Vets aid ailing Celtic Tiger

The Industrial Development Agency (IDA), charged with luring billions of dollars of investment to Ireland’s shores from companies such as Microsoft, Google, Wyeth and Ebay, could do well to cast an eye over its own public face from time to time.

‘Why Dublin for Asset Management?’ asks the website, citing reasons such as a highly skilled workforce, ultra modern telecommunications (many would disagree), excellent air transport infrastructure (another bugbear) and the low corporate tax rate.

And don’t forget, the St Bernard Veterinary Hospital.

The what?

Exactly. One link on the IDA website should direct users to the Dublin Funds Industry Association – a body which has changed its name to the more all-encompassing Irish Funds Industry Association. However, the link on the IDA website has never been updated, and instead sends browsers to the above named pet clinic. Even more curiously, the clinic is based in Chalmette, Louisiana, but using an Irish domain name.

Good to see the IDA on top of its game.

Note to self: check links on website.

http://www.idaireland.com/home/index.aspx?id=136

http://www.dfia.ie/

http://www.irishfunds.ie/

Wynn-win for Coughlan in Macau gamble

Just as the tiny gambling Mecca of Macau is being rocked by a sensational corruption trial, one Clare native is hoping to weave his magic on the former Portuguese colony off the coast of mainland China.

After a decade working with the luxury Peninsula hotel group, Ian Coughlan has taken the 45-minute boat trip from Hong Kong to take on a new challenge at the Wynn Resorts’ operation in the Chinese special administrative region (SAR).

And Coughlan could have hit a personal jackpot.

While he initially moved to Macau back in January to work as director of hotel operations with Wynn, he has been recently promoted to president of the gleaming, gold-fronted 20-storey resort, which boasts 600 rooms and a 100,000 square feet casino.

A tasty remuneration package has been negotiated for 48-year-old Coughlan, who was born and raised in Ireland, but has spent most of his adult life abroad, working in hotels in Switzerland, London, Atlanta, Hawaii and Asia.

An SEC filing last week by Wynn Resorts reveals that Coughlan, whose initial contract runs five years, will be paid a base annual salary of $750,000 (€511,000), with the prospect of earning a bonus of a further $750,000 this year alone should targets be met. And that’s not all.

Married to Pamela, and with two young children – Kyle and Emmet – Coughlan has also negotiated three return business class flights a year for his family, to either Singapore or Ireland. Four return business class flights with Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to London next March to make it home in time for St Patrick’s Day will cost almost €14,000 (HK$159,412).

Meanwhile, Coughlan and his family receive gratis accommodation while in Macau “at a level commensurate with [the] employee’s position”. He’ll also get a “luxury automobile” and will always travel first-class on business. And don't forget the health plan and paid membership to clubs, societies and professional associations.

Not a bad deal.

But just as Coughlan is settling into his new role, the Macau casino industry has stumbled under an unwelcome spotlight.

The Wynn Macau resort – whose Las Vegas-based quoted parent has a market capitalisation of $15bn (€10.2bn) – is one of a number of new casinos jostling for a cut of the island’s massive $7.2bn gambling income. Last year the SAR overtook Las Vegas as the world’s largest gaming centre.

Wynn Resorts, which is headed by Steve Wynn, has earmarked a total of $1.2bn for its Macau hotel, which opened in 2006. A portion of that fund is being used to develop a new extension. Among those that stumped up when debt raised to fund the initial construction was syndicated, was AIB.

Wynn is just one of the companies riding a wave of investment in the former colony, which generates almost all its tax income from the gambling sector.

The floodgates opened in 2002, when Macau liberalised its gaming market and broke now 85-year-old Stanley Ho’s monopoly.

That year there were 11 casinos with 339 gaming tables and 808 slot machines. Now there are 25 casinos, 2,970 gaming tables and 7,349 slot machines. All this on a 28-square-kilometre area with a population of roughly 500,000.

And gambling-mad Asians are flocking to it.

According to Steve Wynn, the company’s Macau resort reported a staggering $900m in chip sales within 13 days of opening its doors in September last year.

In the three months to the end of September 2007, it recorded revenue of $347.6m, and in the nine-month period to the end of September, sales topped $1bn.

Adjusted Property EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation, pre-opening costs, property charges and other, corporate expenses) at the Macau resort totalled $92.8m in the three months to the end of September 2007 (only slightly less than the Las Vegas casino), and $264.5m in the nine-months to the end of September.

Wynn’s emergence in the SAR has also forced US competitor Sands to up the ante. Earlier this year it said that its operating costs in Macau had climbed because it had to raise wages there to compete with the Wynn resort.

The Sands’ Macau president might well be looking enviously at Coughlan’s lucrative deal.

While Macau’s gambling industry has traditionally been the focus of a constant turf war between triad gangs (even Stanley Ho’s underworld connections have been the subject of extensive speculation and investigation), it’s corruption that is now blighting the landscape.

Last week the trial commenced of Ao Man-Long, the former secretary for transport and public works in Macau.

He’s accused of taking bribes, of money laundering and abuse of power that saw him amass a fortune of more than $100m in just six years – 57-times his family’s income during the period. He’s alleged to have helped developers win tenders for a number of projects in Macau, including the Venetian hotel and casino, owned by Sands.

The courtroom drama has rocked Macau, led to protests and even delayed the construction of one major new casino by Australian businessman James Packer – son of Kerry ‘Packer-Whacker’ Packer.

The Wynn group is also trying to snap up land to expand its Macau operations. Apart from extending its existing resort, it reported recently that it has submitted an application to the local government to obtain a concession to use an additional 52-acres in Macau’s Cotai district.

Coughlan is going to have plenty to keep him occupied. At least he can escape back to Ireland in luxury when things get rough.

http://www.wynnmacau.com/index.jsp#

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/31/ap4286982.html

http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2004_2nd/June04_WynnMacau.html

http://www.olamacauguide.com/wynn-resorts.html

http://www.onlinenevada.org/steve_wynn

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2006/10/22/2003332888

http://www.feer.com/articles1/2007/0705/free/p020.html

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/11/02/las-vegas-closer-markets-equity-cx-er_ra_1031markets40.html

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200506/22/eng20050622_191700.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22716257-643,00.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSHKG4479220071104

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2005/may/10/518734415.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mc.html

http://www.ccac.org.mo/en/

http://macaudailyblog.com/general/macau-corruption-protest-video-clip/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Packer

http://www.lasvegassands.com/

Irishman to help clear Merrill mess

No doubt Stan O’Neal is coming to terms with being ousted from Merrill Lynch this week thanks to the whopping $161.5m worth of benefits and stock options he’ll take away with him. Oh, and the personal assistant for three years.

O’Neal (above) is most definitely one of the first major SIV-positive (former) executives – the tag dreamt up by Wall Street wags to describe the most unstable structured investment vehicles that have thrown the credit markets into crisis.

The head of the former General Motors boss was offered on a platter to investors after the company posted a massive $2.24bn quarterly loss – its biggest ever. The firm also booked a $7.9bn charge in the previous quarter following the credit fall-out, ($4.5bn related to sub-prime related products) and some analysts expect it could have to take a further $4bn hit in the next quarter.

Media-shy, O’Neal had encouraged more risk taking from its trading operations as interest rates sank over the past number of years. It expanded into areas such as private equity and structured products and commodity trading. It seemed to be going so well. Last year Merrill Lynch posted earnings of $7.5bn. Then the bottom fell out of the structured finance market.

For some though, there’s a silver lining.

Merrill Lynch’s Ed Moriarty has been appointed to the newly-created role of chief risk officer.

An Irish citizen, it will now fall on Moriarty’s shoulders to assume responsibility for market risk, and “re-evaluating parts of our risk framework,” according to Merrill Lynch. That’s code for “getting the hell out of Dodge”.

“Ed’s promotion reflects the importance of deeper and more comprehensive risk management discipline under a single senior executive,” added Merrill Lynch on the appointment.

For Moriarty, the task must appear monumental. Graciously exiting all its structured investments in an orderly fashion isn’t going to be easy. If Moriarty manages to pull it off, he may even attain a Cicero-type status as the man who helped save Rome, or at least Merrill Lynch. Such accolades will not be easily won though.

A graduate of Clinton, New York-based Hamilton College, Moriarty has been a lifer at Merrill Lynch. Just where his Irish pedigree comes from is unknown, but it could, of course, extend back as far as grandparents.

Moriarty gave New York’s current mayor Michael Bloomberg one of his first big breaks, when the now billionaire turned up at Merrill Lynch’s office touting a new computer system that would offer traders functionality not available elsewhere. A Merrill Lynch executive said the company could do it itself, so Bloomberg offered to put together the system in six months and put Merrill Lynch under no obligation to buy if it wasn’t up to scratch. Moriarty agreed to the deal.

The next year will be a busy one for Moriarty as he tries to clear up the mess at Merrill. One suspects he’ll be in line for a tidy bonus if he does. No doubt more than enough to buy a handsome spread in Ireland from which to plot his retirement.

Meanwhile, those being tipped as candidates to replace O'Neal, include Kelly Martin, chief executive of pharmaceutical firm Elan. He left Merrill Lynch in 2001 to take up the Elan position as the company came close to collapse.

http://www.reuters.com/article/inPlayBriefing/idUSIN20071030154144MER20071030

http://www.kenauletta.com/1997_03_10_thebloombergthreat.html

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/BUSINESS07/710310398/1002

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article3112837.ece

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/merrill-lynchs-32-million-man/

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2774485.ece

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/business/12insider.html?ref=business

Bookies ready for the off

The annual rush to renew betting licences is well underway. Among those leading at the first turn is Deirdre Boyd, wife of former Fine Gael TD and Minister for Agriculture, the amiable Ivan Yates.

The Wexford-based couple own Celtic Bookmakers, which became so much a part of Yates’ working life that he decided to quit the hurly burly of politics in 2002 to concentrate on expanding the operation. The dedication has paid off.

At the time he stood down from office, Celtic Bookmakers had less than 20 stores and was predicting turnover that year of €25m.

Founded in 1987, today it operates over 50 outlets and has also put a toe in the UK market. Yates wants to grow turnover to €250m within another two years.

In August he paid over €2.5m to buy eight Ubet shops in Ireland, while last year Yates forked out in the region of €5m to acquire another 10-store operation.

But it’s a tough business out there with lots of competition. Yates obviously believes he has to expand rapidly to stay in the running.

Two months ago British giant Ladbrokes said it would open an additional 80 outlets in Ireland (up to 30 in the Republic and 50 in Northern Ireland) over the next 18 months, bringing its total tally to almost 300.

Yates is also up against Paddy Power, which operates over 200 shops in Ireland and the UK, and Boyle Sports with 115. Last week, the latter reported a 25% increase in sales for the year to the end of June 2007 to more than €624m, with operating profits up 300% to €15.6m.

British bookmaker William Hill also has a decent footprint in the Republic, which all leaves you wondering who the casualties are going to be. Smaller, independent players, certainly.

Interestingly, among those last week seeking to renew licences for William Hill stores in Ireland, is James Henderson, of Gateforth, north Yorkshire, who on the face of it would seem to control just about all the William Hill outlets in the Republic, although the understanding was that all William Hill stores are company-owned.

Curiously, Henderson doesn’t show up as a company director in the United Kingdom, nor does he in appear as director of any Irish entities. If Henderson indeed had so many outlets under his belt, it’s hard to imagine some corporate structure hasn’t been set up to administer them.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ladbrokes-targets-80-new-irish-shops-1055263.html

http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0809/PRESSWATCH.html?rss

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4550429.stm

http://celticbookmakers.com

http://www.paddypowerplc.com/

http://www.willhill.com/iibs/EN/sportsbook.asp

http://www.willhill.com/banners/irishshoplocator.html

http://www.boylesports.com/index.asp

Pirate of Prague still on Caribbean High Seas

Czech-born financier Viktor Kozeny has escaped extradition to the United States following a lengthy legal battle in the Bahamas.

Nicknamed the ‘Pirate of Prague’ and ‘Viktor O’Kozeny’, the businessman secured Irish citizenship in 1995 under the controversial and now defunct passports for investment scheme. He invested €1.27m in an Irish software firm.

Kozeny has been in the Bahamas for over two years, and was arrested there on foot of an extradition warrant from the United States. He languished in a tropical prison cell for 19 months before being released on $300,000 bail last May.

Kozeny is accused of stealing $182m from US investors including former Senator George Mitchell, who spearheaded the Northern Ireland peace process, and between 1997 and 1999 of paying millions of dollars of bribes to government officials in Azerbaijan between who were dealing with the privitisation of the country’s state-owned oil company.

He also gave gifts to the Azeri officials, including an 18-carat gold box inlaid with diamonds worth €340,000, claim US prosecutors, who also accuse Kozeny of money laundering.

Kozeny has also been accused by the Czech government of being involved in the embezzlement of property worth as much as €570m. Czech authorities are also seeking his extradition to face charges.

He has denied all the allegations and claimed he is an “innocent man” who has become a “negative hero in order to stop his creative activity”.

Last week a court in the Bahamas said that Kozeny could not be extradited to the US because he is not a Bahamian citizen, while the judge hearing the case also said that it has not been proven that Kozeny bribed any Azeri officials.

US officials are expected to appeal the ruling.

In 2003, after his Czech citizenship had been revoked, Kozeny announced his intention to stand for election in the Czech Republic as an independent candidate. He aimed to use his Irish citizenship to enable him to do so.

While it has been previously reported that his Irish citizenship is to be revoked, the Department of Foreign Affairs has yet not made any definitive moves to do so.

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=278327

http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=14585

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/ireland/article576519.ece

http://www.belgrafix.com/gtoday/2007news/Oct/Oct20/Too-much-politics.htm

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/48045

http://www.bahamasb2b.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=3994

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/04/02/ccluke02.xml&lubos_motl=reference_frame

http://www.internationalextraditionblog.com/2005/12/extradition-from-bahamasviktor-kozeny.html

http://www.internationalextraditionblog.com/2005/12/extradition-from-bahamasviktor-kozeny.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Ko%C5%BEen%C3%BD

http://www.cbw.cz/phprs/2005101007.html

Low tax, high fliers

Do a quick search for ‘aircraft leasing’ firms in Ireland and you’ll find 153 of them.

Mostly international operations based in Dublin and Shannon, the country’s 12.5% corporate tax rate has acted as an enormous set of landing lights, guiding in leasing companies from almost every continent. So much so, that Ireland is quickly becoming the de facto world centre for the business.

Among the latest to set up shop is Orix Leasing AAX.

Owned by the Japanese financial services group Orix, the newly-registered company is undoubtedly linked to the company’s decision this month to snap up a 10% share in Malaysia-headquartered AirAsiaX, the long-haul, no-frills off-shoot of AirAsia, which in seven years has become the top Asian low-cost carrier.

Orix forked out $35m for its stake in AirAsiaX, with Bahrain’s Perigon Capital paying the same amount, also for 10%. Even Richard Branson’s got in on the AirAsiaX party, paying $7m for a 20% shareholding back in August.

Orix is obviously be going to be playing more than just a passive investor role in the start-up, whose maiden flight, to Australia from Kuala Lumpur, will be made this week. It’s probable that Orix is also going to be supplying aircraft to the new operation as it spreads its wings to the Middle East, and Europe. Even the Dublin Airport Authority has begun courting AirAsiaX, which is being advised by former Ryanair director of operations, Conor McCarthy. He also helped mould AirAsia, while has also provided assistance to Qantas low-fares carrier JetStar (headed by Irishman Alan Joyce), as well as AeroMexico.

At times, it seems as if the Irish are taking over the world of air travel, with former Aer Lingus boss Willie Walsh now heading British Airways, while more recently, in the US, former Ryanair executive Charlie Clifton helped to launch no-frills carrier Skybus. It appears the Irishfication of the leasing business is next on the agenda.

The Irish aircraft leasing business has its roots in the recently deceased Ryanair founder, Tony Ryan. He founded Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), in 1975. By the early 1990s, just prior to the first Gulf War, it was worth over $4bn. But an intended 1992 floatation proved a disaster when key US fund managers failed to support it. General Electric stepped in the following year to save GPA. Ryan said at the time that the company had been “raped” by GE.

“What do you expect when you walk around with no clothes on?” countered GE boss Jack Welch.

Despite that debacle, the aircraft leasing business in Ireland has boomed.

Last year Limerick-headquartered Genesis Lease floated in the US, raising $641m. It’s currently valued at $795m. The company is registered in Bermuda, and resident in Ireland solely to avail of the low corporate tax rate. Other benefits apply too, such as favourable VAT treatment and stamp duty exemptions.

Others located in Ireland include Babcock & Brown, Macquarie, GECAS, Aercap, Investec’s aircraft leasing arm, and BCI.

In a recent edition of the Seattle Times, one of Boeing’s former leading salesmen, Toby Bright, said that the tax incentives for aircraft leasing firms in Ireland are “pretty overwhelming”, and this is serving as an incentive for much of the business to set up shop in Dublin.

"Walk into a pub in Dublin and you can’t privately talk business,” Bright told the newspaper. “It's full of other leasing guys."

Still, the collegial atmosphere wasn’t enough to lure Bright to the capital. He has been working with San Francisco-based aircraft leasing firm Pegasus, which was acquired earlier this year for $5.2bn by Terra Firma Capital Partners. Terra Firm owns AWAS leasing (which it bought in 2006), based, unsurprisingly, in Dublin, and will combine Pegasus with the former. That means shifting the California operation to Dublin. Bright was invited along for the ride, but declined.

So, just how effective is the Irish tax regime? Look no further than the latest set of accounts filed in Ireland for GE Commercial Aviation Funding.

With assets in Ireland of more than $14bn, in the period from mid-November 2005 to the end of 2006, it recorded income of $443.3m and a pre-tax profit of $415.3m. It paid Irish tax at the reduced 10% corporate rate that by now has reverted to the standard 12.5%. That incurred a tax liability of $41.5m during the period. However, it claimed group relief of almost $41.3m. The final tax bill? A mere $242,000.

No wonder leasing firms are jetting in.

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/06/09/bhead.htm

http://www.expertguides.com/default.asp?Page=10&GuideID=162&CountryID=44

http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSN1125118220070511

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=sundaybuzz28&date=20071028&query=Toby+Bright

http://www.awas.com/contact/corporate_locations.asp

http://www.genesislease.com/corporate_management.cfm

http://www.gecas.com/

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1003/ryant.html

Yo, ere me now!

Esat founder Denis O’Brien continues his march through the Caribbean, this time rattling the cages of Guyana incumbent CG&T.

O’Brien’s Digicel mobile operator, whose footprint now extends across the Caribbean from its Jamaican base, with over 5.7m subscribers, has claimed it will become Guyana’s leading mobile telecoms provider within six months. O’Brien said that Digicel already has almost a 50% share of the market in the South American country, which is bordered by Venezuela, Suriname (where Digicel also operates) and Brazil, and that it is poised to become the dominant player.

O’Brien has criticised CG&T, which has a monopoly on international calls in the country, saying customers are being “ripped off” by the prices they’re paying.

CG&T’s chief executive Joe Singh has dismissed O’Brien’s comments, saying that the Irish entrepreneur is "blissfully unaware that GT&T has consistently articulated its preparedness to work with [the] government to realise sector liberalisation".

The criticism is unlikely to deflect O’Brien, who in just seven years has swept across the tropics like a hurricane, battering all in front of him and continually harrying Digicel's competitors.

While the awarding of a GSM licence to O’Brien’s Esat Digifone consortium in 1995 by Minister for Transport, Energy & Communications, Michael Lowry, remains a controversial and contentious issue, Digicel has been hard, but rapid graft all the way.

It's an empire created from inauspicious beginnings.

When Irish middle managers first arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2000 to establish the business, they were afraid to go outside their hotel during their free time due to the level of violence in the capital.

Despite its relatively small population of 2.7m, Jamaica is a world murder capital. In 2001 there were over 1,300, mostly gang-related murders. And you thought it was bad in Ireland.

Those Digicel managers had a tough time of it. One was mugged at knifepoint on the island days after arriving, while another group of Irish staff returned to where they were staying to find they had just missed seeing their landlord being shot dead. Miami soon became the destination of choice for Irish lobsters keen to avoid becoming nasty Jamaican statistics. The Irish staff initially found it difficult to deal with their Jamaican counterparts too.

"We’d ask: 'Can you do it?'" remembered one Irish Digicel executive. “They’d say: 'No problem, I can do it.'”

“Then they do something which isn't right or more likely, they just do nothing because they are not sure what to do."

But obviously the lines of communication eventually improved.

While a flotation of Digicel had looked on the cards, O’Brien instead raised money this year by selling $1.4 billion worth of bonds, buying out minority shareholders and in the process netting himself a cool $800m. He now has full control of the group. Others to benefit included former Fianna Fáil press secretary and election spin meister, PJ Mara.

Digicel has also extended its reach into the Pacific, while it has previously eyed the US market and O'Brien has also had tilts at licences in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. And the rampage isn’t finished yet.

Digicel has just launched in El Salvador, and O’Brien believes there is further markets to be exploited in the Caribbean, such as the Bahamas, and the British Virgin Islands.

O’Brien, meanwhile, has moved his residency status from Portugal to Malta – boring, but tax efficient, no doubt.

Can you ere me now?!

http://www.digicelgroup.com/group/

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_business?id=56531309

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/26892.php

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2007/02/18/story21110.asp

I found what I was looking for, thanks

As U2 band members Bono and The Edge try to push through a major refurbishment of the Clarence Hotel in Dublin’s Temple Bar, it seems the owner of the Holiday Inn on Pearse Street also has designs on the historic quarter.

John Moran’s recently established Inn@Temple Bar is likely scouting for a location to open up a new premises at a time when the dwindling number of hotel rooms in the capital is causing concern amongst both tourism and business bodies.

Jurys sold its Berkeley Court Hotel and Jurys Ballsbridge sites to developer Sean Dunne for €379m in 2005, and while Dunne has plans to construct a new 220-bedroom hotel on the adjacent sites, it will be some time before that ever comes to fruition, especially since Dublin City councillors are incensed at his ambitious masterplan.

Earlier this year they blocked a draft area plan for Ballsbridge that would have permitted high-rise elements, apparently scuppering Dunne’s blueprints which embrace high-rise construction. Dunne needs a big return on his pricey investment, and top-loading the parcel of land in the prime location is the way to do it.

The proposed €150m Clarence make-over is constroversial, although it’s acknowledged that the quays should be a strong focal point for the city. The plan involves demolishing a number of protected building facades and structures. The co-owners – developer Paddy McKillen (who build the Jervis Centre), Bono and the Edge, have threatened that the hotel could be sold if the plans aren’t approved by the council next month. The hotel was acquired in 1992 and has lost €12m since then.

Fianna Fáil supporter John Moran seems unperturbed by such a track record and could soon end up a close neighbour. Temple Bar no doubt appeals as a location for a new Holiday Inn, its pedigree far removed from the existing Holiday Inn’s unromantic location on Pearse Street.

This week, Holiday Inn brand owner Intercontinental launched what is believed to be the most expensive global corporate rebranding ever, costing $1bn (€700m). Each Holiday Inn hotel franchisee will be expected to spend a minimum of about €143,000 upgrading each premises. Perhaps Moran sees the rebranding as an opportune time to make a move into the capital’s heart.

Just where he’ll get space is the big question.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/24/bcninter124.xml

http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=6427

http://www.holidayinndublin.ie/

When they met, it was GPS

If you’re old enough to recall the cheesy Hart to Hart series that aired in the late seventies to mid-eighties, then the name Stefanie Powers should ring a bell.

Powers (as Jennifer Hart, left), fought crime with her “self-made millionaire” husband, Jonathan. As the butler, Max, used to point out, “Mrs H is one lady who knows how to take care of herself.”

And indeed she does. Now firmly out of the Hollywood limelight, Powers has reinvented herself not only as a conservationist, but more interestingly, as a savvy businesswoman. And now she’s popped up on the board of a London-based telematics firm, Astrata, co-founded by Tony Harrison of Northern Ireland.

Astrata has developed a system that can be installed in vehicles such as security vans which can detect, for example, when a pre-determined route has been altered. If the on-board system receives information that the vehicle has been hijacked, it can be remotely slowed to 5mph, or stopped altogether, while windows can be jammed to hinder escape. The electronic box is about half the size of a cigarette pack, so can be easily tucked away in the recesses of a vehicle. The system comes at a time when fear of terrorist-related attacks are rife, and Astrata hopes to capitalise on that. Customers signed up to date include Shell, Group 4 Securicor, and the government of Singapore, which uses it on trucks transporting hazardous materials.

Powers also sits on the board of mutual funds operated by Los Angeles-based Capital Research and Management, having been introduced to the firm’s vice chairman, Jon Lovelace, in 1984. Powers wanted a “simplistic” investment approach, and Lovelace thought that most people were probably thinking along the same lines. Powers even went on to make a seven-part television series sponsored by Merrill Lynch about managing finances.

Tony Harrison worked with electronics and defence firms including Racal Electronics and Thales before establishing Astrata (Racal is now owned by Thales).

Still a minnow, Astrata is quoted on the more loosely regulated OTC board in the US, and has a market capitalisation of just over $16m.

Seems that Powers still has a penchant for those self-made millionaires. Or at least, soon-to-be ones.

http://www.astratagroup.com/

http://www.btinternet.com/~highestpub/99092416.HTM

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E4DE1431F931A25754C0A96E958260&n=Top/News/Business/Companies/Merrill%20Lynch%20&%20Company

Stick out your tongue, Mr Sipowicz

With so many Polish people now living in Ireland (over 63,000 according to the 2006 census), it’s hardly surprising that a number of Polish-orientated businesses have sprung up in Dublin and elsewhere in the country. Indeed, enough critical mass seems to have been reached that it looks like a major healthcare operator from Poland is poised to establish its first foreign franchise here, an experiment which will do doubt offer a prognosis on whether the concept could be expanded to the UK, where there’s an even greater number of Polish ex-pats busy making a living (around 150,000).

Maria Stenka, a 45-year-old Polish dentist working from Dublin’s Dorset Street appears set to spearhead the launch of the first Lux-Med clinic in Ireland, and it’s an interesting play. Of the entire Polish community living in Ireland, almost one-third, or over 19,600 of them, live in Dublin city and county, making the prospects for Polish-speaking doctors and dentists seem rosy. Lux-Med may sound like a package holiday firm, but it’s big business on its home turf (http://www.luxmed.pl/en/page.php?sid=97 ).

The company operates 17 clinics throughout Poland, offering state-of-the-art medical facilities, and undoubtedly the service doesn’t come cheap. Lux-Med even likes to boast how during the summer a 50-strong team of its doctors looked after Rolling Stones concert-goers in Warsaw. No mean feat, and no doubt added to the 50 who were surely looking after the crumbling band members.

Lux-Med was acquired earlier this year by London-headquartered private equity firm Mid Europa Partners, which will certainly want to inject growth hormones into the business before it undoubtedly sells it on in a few years’ time. Part of that growth now looks like it will come from franchises set to cater for a burgeoning ex-patriate population in cities such as Dublin.

http://www.cso.ie/census/census2006results/volume_4/vol_4_2006_complete.pdf

It's the economy, stupid

Doomsayers are having a field day following finance minister Brian 'Juicy Lips' Cowen’s warning yesterday that the Irish economy has reached a “turning point”.

Making a pre-budget statement this week in advance of the big day on 5 December, Cowen delighted opposition parties by admitting that economic growth forecasts are now lower than expected, paving the way for a budget far removed from the largesse displayed almost 12 months ago. Cowen said he expects the economy to grow 4.75% in the year to the end of 2007, compared to a previous forecast of 5.25%. Next year, he expects growth to drop to 3.25%.

It’s certainly a significant fall on a percentage basis (a 38% drop from 5.25% to 3.25%), but not one to be overly concerned about. Even averaging growth of 3.25%, Ireland’s economy is outpacing most of its western European counterparts, which still enviously eye the IDA’s ability to lure foreign investors, and the sustained period of growth Ireland has experienced.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/this-year-a-turning-point-for-economy-says-cowen-1199620.html

Ireland’s unemployment rate still ranks among the lowest within the EU - 4.7% at the end of September (http://www.cso.ie/statistics/sasunemprates.htm ). While it has risen since 2001, it has been consistently close to full employment levels, and way below comparative EU figures. You also have to bear in mind that the Republic’s economy has absorbed well over 300,000 migrants in the past seven years or so, and the vast majority have found work. Much of that, of course has been in the bloated construction sector, on which the government has been overly reliant. But without jobs, those migrants will likely move on – to home, or elsewhere in Europe, probably keeping real unemployment levels low.

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the EU-15 members was 6.9% at the end of June, 2007, while only a small number of EU-15 countries, such as Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands have lower unemployment rates than Ireland.

This week the National Treasury Management Agency, mandated with managing our debt, raised $6bn that will be used to fund on-going infrastructural projects. It was seen as further proof that the state coffers had dwindled and that tax revenue is unable to meet ambitious spending plans. The coffers have dwindled, but the $6bn raised represented just over 3% of the country’s overall GDP, and the country still has the lowest debt levels in Europe – a situation far removed from the days in the 1980s when Ireland had a higher debt level than Mexico (which nearly defaulted to the International Monetary Fund in 1982, and even by 1986 was using two-thirds of its foreign earnings to service its debt pile).

The lesson: shut up and stop complaining. Things have still never been so good.