MOUNT CARMEL OWNER'S €40m WRITEDOWN - The Irish Times and Irish Independent report on accounts from the company behind Dublin's Mount Carmel hospital. The Irish Times says the company has taken a €40m write-down on the hospital it bought from the Little Company of Mary Sisters in 2006.
The paper quotes accounts filed for Mount Carmel Medical Group for 2008 as showing that the company incurred an impairment charge of €39.6m for the year.
While no price was disclosed at the time of the sale, it was estimated that the company, then known as Harlequin Healthcare, paid approximately €60m for the south Dublin hospital.
The Irish Times also says the accounts show that the heavily indebted company, which also runs the Aut Even Hospital in Kilkenny and St Joseph's Hospital in Sligo, has been unable to meet capital repayments on part of its bank debt that fell due for payment at the end of December 2009.
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SUPERQUINN TO LOSE SECOND EXECUTIVE? - The Irish Independent says Superquinn's second-in-command, James Wilson, is rumoured to be plotting a defection to rival Dunnes Stores in a move that would mark the second major senior management loss at Superquinn in recent months.
The paper says it is expected that Mr Wilson, who is trading director, will join Dunnes in the coming months. Superquinn executive chairman Simon Burke declined to comment recently to the Indo on speculation regarding Mr Wilson's position.
But the paper quotes retail trade magazine Checkout as saying yesterday that Mr Wilson is believed to be on extended leave from Superquinn and that he will replace Dunnes Stores veteran Dick Reeves in his current role as director of food later this year.
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FACEBOOK NOW WORTH MORE THAN EBAY, YAHOO? - The Financial Times says Facebook is now worth as much as $33.7 billion based on secondary market transactions, giving the privately held company an implied valuation greater than the market capitalisations of publicly traded internet stalwarts such as EBay and Yahoo.
The FT says common stock in Facebook is trading as high as $76 a share as investors scramble to get a piece of the company before it files for an initial public offering, which analysts say could be the biggest technology IPO since Google's $1.67 billion flotation in 2004.
Facebook's ballooning valuation compared with listed groups such as Ebay and Yahoo, which have market caps of $30.1 billion and $18.3 billion respectively, signals a new dynamic between technology companies and investors, according to the paper.
It says that while Facebook and other successful Silicon Valley companies, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Zynga, are delaying their IPOs because of perceived weak appetite on the public markets, some investors are not content to wait.
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TECH INDUSTRY FACES CHIPS SCRAMBLE - The Guardian reports on warnings that the technology industry faces a growing shortage of semiconductors and other high-tech components following a failure to invest in new manufacturing facilities during the recession.
The paper says smartphone makers are now finding it harder to lay their hands on chips and display screens, leading to supply delays on some handsets. Analysts have said that this scramble is likely to become increasingly competitive, potentially hitting pushing up costs for consumers.
Malcolm Penn, chief executive at analyst firm Future Horizons, believes some chips will remain in short supply until the end of 2010, and it could take 12 months until supply and demand are back in kilter. 'This is a huge crisis,' said Penn. 'A year ago, the chipmakers decided not to build new factories - in fact they were closing factories.'
As well as being extremely expensive, a new semiconductor fabrication plant typically takes a year to build. So companies who waited until the start of this year, when the developed world had emerged from recession, to take the plunge will not reap the benefits until 2011.
