OPERATIONS AT INVESTMENT-HUNGRY ROSSLARE PORT TO BE PRIVATISED - Iarnród Éireann is planning to outsource operations at the country's second-busiest port at Rosslare in Co Wexford, the Irish Independent has learned.
The railway company has sought expressions of interest from across Europe for a private company to operate the facility, which is in need of major investment. Rosslare recorded a profit of €2.1m in 2013 on a turnover of €9.6m. However, with ships becoming larger, the port will have to invest in new berths which could cost as much as €60m. Iarnród Éireann intends to retain ownership but outsource operations to a private sector partner which will pay an annual fee to the company. This model is used across Europe, and is in place in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg, a spokesman said. The port currently employs 73, and preliminary discussions have taken place with staff. "Every euro of surplus in the last two decades has been reinvested in the port," the spokesman said. "It has always been profitable, even through the recession, but if you were to deepen the berth it would cost in the region of €40m. A new berth would cost more than €60m", he added.
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REIT FORECASTS RENTAL GROWTH OF 10% THIS YEAR - The chief executive of a €457 million property investment fund has questioned the current approach to planning in Dublin, suggesting density rules are inhibiting development as he forecasts rental growth of 10% for 2015 and considers dedicated facilities for retirees looking to trade down at Rockbrook in Sandyford. Speaking in Dublin at the AGM of Irish Residential Properties Reit yesterday, chief executive officer David Ehrlich said that it’s difficult to get the sums right on a development project when there is a limit on the number of units that can be built, writes the Irish Times. “We’d like to see a more flexible approach in terms of density and heights,” he said, noting that the investment company would like to build 400-450 apartments on the Rockbrook site in Sandyford it acquired earlier this year. But Mr Erhlich said it was “frustrating” to hear talk about housing shortages when Ires Reit could get development “under way quickly because the infrastructure is in place” . Planning however, is to an extent predicated on building larger apartments while the challenge for investors like Ires Reit is to “make the sums work”.
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EUROPEAN COMPANIES LAY OFF STAFF DUE TO LATE PAYMENTS - European companies could hire substantially more staff if they could only secure timely payments for their invoices, a leading credit management company has said. Intrum Justitia said its survey of 8,979 companies across Europe showed that one in three enterprises would hire more employees if debtors paid their bills faster, says the Irish Examiner. The survey showed large geographical differences, with around four out of 10 companies in Southern and Eastern Europe saying they would hire more people. In Northern Europe, 16% of companies said they would employ more people if bills were not delayed. “There are 25 million companies in the countries included in our survey. If we relate this to the fact that there are 23 millio people without a job in the EU, one can conclude that if every company employed one more the unemployment would be erased,” said Lars Wollung, the chief executive and president at Intrum Justitia.
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VOX MEDIA BUYS RECORD IN ALL-STOCK DEAL - Vox Media is buying Recode, the tech-business news site founded by Silicon Valley veterans Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, as the online home of The Verge and Ezra Klein expands its portfolio. Ms Swisher, who is known for her inside track on tech-industry dealmaking and guest appearances on HBO’s TV satire Silicon Valley, and Mr Mossberg, formerly a long-serving personal technology columnist at the Wall Street Journal and confidant of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, will both stay at the company as part of the deal. The all-stock transaction comes on the eve of Recode’s annual Code conference, which is hosting the heads of media companies new and old including Snapchat, BuzzFeed and CBS as well as the chiefs of Airbnb, General Motors, Target, GoPro and Oculus VR. The conference, which attracts a high-powered Silicon Valley audience, was key to the allure of buying Recode, says the Financial Times. Jim Bankoff, chief executive of Vox Media, said Recode’s 44 staff took the same “digital-first approach to journalism” as its other sites such as Vox.com, Eater and Polygon, while “continuing to set the highest bar for tech business coverage”. Ms Swisher said: “This combination will give us access to the new tools and talent we need and want to make Recode stronger and better.”
