RHA RESULTS POINT TO RECOVERY IN IRISH ART MARKET - Ireland’s art investment market has turned a corner after a five-year slump, according to new figures from one of Dublin’s leading galleries. Results from the Royal Hibernian Academy’s annual exhibition show that it achieved its best sales since 2009, writes the Irish Times. The exhibition, which ran between May 27th and August 9th, saw art worth €366,000 sold, compared to €286,000 last year. The 28% jump brought sales from the summer exhibition to the highest level since 2009, when €437,000 was raised. It marks the first significant turnaround in sales since 2008. RHA exhibitions curator Ruth Carroll said a striking aspect of this year’s show was that some 95% of the sales were to private individuals rather than to Government or corporate buyers, which represented a much bigger proportion of the marketplace prior to 2008. She believed this year’s sales figures would send a message of confidence to the cultural economy because they indicated that the middle-income group was once again venturing to spend disposable income. In 2008, just before the crash, the RHA sold €721,000 of work in its annual exhibition. It had similar sales figures between 2004 and 2007.
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RETAIL RETURNS TO HEALTH AS BARRY GROUP OPENS 35 STORES - In one of the most promising indicators that the troubled retail sector is finding its feet once again, the Barry Group is opening 35 new stores. The openings, to be completed by the end of this year, will create around 300 jobs. The Mallow-based retail group, which owns the Costcutter chain of convenience stores and Carry Out off-licence brand, said consumer spending is in recovery mode, says the Irish Independent. Some 20 of its 35 new openings are Costcutter stores. Ten have already been opened, including outlets at Spiddal in Galway, Clonskeagh in Dublin, Monaghan town and Allenwood in Kildare. The remaining 15 openings are Carry Out off-licences. All new stores will be operated as franchises. The Barry Group is benefiting from dramatic changes in shopping habits post-recession. Convenience chains, budget stores and German discounters Lidl and Aldi have all gained ground at the expense of traditional supermarket giants like Tesco and Dunnes. Costcutter expanded its generic range to target thrifty consumers. The downside, for the retail group, was fierce price competition. September figures from the Central Statistics Office showed food and drink prices rose at their slowest level since March 2012. Grocery price inflation was 1.5%, down from 1.9% in the three months before.
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MORE CALLS TO ADJOURN BANANA DEAL - The proposed merger of Fyffes and US rival, Chiquita has been thrown into further doubt, with two more investor advisory firms urging the American firm to adjourn an upcoming shareholder vote and engage in discussions with a rival bidder. Chiquita and Dublin-based banana distributor, Fyffes are both set to put their planned merger to shareholder votes next week. However, advisory firms, Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones have both recommended Chiquita calls off its meeting, or for its shareholders to vote against the merger, says the Irish Examiner. Glass Lewis said that “few investors share the [Chiquita] board’s optimistic view on the value of the Fyffes combination”, and suggested that Chiquita has clouded the appeal of engaging with Cutrale-Safra, the Brazilian party which has had a $13 per share/$611m approach turned down by Chiquita. “We believe the [Chiquita] board has failed to credibly establish that the Fyffes merger of equals deal is so clearly compelling - or, perhaps more significantly, that the Cutrale-Safra take-out offer is so clearly inferior - that shareholders should, effectively, forego extensive exploration of any potentially superior alternatives,” it added, claiming that Chiquita has relied on estimations - rather than market trends - to support its Fyffes deal valuations. Egan-Jones said that Chiquita’s board “needs to stop supporting a transaction that provides inferior value to Chiquita shareholders and enter into discussions with Cutrale-Safra.”
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ECONOMISTS POINT TO EMERGING ‘DRAGHINOMICS’ - Euro zone officials attending the Ambrosetti forum over the weekend welcomed the European Central Bank’s moves to cut interest rates and signal forthcoming purchases of asset-backed securities, with some private-sector economists suggesting this could herald a new policy mix. Even though the ECB’s long-term forecasts of moderate recovery remain unchanged, the bank’s board members have grown increasingly worried about the recent downward pressure on prices and the softening of consumer confidence, says the Financial Times. Its latest moves are designed to stave off deflation and jolt the sluggish eurozone economy back to life. Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University, said ECB president Mario Draghi’s remarks at the Jackson Hole meeting of central bankers signalled an important evolution of thinking. Mr Draghi said at the symposium that monetary policy should be supported by increased spending by countries with strong fiscal positions and structural reforms in economies such as France and Italy. Mr Roubini labelled the emerging policy mix “Draghinomics” because of its similarity to the three arrows of Abenomics in Japan. “Abenomics has three arrows: monetary and fiscal easing and structural reforms. The eurozone is in near deflation and the recovery is not happening. Monetary and fiscal easing cannot resolve the problem on their own. The ECB has recognised that structural and supply-side reforms are fundamental,” Mr Roubini told the FT.
