VALUE OF McINERNEY IRISH LAND HAS HALVED - Housebuilding firm McInerney has cumulatively, since mid-2008, written down the value of its Irish landbank to an average of €26,000 per plot, down 52%, and its UK landbank to an average of £27,000 per plot, down 41%.
The group says it has continued to experience very challenging trading conditions in its key home building markets of the UK and Ireland during the first half of this year. This morning it says a number of external factors continued to contribute to the adverse housing market conditions, including fragile consumer confidence and poor mortgage availability.
In its first-half results statement, the company said it had written another €156m off the value of its land bank in Ireland and the UK, having written down €110m at the time of its 2008 results.
McInerney reported a pre-tax loss before exceptional items of €12.8m for the six months, compared with a loss of €22m in the same period last year. When the impairment charges were included, there was a total pre-tax loss of almost €171m.
As a result of the impairment charges, the group is now in 'negative equity' - its liabilities are greater than its assets - and has been forced to call an EGM of shareholders for September 28
***
CANDLE FIRM'S BRITISH BOOST - An Irish candle-making firm, Oberg, is expanding into Britain, where it has deals to sell in stores with big names like Selfridges and House of Fraser.
It is a family business in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, run by Mark van den Bergh.
Mr van den Bergh said he approached some of the big retailers in the UK as he thought some of his company's products would be suitable for the UK market. He said the retailers liked the fact that its candles were made with natural soy wax.
He said he hoped to sell 50,000 units in its first year in the UK, compared with 60,000 in Ireland this year. Mr van den Bergh said the company would have to step up its efforts to cope with this demand. He said outsourcing was a possibility, but he felt it was worthwhile to keep manufacturing based in Enniskerry, though costs may be slightly higher than elsewhere.
He said the company hoped next to expand into Germany and Spain.
***
CURRENCIES AND MARKETS - European shares are expected to lose ground today in line with commodity prices, but volumes are expected to be low as the UK market is closed. On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.4280 and 87.93p sterling.
