchased – Fingal has secured 44, Cork City another 28 and Louth another eight. But some councils are only beginning to purchase homes now.

In some cases, including Cork and Galway, the number of units has been increased, which has resulted in delays as projects must be redesigned.
Some other projects have also been cancelled or delayed.

In Longford, no work has started on 13 houses approved in Lanesborough last July. ‘Trial holes’ are being organised for the site, the council said.

A land swap is also being organised with the HSE in Meath to facilitate construction of 19 units in Summerhill, approved in May 2015.
In one case – a €3.1m scheme of 20 units at Strandhill in Co Sligo – construction work is not expected to begin until November next year, 30 months after it was approved.

The minister said special teams would be sent into local authorities to drive delivery.

Last year, 72 social houses were built, and around 1,160 acquired. The Government plans to deliver up to 35,000, which includes new-build and rented units. The teams will include architects, planners, quantity surveyors and engineers who will scrutinise local authorities’ performances to ensure projects are proceeding in a timely manner.
“We will send project teams from the department into the local authorities to speed up the planning, approval and design process. We need to help local authorities to move quicker through procurement,” Coveney said.

“I will expect and demand urgency from local authorities.”

The teams are expected to be announced in the Action Plan for Housing. Chief executives of local authorities were due to report back last Friday on how they could speed-up delivery.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

RYANAIR has been ranked the ninth biggest airline in the world in the Forbes list.

Ranked at number 742, the biggest airline on the list was Delta followed by United Continental Holdings.
Aer Lingus and BA owner was third and Lufthansa was fourth in the list of the world’s biggest public companies by sector.

Unsurprisingly, three Chinese banks were in the top slots in the annual annual ranking of the world’s largest public companies.
Ryanair’s senior and middle management recently agreed to a 12-month pay freeze as it tries to keep a lid on costs amid a more competitive European landscape fuelled by cheap oil.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary said Ryanair had managed to push unit costs 2pc lower during its financial year that ended in March, despite significant expansion. He said the airline is targeting a 1pc drop in unit costs in the current financial year.
He said will be achieved by lower cost aircraft purchases due to is euro-dollar hedging rate, a five-year pay deal inked with pilots and cabin crew, negotiating more airport incentives, and also the pay freeze.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, confirmed that the pay freeze extended to all senior executives. It won’t, however, affect bonuses, he said. “It’s good, prudent, common sense,” he added.
Ryanair yesterday reported record results for its financial year that ended in March, with profits jumping 43pc to €1.24bn, and revenue climbing 16pc to €6.53bn. It carried 106 million passengers in the financial year, 18pc up on the previous year.

It expects to make a €1.4bn profit in the current financial year, with the performance tempered by more intense fares competition in Europe, coupled with the impact of terrorist attacks. Other issues include the fact that next Easter does not fall until the start of the airline’s 2018 financial year.
Still, Mr O’Leary said Ryanair continues to generate a significant amount of cash. He said the airline will probably be debt free by 2022 or 2023, and at that stage will have 550 aircraft compared to 380 by the end of next March. It will take delivery of 52 planes this year.

He said that at the end of this calendar year, the board will decide whether to begin another share buyback programme.
However, he said it remains important to have a hefty cash buffer to allow it to make opportunistic aircraft purchases, and that it “frightens away the competition” from having a fares war with it.

“I see it very important that we keep that cash away from shareholders, of whom I am one of the larger ones, because shareholders tend to misuse the cash when we return it to them,” he said. “So if there’s surplus cash, we’ll continue to engage in share buybacks, which I hope in the longer term will prove to be a better return to shareholders rather than just dripping out dividends to them.”
He also said that Ryanair is almost certain to exercise existing options to buy 100 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which he described as a “game changer” jet for the airline.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

DOMINO’S Pizza is tapping into the Euro 2016 and Olympics markets with the creation of 600 jobs in Ireland and 10,000 roles in run-up to games.

It is also creating 400 jobs in Northern Ireland with the majority of the roles being created across the UK in anticipation of a run on pizza orders from those watching the games on the box at home.
The fast food chain expects 160 pizzas to be ordered every minute of every day during the tournament.

Pizzas sold during the tournament are expected to stretch the equivalent of more than 12,000 miles or more than 200,000 football pitches.
More than 50 million slices of pizza are expected to be eaten.

Over 5,000 Domino’s Pizza makers will create the pizzas.
More than seven million pizzas will be made for people watching Euro 2016.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

Level of people who felt it was a good time to save fell in May to lowest point since 2015

The level of people who felt it was a good time to save fell in May to its lowest point since December 2015, according to the Nationwide UK (Ireland) Savings Index.

The Savings Environment sub-index, which asks respondents if they feel now is a good time to save and whether government policy encourages saving, fell to 108 points in May from 119 points the previous month. The drop was shown in both the over-50 and under-50 age groups.

Nationwide UK (Ireland) managing director Brendan Synnott said savers faced a number of issues in May, which appear to have impacted their view on saving.

“In May savers faced a number of issues. The government had just been formed and people lacked certainty as to what its policies might look like or how it would perform given it is a minority government….Beyond that the increase in rent levels across the country is also contributing to uncertainty regarding savings.”

In terms of consumers’ intentions for any surplus money, the percentage of those who said they would use the extra to pay off debts, including their mortgage, fell to 40.3 percent in May from 44.6 per cent in April.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The credit union at the centre of a fraud allegation had fake loans and two sets of deposit books.

Rush Credit Union is now under investigation by the gardaí and forensic accountants appointed by the board of Rush Credit Union, on the advice of the Central Bank.
The revelations come as pressure mounts on smaller credit unions from the Central Bank to merge with stronger ones.

Up to 40 credit unions across the country are resisting attempts to join forces with others to create greater scale in the movement.
The renewed focus on mergers came as it emerged that the north County Dublin credit union at the centre of a fraud allegation is being probed over false loans and the disappearance of members’ deposits.

Read more: Fraud claims show need for ‘super’ credit unions
It is understood that forensic accountants from Grant Thornton appointed by the board of Rush Credit Union have uncovered evidence that fake loans were created on the accounts of members.

It is also believed there are no records of some deposits taken from members.

The disappearance of the deposit money, and the existence of irregular loans, have prompted the credit union to write to its 10,000 members asking them to confirm their loan and savings balances.
This is because the credit union is unsure of the exact value of deposits held by a number of members, and how much members owe.

Some €700,000 is unaccounted for at the credit union, which also covers the town of Lusk. The suspected fraud has been reported to the gardaí.
One source familiar with the situation said: “There seems to have been two books recording the deposits, one official, and one under the counter. The level of deposits are not reconciled.

“Deposit money has disappeared, and that is what is concerning the Central Bank.”
A large number of false loans in member names, unknown to the members, are understood to have been created.

The controversy at the credit union prompted the Central Bank to insist that members’ money is safe.
Deposits are insured by the State deposit scheme, which covers up to €100,000 per person.

But the problems at Rush Credit Union have focused renewed attention on the Central Bank’s attempts to encourage smaller credit unions to merge with larger ones.
Read more: Credit unions should evolve to secure future
Read more: Gardaí are called in over €700k missing from credit union
Central Bank-based regulator for the sector Anne Marie McKiernan told credit unions recently that mergers were needed to deal with legacy problems of the movement.

“Greater financial and operational strength of merged entities is needed to deal with legacy financial burdens, grow lending and take on business model development in a proportionate way.”

She said the sector was suffering from having few younger members, falling loan books, governance issues and what she called “operational weakness”.
A string of tie-ups among credit unions has resulted in their number falling from 383 last year to 335 at present. The number is set to fall to 280 by the end of this year. But up to 40 smaller credit unions are seeking to remain independent.

Rush Credit Union is understood to have resisted attempts to encourage it to merge with larger neighbour Progressive.

Credit union members in Rush and Lusk said they were shocked to hear the fraud allegations.
“I am very concerned about this. If it was €700, you would imagine that it was some sort of accounting mistake and they would get to the bottom of it, but €700,000 is an awful lot of money to mislay,” said Marian Nugent in Rush.

“I’ve been a member 40 years and it seems to be business as usual today, but it would have been nice to have been told about it by them,” she added.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

Telcos say they intend to pass on Eir’s increase in wholesale rates to consumers

Consumers can expect an 18 per cent hike in broadband prices from next September as a result of changes to Eir’s wholesale rates.

The State’s largest telco rents space on its network to rival operators such as Vodafone, BT, Magnet and Sky, as well as its own retail arm.

From September, it plans to raise fibre broadband prices for wholesale customers from €19.50 to €23 a month. Non-Eir operators have signalled the hike, which has been approved by regulator Comreg, would be passed on in full to consumers.

Eir, however, said the rate increase, when combined with a €2.11 reduction in its traditional fixed-line rental rates due in July, was broadly price neutral, and therefore did not necessitate a price rise at the retail end.

The assertion was disputed by rivals, which claimed the two price changes related to different product sets and could not be used to offset each other.

Alto, the umbrella group for non-Eir companies, described Eir’s move as “cynical”, claiming it bore no relation to the costs associated with providing the service. “With improved efficiencies and economies of scale, the costs should actually be decreasing,” Alto spokesman Ronan Lupton said

He said Eir was imposing such charges with impunity and without any regard to the impact it would have on wholesale customers and ultimately the consumer.

In the context of the National Broadband Plan, Mr Lupton said Eir’s move emphasised the importance of having “very strict price controls on the winning tenderer”.

However, Eir defended the price changes, saying they were linked to the company’s increased investment in high-speed fibre broadband.

“We believe it is fair that we can make a reasonable return on investment that delivers much improved services,” the company said in a statement.

The likely price hike comes in the wake of an analysis by the European Commission, which suggested Irish consumers already face the second highest prices in the EU.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The credit union at the centre of a fraud allegation had fake loans and two sets of deposit books.

Rush Credit Union is now under investigation by the gardaí and forensic accountants appointed by the board of Rush Credit Union, on the advice of the Central Bank.
The revelations come as pressure mounts on smaller credit unions from the Central Bank to merge with stronger ones.

Up to 40 credit unions across the country are resisting attempts to join forces with others to create greater scale in the movement.
The renewed focus on mergers came as it emerged that the north County Dublin credit union at the centre of a fraud allegation is being probed over false loans and the disappearance of members’ deposits.

Read more: Fraud claims show need for ‘super’ credit unions
It is understood that forensic accountants from Grant Thornton appointed by the board of Rush Credit Union have uncovered evidence that fake loans were created on the accounts of members.

It is also believed there are no records of some deposits taken from members.

The disappearance of the deposit money, and the existence of irregular loans, have prompted the credit union to write to its 10,000 members asking them to confirm their loan and savings balances.
This is because the credit union is unsure of the exact value of deposits held by a number of members, and how much members owe.

Some €700,000 is unaccounted for at the credit union, which also covers the town of Lusk. The suspected fraud has been reported to the gardaí.
One source familiar with the situation said: “There seems to have been two books recording the deposits, one official, and one under the counter. The level of deposits are not reconciled.

“Deposit money has disappeared, and that is what is concerning the Central Bank.”
A large number of false loans in member names, unknown to the members, are understood to have been created.

The controversy at the credit union prompted the Central Bank to insist that members’ money is safe.
Deposits are insured by the State deposit scheme, which covers up to €100,000 per person.

But the problems at Rush Credit Union have focused renewed attention on the Central Bank’s attempts to encourage smaller credit unions to merge with larger ones.
Read more: Credit unions should evolve to secure future
Read more: Gardaí are called in over €700k missing from credit union
Central Bank-based regulator for the sector Anne Marie McKiernan told credit unions recently that mergers were needed to deal with legacy problems of the movement.

“Greater financial and operational strength of merged entities is needed to deal with legacy financial burdens, grow lending and take on business model development in a proportionate way.”

She said the sector was suffering from having few younger members, falling loan books, governance issues and what she called “operational weakness”.
A string of tie-ups among credit unions has resulted in their number falling from 383 last year to 335 at present. The number is set to fall to 280 by the end of this year. But up to 40 smaller credit unions are seeking to remain independent.

Rush Credit Union is understood to have resisted attempts to encourage it to merge with larger neighbour Progressive.

Credit union members in Rush and Lusk said they were shocked to hear the fraud allegations.
“I am very concerned about this. If it was €700, you would imagine that it was some sort of accounting mistake and they would get to the bottom of it, but €700,000 is an awful lot of money to mislay,” said Marian Nugent in Rush.

“I’ve been a member 40 years and it seems to be business as usual today, but it would have been nice to have been told about it by them,” she added.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42