DEVELOPER BARRETT NOT RULING OUT NAMA PURCHASES - The Irish Times reports that developer Richard Barrett is not ruling out buying property from NAMA, the State agency with which he and former business partner John Ronan once clashed in court.
The paper writes that Mr Barrett and Mr Ronan controlled Treasury Holdings, owner of properties such as Battersea Power Station in London and Central Park in Dublin, before NAMA backed a move to wind it up in 2012.
He announced his comeback yesterday with the launch of Bartra Capital Property, which plans to invest €1.2bn in housing, healthcare and energy, and is already eyeing suitable residential building sites.
Asked if his company was considering buying property from NAMA, Mr Barrett said: “We will buy good quality assets from anybody”.
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CITYJET SOLD TO ORIGINAL FOUNDER - Dublin-based airline CityJet has been sold by German owners Intro Aviation to founder Pat Byrne and a group of investors, according to the Irish Independent.
In an interview with the paper, Mr Byrne says CityJet is likely to pursue a stock market flotation in two to three years' time, as he predicted a reversal of fortunes for the carrier.
Mr Byrne declined to reveal precisely who his new co-owners in the airline are, or what price was paid to Intro Aviation, which had bought loss-making CityJet from Air France-KLM in 2014 for virtually nothing.
He said the new investors are "European experts in aviation finance".
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SHARP DECLINE IN EXECUTIVE PAY AT SMURFIT KAPPA - The Examiner reports that executive pay levels at Smurfit Kappa declined by nearly 39% last year, amid a shake-up of the group’s management.
The Dublin-headquartered international paper and packaging group’s latest annual report, published yesterday, shows that combined pay for the three-man executive team of Gary McGann, Tony Smurfit and Ian Curley amounted to nearly €10m in 2015.
The paper states this figure was down by nearly 39% on the €16.4m paid out in 2014.
Mr McGann retired as group chief executive at the end of August, with Mr Smurfit being named as his replacement.
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BREXIT FEARS ADD TO PRESSURE ON PLUMMETING STERLING – Investors are showing greater concern over the outlook for sterling than at any time in the last six years, according to the Financial Times.
The paper says there is increasing nervousness surrounding the outcome of a Brexit vote on 23 June.
A surge in the cost of buying currency insurance yesterday underscored traders’ mounting focus on the Brexit vote and their worry that a victory for the ‘leave’ campaign would send sterling values plummeting.
The price of hedging a fall in sterling has risen sharply in recent days.
