'GHOST ESTATE’ SALE A POSITIVE SIGN FOR IRELAND - Three houses and four acres of land on a half-finished “ghost estate” in Ireland have been sold for €122,500 in a transaction welcomed by the auctioneer who conducted the sale as a sign the country’s moribund property market is starting to stabilise. The Financial Times says that the sale of the property in the town of Ballyjamesduff, in Co Cavan, was symbolic, indicating the private sector was investing in housing again, said Robert Hoban, director of Allsop Space, the auctioneer. It could also set a price for similar transactions, he added. High quality global journalism requires investment. “There are more than 2,000 unfinished ghost-estate developments and no one knows how to value them. This deal today will at last set a market price so we know their true value,” he said. The deal, at a Dublin property auction on Thursday, comes just days after the Central Bank of Ireland said house prices were up to 26% undervalued, spurring debate on whether Ireland’s property crash may be at an end. “We see a stabilisation in the Dublin market where demand is meeting the supply of houses, and we have seen prices rising over recent auctions,” said Robert Hoban. Allsop Space sold about €13m of properties at the auction on Thursday. “But there is still oversupply in regional areas.” At the peak of the Irish property bubble in February 2007, houses on the Ballyjamesduff estate were selling for more than €200,000.
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€2 BILLION CASH OFFER FOR EIRCOM REJECTED - A cash offer of €2 billion for Eircom was rejected by the company’s examiner and its senior lenders in the past week, The Irish Times has learned. Mobile phone group 3 Ireland and its Hong Kong-based parent company Hutchison Whampoa, made the offer. The 3 group is the number four mobile operator in Ireland and was the unnamed bidder for Eircom referred to in a statement issued on Monday by the heavily-indebted company. Hutchison, which has telecoms operations in six European countries, and elsewhere in the world, would have provided the finance for the deal and was also prepared to back a €1 billion-plus investment in Eircom’s fibre network. On Monday, Eircom said it had been notified by the examiner, Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton, that he had received a conditional, non-binding offer for the company. “Given the level of the offer and its conditionality, the examiner has decided not to proceed with the proposed offer,” the company said. It is understood the issue of conditionality related to the fact that such a deal would have required regulatory clearance, possibly at EU level. Such a process could take months to complete and most probably would not have happened within the 100-day timeframe set down by the High Court for the examinership process. Eircom entered examinership on March 29th and Mr McAteer is due to return to the High Court on May 24th with an update on his progress in executing the proposed scheme of arrangement. Eircom could exit examinership on that date.
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AER LINGUS HOPING TO BEEF UP ITS SERVICES TO NORTH AMERICA - Aer Lingus is hoping to add extra capacity on its routes to North America and is contemplating a service to Canada, according to management. The airline's chief executive Christoph Mueller also said yesterday that the carrier was considering the launch of domestic UK services, which could involve the use of some of its London Heathrow slots, writes the Irish Independent. Even modest expansion of its North Atlantic services would come after the airline pared capacity to the bone as the downturn took hold in 2008. Plans to boost capacity come as Aer Lingus yesterday reported a €36.1m operating loss in the first quarter of this year. That was a third lower than the loss it made in the first quarter of 2011. Airlines typically lose money in the winter months. Turnover rose 15.6% to €239.2m, with short-haul fare revenue 12.6% higher at €148.9m and long-haul fare revenue up 24.6% to €52.7m. Business class fares accounted for 28% of fare revenue on US services, with overall long-haul performance "well ahead of expectations", according to the airline. Some short-haul services weakened during the quarter due to the timing of some sporting events in the UK and poorer demand for some ski destinations. But the airline expects to make an operating profit of about €50m this year - ahead of the €36m or so that had been expected by analysts.
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OUTSOURCING TO POST OFFICES COULD SAVE €80m - The Government could achieve savings of close to €80m by outsourcing their payments and transactions to the post office network, the consultancy firm Grant Thornton has claimed. If motor tax was payable at post offices it could generate savings of €60.6m according to the Grant Thornton review conducted for the Irish Postmaster’s Union. Not only could outsourcing more services to the network save the Government money, it could also help preserve many local post offices that are threatened with closure, the Irish Examiner says. "This detailed research proves beyond doubt that the Government would not only achieve vital savings for the exchequer but would bring additional revenues to post offices who could continue to be sustainable businesses within the local community," IPU general secretary Brian McGann said. Other savings that could be achieved by moving various transactions to the post office included €8.5m from hospital charges such as accident and emergency and costs.
