Compiled by CAROLINE MADDEN

Coining it on the back of a gold-plated collectors item

THE CONSPIRACY theorists have long been convinced that the Central Bank has cranked up its printing presses in readiness for the break-up of the euro and a return to the punt. Flat-out denials by the financial authority have failed to put paid to the theory, and a job vacancy now posted on its website only adds grist to the rumour mill.

According to the advertisement, the Central Bank is seeking to hire an assistant to operate the printing machine in its currency production division. This trusty assistant must be capable of feeding the machine with 8,000 sheets of paper an hour.

So what’s really going on down in the basements? The Central Bank has insisted it is only printing euro currency, but it seems it has had a special project up its sleeve of late. All will be revealed this week when it launches a gold €20 coin featuring Irish monastic art.

Producing a gold-plated coin while the very future of the single currency hangs in the balance may smack of fiddling while Rome burns, but apparently numismatic enthusiasts around the world can’t get enough of such collector items.

Each €20 coin will be sold for €45, so maybe the Central Bank is on to something after all – if we were to mint a few million of these things it could prove a more effective revenue-raising exercise than the household charge.

Will Europe be a drag for CRH?

AUSTERITY IS the buzzword du jour, but it’s not just those campaigning for a No vote in the upcoming fiscal treaty referendum who are obsessed with it.

CRH shareholders are keenly awaiting the cement giant’s interim management statement on Wednesday for some insight into the impact of European austerity measures on its bottom line.

At this stage of the year, the Dublin-headquartered company’s update tends to be thin on numbers, concentrating instead on qualitative information.

Brokers expect CRH to report a better start in the US on the residential and non-residential side of the business, which accounts for about 30 per cent of its profits.

However, the key question is whether this progress in the US will be sufficient to offset a difficult start to the year in Europe, given that it has had to contend with unfavourable weather and, of course, the effect of austerity measures.

Brokers are most concerned about CRH’s exposure to the Dutch market (in January it significantly expanded its DIY activities there), and to Spain, given the difficult macro backdrop.

While the company is expected to say performance so far has been in line with market expectations, it may sound a note of caution when providing guidance for the rest of 2012.

Worldspreads clients will have their patience tested further at meeting

THE 15,000 clients of collapsed financial spread betting company Worldspreads are still waiting to find out the full magnitude of the losses they face as a result of a massive shortfall in client money.

Hopes were raised that some light might be shed on the situation this week, as a Worldspreads creditors’ meeting has been scheduled to take place tomorrow in the Carlton Hotel at Dublin Airport.

KPMG has been appointed as administrators to the firm, and some clients believe there is a mid-May deadline by which they must be provided with information on compensation due to them.

However, they may not get the answers they’re looking for this week.

The company now in administration is London-based Worldspreads Limited. Its parent company, Worldspreads plc, is incorporated in Dublin and, according to KPMG, it is this company that is holding tomorrow’s creditors’ meeting.

As KPMG doesn’t act for Worldspreads plc, it couldn’t comment on the meeting. Clients may have to be patient a little longer.