UNSECURED CREDITORS OF IBRC TO GET LIQUIDATION PAYOUT - The Irish Times says that unsecured creditors of the defunct Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) are likely to share in a payout from its liquidation. The Government placed State-controlled IBRC, which housed the remains of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, in liquidation early last year in an effort to cut the Republic's national debt. Unsecured creditors, mostly businesses which suppled the bank with goods and services and which it was feared would not receive anything from the liquidation, are likely to be paid a dividend, although it is not known how much. A Department of Finance note issued after the liquidation was announced in February 2013 conceded there was no guarantee unsecured creditors would get any payment. However, the special liquidators, Kieran Wallace and Eamon Richardson, yesterday published formal notices in national newspapers, including The Irish Times, asking unsecured creditors so submit details of the amounts that they calculate are due to them, by March 31st next year. It is understood there will be a pool of money left to pay unsecured creditors once secured and preferential liabilities are dealt with. At this point it is not known how much as the liquidators are in the process of selling the last of IBRC's assets.
***
MORE NEW FIRMS AS INSOLVENCY RATES FALL - This year has seen the largest number of new company establishments since 2007, with further falls in insolvency rates also noted. New figures from business intelligence provider Vision-net show that 12,890 companies were established during the first nine months of 2014 - the highest rate for seven years and a 12% increase on the same period last year. The Irish Examiner says that when all start-ups are measured - taking in companies and sole trader businesses - 32,277 have been established so far this year, 3% more than in the first nine months of 2013. A breakdown of the figures shows a strong performance from the technology sector, with more than 1,000 tech start-ups established. However, the amount of new companies formed in the construction and property sectors grew by almost 40%, and represented the most significant increase. And, while 1,132 companies have been declared insolvent to date this year, that figure is 4% down on the same period last year. The motor trade experienced the most significant fall in company failures this year, with an annualised reduction of 36%; while instances of failures in construction and professional services fell by 14%.
***
GRASS IS GREENER FOR SLIGO PITCH PROVIDER SET TO SCORE €5m PROFIT IN RECORD YEAR - The Sligo sports group that counts Real Madrid and Barcelona amongst its clients is set for a record year in 2014 and is on course to achieve €5m in profits, writes the Irish Independent. World football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo adorn pitches laid by Support In Sport (SIS) at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona and Real Madrid's Bernabeu - and SIS chief executive officer George Mullan said yesterday that revenues at the group are expected to jump 14%% this year to a record €37m, with profits to exceed €5.1m. The company only installed a new pitch at the Bernabeu for the current generation of galacticos at Real Madrid last month, while the firm carried a 'returf' of Barcelona's Nou Camp in Summer 2013. SIS has also provided pitches for the Africa Cup of Nations, World Cup finals, the European Champions League and Six Nations Rugby. Sligo man Mr Mullan established SIS in 2001, employing just two people. The group now employs 220 people. He said: "The key driver for the business in 2014 was that all companies will deliver on budget or over budget sales and profits."
***
MARIO DRAGHI PUSHES FOR ECB TO ACCEPT GREEK AND CYPRIOT 'JUNK' LOAN BUNDLES - Mario Draghi is to push the European Central Bank to buy bundles of Greek and Cypriot bank loans with “junk” ratings, in a move that is set to exacerbate tensions between Germany and the bank. Mr Draghi, ECB president, will this week unveil details of a plan to buy hundreds of billions of euros’ worth of private-sector assets - the central bank’s latest attempt to save the eurozone from economic stagnation, writes the Financial Times. The ECB’s executive board will propose that existing requirements on the quality of assets accepted by the bank are relaxed to allow the eurozone’s monetary guardian to buy the safer slices of Greek and Cypriot asset backed securities, or ABS, say people familiar with the matter. Mr Draghi’s proposal is designed to make the programme of buying ABS, which are bundles of packaged loans, as inclusive as possible. If it is backed by the majority of members of the ECB’s governing council, the central bank would be able to buy instruments from banks of all 18 eurozone member states. However, the idea is likely to face staunch opposition in Germany, straining already tense relations between the ECB and officials in the eurozone’s largest economy. Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann, who also sits on the ECB’s policy making governing council, has already objected to the plan to buy ABS, which he says leaves the central bank’s balance sheet too exposed to risks.
***
