HARVEY NICHOLS'S DUNDRUM STORE A DRAIN - The Irish Times says Harvey Nichols's Dundrum store, which was supposed to play a starring role in a bold global expansion, continues to be a drain on the resources of its parent company six years on.
The paper quotes the latest accounts for Broad Gain (UK) Ltd, the private company that controls the upmarket department store group, as showing that it booked an impairment loss of £1.42m in relation to the value of its assets in Dundrum last year.
The net liabilities of the Dundrum store also widened to €9.43m in the year to April 2 2011 from €6.7m a year earlier. These liabilities are "irrevocably guaranteed" by Broad Gain, the accounts add.
"Due to the very weak economy in Ireland, the group has faced tough trading conditions in this market and the board is of the view that its recovery plan will take longer to achieve than previously anticipated but it is committed to continue to invest resources for the long-term success of the store," the directors' report states.
The Irish Times says no comment was available from the Dublin store and that questions submitted to its press office in the UK went "largely unanswered".
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ONE IN THREE HOUSE BUYERS PAYING CASH - The Irish Independent quotes an estate agency as claiming that one-third of house buyers are now paying cash.
Douglas Newman Good (DNG) said the value of a home in Dublin had fallen by almost two-thirds since the peak and a fifth last year alone. The agency maintains that prices are now over-correcting and the trend may worsen this year as would-be buyers struggle to access mortgages.
But the Indo quotes DNG chief executive Keith Lowe as saying that 2012 would be the turning point for the crippled property market.
Mr Lowe said access to mortgage finance continued to be an issue. This was one of the main reasons why one in every three buyers was now a cash buyer. Most of those buying properties for cash are investors who made money during the boom and held on to it, according to DNG.
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BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO LOOK AT NEW LONDON AIRPORT - The Daily Telegraph reports that British PM David Cameron is to announce a formal consultation on plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary within weeks.
The paper says Mr Cameron is expected to offer his provisional support for a scheme originally proposed by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.
The British government had planned to announce preliminary backing for the scheme on January 3, with feasibility studies beginning in the spring, according to the Telegraph.
The announcement was expected to be linked to plans for a second high-speed rail line as part of the Government's long-term vision for Britain's transport infrastructure. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, blocked the announcement amid concerns that it was being rushed out and had not been thought through, the paper says.
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BoE CHIEF STANDS FIRM ON NEW POWERS - The Financial Times says the governor of the Bank of England has dismissed suggestions that its proposed new powers be subjected to internal checks and balances, in what the paper describes as an often testy encounter with MPs.
The FT says Sir Mervyn King rejected the Treasury select committee's proposal for a powerful supervisory board to be created within the bank, insisting such a body would damage decision-making by "second guess[ing] the decisions of policymakers".
The paper says his testimony allayed few concerns that the BoE would be insufficiently accountable once it adopted sweeping new powers over interest rates, the supply of credit and bank supervision early next year.
"This exceptionally powerful public institution needs stronger oversight," Andrew Tyrie, Treasury committee chairman, said, adding that the Bank's response was "still not adequate".
