IRISH START-UPS SEEKING VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS FOR NEXT PHASE - Enterprise Ireland is holding its International Investor Forum in London today where it is trying to match 25 software and life sciences companies with funding from 95 venture capital investors from around the world.
Des Doyle, Enterprise Ireland's head of Growth Capital, says it is key for local early start-up firms to get international companies on board. He says that AIB and Bank of Ireland are among the banks at the event, but he says that Irish banks need to start investing and lending to solid Irish companies who are trying to grow. He says the Irish companies at today's event have crossed their first hurdles and are now eying their second. He says they have proved that their concept works and now need the funds to help them develop and expand. He says that most of the companies are looking for investments of €2m and more. He adds that he would be disappointed if at least two or three firms do not secure a deal today.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Danske Bank, which owns National Irish Bank, has reported profit before tax up 44% to €671m for the nine months to the end of September. But its Irish operations are still a drag. NIB's loss before tax was €468m as it set aside €504m for bad debts. Its income fell by 11% because of reduced customer demand, the impact of impaired loans and lower deposit margins. Costs fell by 3% because of the bank's restructuring programme. NIB's chief executive Andrew says Danske Bank is fully committed to a long-term future in Ireland. He says the economy and conditions in the banking market continue to be very difficult. The bank's priority is its restructuring programme, which, he says, is on track to complete by the end of the year. Loan impairments remain at elevated levels, though the bank believes they peaked in the first half of this year.
*** 100 jobs are to be created in Dublin as online gambling firm Betfair relocates its customer operations and some technology staff here with the opening of a new office and data centre. Some of the new jobs could be at the expense of staff in the UK, where the company is involved in a row with the British Horseracing Authority over a levy.
*** Borrowing costs for Ireland shot up yesterday, this time because investors did not like the sound of European proposals that could force them to take a bigger share of losses in future state bail-outs. The premium Ireland pays over German benchmark interest rates rose to 4.67 percentage points. The yield on its 10-year bonds reached 7.14%. Both the premium and the yield set new records since the introduction of the euro.
*** On the day AIB shareholders agreed the sale of its US operations for €1 billion - that was a 22% shareholding in M&T Bank - the US bank agreed to buy Wilmington Trust, a US lender and wealth manager on the East Coast which is suffering mounting credit losses. It sees M&T move into the lucrative areas of corporate trust services and money management for wealthy individuals, and extends its retail-banking presence in Delaware.
*** New information suggests that the US economy is showing signs of rebalancing away from consumer spending towards manufacturing. Expansion of the US manufacturing sector sped up unexpectedly last month, thanks to strong new orders and exports, and slow imports. The latest survey by the Institute for Supply Management indicated that output had expanded for the 15th consecutive month. But growth in consumer spending slowed to a crawl, while personal income fell unexpectedly.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.3933 cents and 86.78 pence sterling.
