BUILDING FIGURES SHOW A PLUNGE OF 82% FROM 2007 PEAK - Building figures just released show that 17,587 new residential and commercial buildings were recorded across the country last year. That is a drop of 23% from 2009 and an 82% drop on the 2007 peak. The figures are collected by a subsidiary of An Post called GeoDirectory, which works with Ordnance Survey Ireland.
GeoDirectory chief executive Dara Keogh says the service means that the pizza arrives at the right house or the taxi shows up at the right address or the 999 call results in the fire engine arriving at the right address. He says that a breakdown of today's figures show that 14,495 new residential buildings, 2,137 new commercial buildings, and 955 dual-purpose buildings with both residential and commercial components were built last year. Of these, over 2,000 are empty and still waiting to be sold.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Japan today said it was ready to buy bonds to be issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to help finance Ireland's bail-out and support the debt-hit euro zone. Finance minister Yoshihiko Noda said Japan should help contribute towards boosting confidence in the bonds, amid fears of a deepening debt crisis spreading to other euro zone members such as Portugal.
*** Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is taking the company private. He founded the magazine in the 1950s and its shares have been traded since 1971. Playboy was trading as high as $30 a share in 1999, but had fallen to less than $2 in early 2009, the internet having provided an alternative route to content.
*** Retail giant Marks & Spencer said today that it had overcome the severe weather over Christmas after recording its biggest ever day in food sales. In a trading update, Marks & Spencer said promotions helped food sales achieve a record of more than £50 million sterling on December 23, while UK like for like sales in the 13 weeks to January 1 grew at a better than expected 2.8%. The results come amid a mixed run for UK retailers - after HMV, Next and Debenhams all posted a slump in sales over the Christmas period.
M&S said it continues to expect the trading conditions ahead to be more challenging as consumers' disposable incomes come under pressure from increased UK VAT rates and the impact of public spending cuts.
*** There was a 2% increase in the number of jobs being advertised in newspapers and on the internet in Australia during December. The level of advertising for the labour market is at its highest in two years. The survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group found internet advertised jobs in Australia are 30.5% higher in December 2010 than in the same month in 2009, with 179,365 job ads noted. Last year employment growth outstripped expectations and was one of the reasons Australia's central bank increased interest rates in November.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.2943, while the euro is also worth 83.16 pence sterling.
