Bondholders circle Russian aircraft lessor, PayPal job cuts and banks face stress tests

Western-based bond holders of a Russian aircraft and ship lessor based in Dublin, GTLK Europe, have started contacting insolvency practitioners for next steps to deal with the company which is in default. Joe Brennan reports on a story that may have wider ramifications for how defaulting, sanctions-hit firms may be dealt with.

The tech lay-offs keep coming. This time PayPal, which employs more than 2,000 people in Ireland, said it plans to cut about 7 per cent of its staff globally.

The European Banking Authority’s biannual stress tests are always a red letter event for bank watchers as they are used to measure a firm’s ability to withstand shocks. Irish lenders have had some pretty mixed results over the years, coming towards the bottom of the table on more than one occasion. This time around, the tests will include an adverse case of home prices dropping 11.1 per cent and commercial property prices slumping more than 28 per cent over three years, among other measures. Joe Brennan reports.

Mortgage data is among the most closely watched leading indicators of the nation’s economic health and drawdowns hit their highest level since 2008 according to the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland. Ian Curran reports.

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Oscar nominee Colin Farrell will voice an advertising campaign promoting new mental health supports for people working in the Irish screen industry as part of an arts sector-wide initiative funded by the Department of Culture. Laura Slattery has the details.

In her column, Sarah O’Connor looks at the very welcome news that the pandemic does not seem to have hurt young people’s long term work prospects in anything like the scale initially feared.

Energy regulators told an Oireachtas committee on Tuesday that households will be repaid a contribution they unknowingly made to big businesses’ electricity bills up to last year. Barry O’Halloran was in the room.

Some good news on inflation, with the CSO estimating it fell to below 8 per cent last month. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the story, and breaks down what it all means too.

The manufacturing sector has struggled in recent months as the economy slowed down. As Colin Gleeson reports though, the latest data may offer some grounds for optimism.

Electronic scooters have become ubiquitous in recent years, especially in the cities. Proposed Government legislation though may undermine the sector and even make it less safe. Ciara O’Brien has seen a letter from a number of companies to the Government on the matter.

Striking French air traffic controllers have long been the bane of travellers across Europe, and Barry reports on Ryanair’s call for the EU to do more to resolve the issue.

The technology sector’s appetite for office space has slumped, according to a new report from BNP Paribas Real Estate. Colin has the story.

After the strong, albeit somewhat meaningless GDP data on Monday, Davy Stockbrokers has almost doubled its economic forecasts for this year, Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

In her column, Brianna Parkins looks at the tax implications of working remotely – especially from another country.

In Commercial Property, IBM’s campus outside Dublin has hit the market with an €80 million price tag. Ronald Quinlan also reports on Cairn Homes’ sale of apartments in Greystones, while An Post has signed for more office space at The Exo building in the Dublin docklands,

Women’s activewear business Sweaty Betty is to open its first Dublin store on South Anne Street in the capital.

Finally, the final 747, more fittingly known as The Queen of the Skies, has rolled off Boeing’s assembly line and this week is being delivered to its customer. It’s the end of an era.

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