DESMOND AMONG KEY INVESTORS IN INTUNE NETWORK'S €22M FUNDING ROUND - Investment news this morning from Dermot Desmond, who is one of a number of investors who have injected €22m into the Irish based telecoms equipment supplier called Intune Networks. He led the investment along with Cork based venture capital company Kernel run by Niall Olden. The funding is the third largest private equity investment in the European IT sector this year. Intune was founded in 1999 by two UCD graduates who were researching laser technology. Since then they have recruited a Silicon Valley executive Tim Fritzley to head the company.
Mr Fritzley says Intune Networks is building a next generation of internet switching, using optic fibres and lasers. The technology uses 75% less energy than current networks which are dominated by electronics. He says the big internet switches are using more and more of the world's power supply, and with the growth they are experiencing they are going to have to reduce the carbon imprint. He says that Dermot Desmond is attracted to the company because of the great opportunity to get into the market. He says that carriers around the world are going to have to start moving their networks to keep with all the growth being experienced because of the use of video devices and devices. He also says Mr Desmond likes the idea of being associated with a young and very exciting Irish company.
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HOUSE PRICES DOWN ANOTHER 4.7% IN THIRD QUARTER - Property website Daft.ie says house prices fell by 4.7% in the three months to the end of September, the third quarter of the year. The average cost of a property came in at €253,000, down almost €100,000 of the peak value in 2007. Meanwhile, Myhome.ie says asking prices are down 4.27% to €294,800.
Daft.ie's economist Ronan Lyons says today's figures show that clear regional differences are emerging with Dublin prices falling by up to 35% whereas in some parts of Munster, they are down just 15-20% on average. He says this impacts the number of transactions in Dublin which are beginning to pick up, whereas in Munster the total stock for sale is still rising. The economist says he is seeing properties in Dublin taking less time to sell now than six months ago. 'Presumably this is a good thing,' he added.
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MORNING BRIEFS - The CEO of one of the biggest banks in the US, Bank of America, has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. Kenneth Lewis's problems began in earnest when he spent $50 billion buying investment bank Merrill Lynch, which at the time was near collapse. The deal was done at the height of the credit crunch which finished Lehman Brothers this time last year. At the time Bank of America was lauded as a saviour of the system but it subsequently needed $45 billion of government bailouts. Lewis was later criticised for paying $5.8 billion in bonuses to Merrill employees, even though Merril clocked up billions in losses.
*** Dublin Tourism is targeting an additional one million cultural tourists for Dublin by 2015. The agency is launching promotional activity which CEO Frank Magee says is the 'silver bullet strategy that can turn the tourism tide'.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.4555 US cents and 91. 37 pence sterling.
