Today's other stories in brief
EBS appoints Nationwide chief to board
EBS Building Society has appointed outgoing Nationwide Building Society chief executive Philip Williamson to its board as a non-executive director.
Mr Williamson joined Nationwide in 1991 and served as corporate development director, marketing and commercial director and retail operations director, before being appointed chief executive in 2002. Before joining Nationwide, he held a variety of senior executive roles at Lloyds Bank and was a director of UK Land.
€288m Burlington sale confirmed
JDH Acquisitions, the consortium controlled by the Doyle and Beatty families, who took the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group private in 2005, has sold the Burlington Hotel to Soltura Ltd, a company controlled by Bernard McNamara, for €288 million.
JDH said the sale was part of a strategic repositioning and commercial restructuring of the group, which will see the refinancing of the Jurys Inns division later this year and investment of more than €200 million in existing assets, including the Westbury Hotel, Jurys Kensington, Jurys Clifton Ford, Jurys Great Russell Street and Jurys Bristol.
The group also plans to expand internationally, adding to its existing portfolio in the US and Europe.
3,000 new jobs in financial services
Ireland's international financial services sector created more than 3,000 net new jobs in 2006, according to the Finance Dublin Yearbook 2007.
Total employment in the three core sectors of banking, funds and insurance stood at 22,177 at end December 2006, up by 16 per cent from 19,095 on the same date a year earlier.
Costs at Carphone Warehouse rise
Carphone Warehouse yesterday said in an unscheduled trading update that it would incur additional costs of £20 million to £30 million (€30 million to €44 million), leaving the company "a little behind our original business plan" but confident of catching up by summer.
Half the additional costs were incurred this year in broadband services.
Building the company's relationship with US electronics retailer Best Buy, brand development, and customer recruitment in France would cost a further £10 million to £15 million, the company said. - (Financial Times service)
Northern Rock lending up 34%
Northern Rock reported strong mortgage lending in the first quarter, and said it expected favourable conditions to continue in spite of higher interest rates and rising unemployment.
The UK's fifth-biggest mortgage lender said net lending was 34 per cent higher in the first three months of this year than the year-earlier period.
The total lending pipeline was £6.7 billion (€9.9 billion), 16 per cent ahead of its value a year ago.
Northern Rock said its credit quality remained "robust", with no increase in arrears since the end of 2006. Consequently, it said asset growth would be in the top half of its strategic range of 15-25 per cent. - (Financial Times service)
Ulster Bank offers cash for mortgages
Ulster Bank is offering a cash incentive of €1,000 to homeowners who switch their mortgage to its books.
The bank said it was trying to draw mortgage holders away from Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB by launching the offer, which runs until the end of June. The bank will also pay the customer's legal fees if they do not switch their mortgage for five years.
