Financial officials from the Department of Finance have cautioned Minister Michael McGrath that the Government’s revamped ambition of building 50k homes every year can only be achieved through enhanced capital from investment funds, as per details published by the Business Post. They suggest the country requires a modern housing model capable of attracting substantial private equity to meet its high-reaching goal of annually constructing 50k homes. Taoiseach Simon Harris has committed to building 250k homes in the following five years. The publication also highlighted that otherwise, the State would have to bankroll or subsidise a significant part of the boosted spending required to increase the number of completed homes per annum from 32k to 50k. The EU’s spending regulations, however, deter the state from doing so. Private and confidential memos sent to the finance minister earlier this year illustrate the burden on the government to address the ongoing housing crisis before the impending elections over the following year.
In other news, the Sunday Independent reported that Robert “Pino” Harris, a truck dealer who passed away in 2017, left nearly £233m in his will. The individual, who ran the Hino truck dealership in Dublin, was believed to possess a fortune of about £175m during his demise. However, his will revealed that his business estate, valued at £232.7 million, was left to his wife, Denise, who now serves as the chief executive of the Harris group.
Commercial insurance premiums are set for a considerable decline, of up to 40-50% in specific sectors this year, following a sequence of insurance reforms. LHK Group’s managing director, Colm Kelleher, revealed this after his company purchased Finance One last week, forming a business with over 20k clients. He added that liability claim payouts had substantially decreased in recent years, prompting insurance companies to begin transferring these savings onto their customers.
Incorporating judicial guidelines for determining personal injury payouts, alongside the implementation of duty-of-care reforms regarding ‘slips, trips and falls’ last July, constitute significant measures of reform. This intervention has led to a considerable diminution in average payouts. According to the Central Bank data, the average earnings from complete business package insurances – including employer and public liability along with commercial property coverage – has spiked by 8% in 2022 to €2,781, thereby aligning with headline inflation. This figure marks a return to stability witnessed in the preceding two years, following a 32% leap between 2013 and 2019. However, certain sectors have endured considerably larger rate hikes over this period.
Spearheaded by Sean Quinn, a keen entrepreneur, Hilton Prague hotel, previously a proud asset under Quinn’s umbrella, is likely to be placed on sale in the forthcoming weeks. The expected selling price is around €280 million. Despite the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), previously known as Anglo Irish Bank, appointing receivers to the firm that operated numerous Quinn hotels in 2011, it didn’t manage to acquire the assets until 2019, following a protracted legal dispute.
A host of Quinn’s former assets, including Buswells hotel glancing Dáil Éireann, the Barge resting on the Grand Canal, and JW Sweetman located on O’Connell Street, have already effectively changed ownership or have relinquished sales in the last 14 months. Just a week ago, the Slieve Russell Hotel Golf & Country Club in Co Cavan, regarded as the crown jewel of Quinn’s network, was openly available for purchase at €35 million.
The Kerry-based Fexco financial services group, under the leadership of its CEO, Neil Hosty, is actively exploring potential acquisitions, following the recovery of payments and currency-exchange businesses to pre-pandemic levels. Mr Hosty affirmed in a recent interview with the Sunday Independent that they are decidedly focussed on acquisitions. Fexco’s operating profits bounced back to €14.5 million in 2022, from a paltry €3.6 million in 2021, after suffering losses in 2020 due to the tumbling of its foreign-exchange and payment services businesses during the Covid-19 debacle, which also resulted in two subsidiaries going into administration.