IRELAND DAY ON NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE TODAY - Every day is something day on the New York Stock Exchange - today in New York a day-long conference and seminar will promote Ireland as a place to do business. Organisers say Ireland Day presents an opportunity to communicate the 'Ireland Inc' brand to some of the most influential business leaders and corporations in the US. Participants include Digicel's Denis O'Brien, John Bruton, Smurfit Kappa's Gary McGann and Providence Resources' chief executive Tony O'Reilly.
Mr O'Reilly says that what created the Celtic Tiger in Ireland is essentially still here despite the banking and property crisis. He says that Ireland is so much more than a failed banking system and says that there are many highly successful mining, oil and gas, medical and pharma companies operating here. Ireland Day will remind US investors of the country's success stories. Mr O'Reilly says that the US is still the largest foreign investor in Ireland and Irish companies are 'pushing an open door' when they look for US investment. He says that US investors are very aware of what is happening in Ireland and for them Ireland was the first euro zone state to suffer a crisis as Ireland is English speaking and also because of the close links it has with the US. But he adds that they are also very aware of the changes here since the crisis.
On the current very high oil prices, Tony O'Reilly says that volatility is here to stay because of the current unrest in the key Middle East oil producing countries. But he says that oil companies do not benefit the most from high oil companies, with governments usually getting the biggest chunk of any price rise. He says that oil companies would rather not have spikes at all and says that a price range of $80-90 is an suitable price where everyone - consumer and companies - can do well.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Shares in Japanese manufacturers fell today after Friday's earthquake as many companies have suspended production of key goods. Car and electronics makers were among the worst hit when trading resumed this morning. Toyota is suspending production at all its car plants until at least March 16 - that will reduce output by at least 40,000 vehicles. Shares in the company were down almost 8%. Many companies are still trying to gather information about the condition of their plants and say they're not sure how power blackouts will affect them. Shares in Sony lost 9% after the company suspended production at eight plants in the affected region and said it was not sure when production would re-start. Nissan's shares dropped 9.5% as it closed all four of its car assembly plants in Japan. Toshiba, whose products include semiconductors and nuclear reactors, dived 16%. Hitachi, which also makes nuclear power parts, also fell 16%. Shares in Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) dropped 24%. But construction shares surged on expectations of booming orders to rebuild northeastern Japan, pushing the construction sector index up 6.4%.
*** Aryzta was formed by a merger in 2008 of IAWS and Swiss bakery group Heistand. In the six months to the end of January it said its revenue increased by 36% to €1.89 billion. The company says that the speed and severity of food raw material price increases was unexpected and is a major focus in the business.
*** On the currency markets the euro is trading at $1.3938 cents and 86.68 pence sterling.
