PTSB back to black and direct flights to China

Permanent TSB is back in the black for the first time in a decade, reports Joe Brennan, but its problems are far from over. Still there might be some good news for the 4,300 homeowners with split mortgage arrangements with the bank. PTSB is hoping the ECB will agree these are performing loans which would take them out of the Project Glas portfolio that is likely to be acquired by private equity funds.

China’s Hainan Airways has given the green light for the first direct flights from Dublin to Beijing. The flights, announced during Tánaiste Simon Coveney’s St Patrick’s Day visit to China, will deliver a boost to trade and tourism between the two countries, writes Clifford Coonan in the Chinese capital.

New labour force data shows that employment is growing faster than expected, with the number now working only 12,000 below its pre-crash peak. Of course, as Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports, both the population and the workforce is larger now than it was at that time.

And figures on property prices indicate that home values jumped 12.5 per cent in the year to January – and by 17 per cent in the west, writes Conor Pope. Whether that's good news or not, of course, depends on whether you have a home or whether you're still looking to buy.

PTSB loans move could deliver reprieve for thousands of homeowners

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Central Bank seeks diary as part of inquiry into INBS lending practices

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Aer Lingus crew to get sartorial upgrade

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Brexit could hit cross-Border trade harder than previously thought

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On the latest Inside Business podcast, the founders of Irish tech start-up Immersive VR Education on the story behind their €6.7 million IPO and Cliff Taylor on the potential impact of the European Commission's plans for a digital tax.

Staying with digital, Karlin Lillington questions whether the big social media firms can be trusted to police themselves when it comes to dealing with scamming profiles.