Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced that he plans to step down as chief executive of the business later this year. The announcement came last night alongside results that showed the company had broken the $100 billion barrier for revenue for the first time in the last quarter of 2020.
Tax revenues took a tumble in January as Level 5 restrictions saw much of the economy shut down, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy. VAT was particularly badly hit as the critical Christmas shopping season flopped but income tax revenue was a rare bright light in the figures for the Government.
Covid has hit more than taxes, with the Irish Home Builders Association warning that the supply of homes could be 8,000 lower than expected this year as a result of the lockdown on most construction sites for the past month. Eoin has the details.
And one in five retailers is still carrying arrears of between 40 and 60 per cent of their total rent for 2020, according to fresh industry research. Mark Paul reports on a growing number of legal disputes between high profile retailers and their landlords.
Gamestop shares plunged 60 per cent – their biggest one-day fall on record – as the steam ran out of the Reddit-fuelled charge on short sellers. The stock has now lost 80 per cent of its recent gains but still remains well ahead on the year.
Drug giant Pfizer reckons it will sell $15 billion worth of Covid-19 vaccine this year. The company upgraded its forecasts for the first time since winning approval for its vaccine and is bullish about its prospects, not least because of the lower efficacy of rival Johnson & Johnson and the stuttering performance of AstraZeneca.
In her column, Fiona Reddan examines the continuing presence of cash buyers as significant players in the Irish property market and asks how this might undermine the efforts of the Central Bank and others to keep prices under control.
New legislation will attempt to stop bid rigging for State contracts and gun jumping by corporates looking to close corporate deals ahead of formal competition commission approval, writes Seán McCárthaigh
Brittany Ferries has announced new services between Ireland and France as hauliers increasingly look to avoid the paperwork involved in using the shorter UK landbridge, writes Simon Carswell.
In Commercial property, Ronald Quinlan reports that German investor Patrizia is closing on the €200 million-plus acquisition of 475 apartments in Drumcondra in a forward purchase deal.
The Bennett Group is looking for a buyer for a key docklands site next to the entrance of the Dublin Port Tunnel, formerly as Merchants' Gate for just over half the price it was guiding back in 2006 when it was last on the market.
Private rental sector investment accounted for over half of all money in Dublin property investment in the second half of last year, according to a new report from Hooke & MacDonald.
Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our business news alerts and our Business Today daily email news digest.
