Welcome to the Business Post’s Live News section. We’re here all day to keep you up to date on developments in business, tech and current affairs.
16.45 - Intel vice president says Ireland ‘incredibly important’ to new foundry strategy amid jobs fears
Kevin O’Buckley, who leads Intel’s foundry business, has said the chipmaker’s Irish operations are critical to its future.
His comments come amid concerns for jobs at the Leixlip operation, with a restructuring underway aimed at turning around the troubled business.
Last month the company said it would be reducing its global workforce by 20 per cent. But O’Buckley suggested Irish operations were a key part of the company’s plan.
Elaine Burke reports from San Jose.
16.30 - Iseq closes in the green
The Iseq All Share Index closed in the green on Friday, up 2.78 per cent since previous close.
Among the risers were Ryanair, which saw its passenger numbers rise 6 per cent in April. The airline finished up 5.68 per cent on previous close.
16.15 - Dublin Airport to welcome almost 450,000 passengers over May bank holiday weekend
Almost 450,000 passengers are set to pass through Dublin Airport over the upcoming May bank holiday weekend.
Between Friday and Monday, Dublin Airport is expecting to welcome just over 447,000 passengers, including 229,000 departing and 218,000 incoming passengers.
The busiest day of the weekend is likely to be Friday when around 116,000 will pass through.
16.00 - US job growth slowed marginally in April
US job growth eased slightly in April, but concerns over the labour market are mounting as President Donald Trump’s hardline tariff strategy adds to economic uncertainty.
Released today, the Labor Department’s closely watched employment report showed that nonfarm payrolls rose by 177,000 last month, following a downward revision of March’s figure to 185,000.
Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said the latest figures could be the start of a more considerable slowdown for the US.
“On the surface the latest US employment report looks to be fairly healthy. However, this latest jobs figure is still down markedly from what was a bumper month in March.
“First quarter economic growth in the US was negative, raising the possibility of the world’s largest economy tipping into recession.”
“A potential quickening of this slump may just get the Federal Reserve to act on interest rates, however. So far, Jerome Powell has stood firm that it will not be influenced by the words of Donald Trump and cut rates sooner than it would like,” he added.
15.45 - Global food prices ticked up in April - UN Food Price Index
Global food commodity prices rose in April, largely due to increased cereal, meat and dairy prices, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 128.3 points in April 2025, up 1.2 points (1 per cent) from March.
Increases in the cereal, dairy and meat price indices outweighed decreases in those of sugar and vegetable oils.
Overall, the index was 9.0 points (7.6 per cent) higher than its level a year ago but remained 31.9 points (19.9 per cent) below its peak reached in March 2022.
15.30 - Greencoat Renewables signs deal with Singapore-based Keppel to power two Dublin data centres
Greencoat Renewables has entered into an agreement with the Singapore-based real estate investment trust Keppel DC Reit to supply renewable energy from its Ballincollig wind farm in Kerry to power two data centres in Dublin.
The deal, a ten-year power purchase agreement (PPA), will see Keppel purchase 100 per cent of the electricity generated from Greencoat Renewables’ wind farm in Ballincollig in Kerry, which has an annual output of 31.5GW of renewable energy.
15.15 - Cork Airport in line for €200m expansion over next decade
A €200 million capital development plan has been published to cater for the expansion of passenger numbers at Cork Airport over the next decade.
Work on a number of projects detailed in the plan has already begun.
The plan seeks to provide the enabling infrastructure to allow Cork Airport to cater for five million passengers per year within around eight years.
Last year, Cork Airport had a throughput of 3.1 million passengers, the airport's busiest year in its history for international passenger traffic.
15.00- Bank of Ireland cuts Irish GDP growth forecast to 3.5%
Bank of Ireland has downgraded its projections for Irish GDP growth, citing escalating trade tensions and the impact of newly imposed US tariffs as key factors behind a weaker economic outlook.
In its latest economic forecast, the bank now expects GDP to grow by 3.5 per cent in 2025 and 3.7 per cent in 2026 - down from the 4 per cent growth forecast for 2025 issued in January.
Bank of Ireland said it anticipated a weaker outlook for both consumer spending and core investment, with the latter now expected to grow by 3 per cent, significantly below the 7 per cent predicted previously.
Read the full article by Alice O’Leary here.
14.45 - US markets update
US stock indexes opened higher on Friday, as signs of a de-escalation in the trade war with China and a stronger-than-expected jobs report calmed concerns around the economic toll of tariffs.
At markets open in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.02 per cent to 41,167.49, the S&P 500 gained 0.97 per cent to 5,658.73 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.87 per cent to 17,864.97.
14.30 - Trump signs order that aims to cut funding to news outlets
Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to cut funding to news outlets NPR and PBS, the White House said, marking the U.S. president's latest attempt to use federal funding as leverage against institutions he does not view favourably.
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes funding to PBS and NPR stations, to "cease direct funding" to them, according to the order's text released by the White House late on Thursday. It labelled the news outlets as partisan and biased.
14.15 - Spotify's US app update gets Apple approval after court ruling
Spotify said its US app update has secured Apple's approval to show pricing information and external payment links, days after a judge barred the iPhone maker from charging commission on off-app purchases.
The Swedish streaming giant, along with several other tech firms, has been at loggerheads with Apple over its App Store policies, which require developers to pay a commission on in-app purchases, including subscriptions.
14.00 - Interim examiner appointed to former Press Up company behind 12 venues including the Workman’s Club
An interim examiner has been appointed to a former Press Up company, which controls a dozen venues in Dublin, after a lender called in a debt of €4.5 million.
Workman’s Club Limited, a firm with 362 employees controlling venues including The Workman’s Club, Mama Yo, Vintage Cocktail Club, Angelina’s, was in trouble as a result of a guarantee given by former directors of the company, which include Paddy McKillen jnr, to entities outside of the group, the High Court heard.
Patrick Sheehan, chief restructuring officer of the company, now known as Eclective Hospitality Group, said the move was required for the future of the business.
Read the full report by Catherine Sanz and Killian Woods here.
13.45 - US economy beats expectations with 177,000 jobs added in April
The US added 177,000 jobs in April, beating expectations and defying worries about the early impact of Donald Trump’s policies on the world’s largest economy.
Friday’s figure from the Bureau of Labour Statistics exceeded the 135,000 predicted by economists polled by Bloomberg.
But it marked a fall from March’s downwardly revised number of 185,000 posts. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2 per cent.
Read the full report on the Financial Times.
13.30 - Retail Excellence Ireland calls for pause in minimum wage increases
Retail Excellence Ireland has called on the government to indefinitely pause any increases in the minimum wage.
The body has warned that retail businesses are facing an "intensely difficult" commercial environment.
The statutory minimum wage increased by 38 per cent from January 2020 to January 2025, from €9.80 to €13.50.
Retail Excellence Ireland also called on the government to reintroduce and expand the Increased Cost of Business scheme, which closed in May last year.
13.15 - DHL CEO says rival's claim it broke antitrust rules is unfounded
The chief executive of German postal services group DHL said on Friday that accusations of anti-competitive conduct brought by smaller rival Deutsche Versand Services GmbH were without any merit.
DHL chief executive, Tobias Meyer, spoke at its annual shareholder meeting.
Deutsche Versand Services has accused DHL of unfairly taking advantage of its dominant position in letter delivery, including offering bulk delivery of advertising mail below regulated prices.
Read the full article on Reuters.
13.00 - Shell says it would rather buy back its own shares than bid for BP
Shell’s chief executive has said he would rather buy back more of his company’s own shares than launch a takeover bid for rival oil major BP.
“We will always look at these things, but you are also looking to see what is the alternative. Right now, buying back Shell [shares] for us continues to be absolutely the right alternative to go for,” Wael Sawan told the Financial Times.
Shell has been persistently linked to a bid for BP after a 32 per cent drop in the latter’s share price over the past year. Elliott Management, the activist hedge fund which has built a 5 per cent stake in BP, has warned that the company faces a takeover unless its management makes deeper cuts to its costs and spending.
Read more on the Financial Times.
12.45 - Tristan Capital Partners acquires EasyHotel Ltd
Funds managed by Tristan Capital Partners LLP have acquired 100 per cent of the share capital in EasyHotel Ltd.
The deal includes the EasyHotel located in Dublin’s city centre on Benburb Street, part of a 50-strong network of budget hotels across Europe.
EasyHotel Ltd, which was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM in 2014 and since 2019, has been majority owned by ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge (the real estate group of CDPQ) who took the company private in 2020.
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the creator and owner of the easy family of brands, and family currently own 17.38 per cent of easyHotel. As part of the transaction, Tristan Capital Partners LLP, a real estate investment management company with total assets under management of over €15 billion, will be exercising its right to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of the company for a new clean ownership.
12.30 - Google will seek to avoid ad tech spinoff in antitrust case
Alphabet's, Google on Friday will urge a judge to avoid breaking up its advertising technology business as part of an effort to end its control of tools vital to selling ads on the internet.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, is holding the hearing to get a broad sense of potential remedies to restore competition in markets for technology that helps website publishers sell ads. The judge will then schedule further proceedings to decide specific measures.
12.15 - Amazon cloud revenue and income forecast disappoint, shares slide
Amazon.com last night reported first-quarter cloud revenue growth and forecast operating income below estimates, disappointing investors.
Shares of the company fell as much as 5 per cent in after-hours trading before paring losses to about 1 per cent.
Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud unit, recorded a 16.9 per cent increase in quarterly revenue, to $29.27 billion, missing expectations of 17.4 per cent growth and $30.9 billion in sales.
12.00 - PwC Ireland’s revenues rise 3 per cent to almost €470m
PwC Ireland reported a 2.8 per cent increase in net revenue last year to €469 million, the latest transparency report for the Big Four accounting and consulting firm has revealed.
In gross terms, it revenue was €569 million, up 9.6 per cent on 2023. However, its “expenses and disbursements on client engagements” rose by 59 per cent to €100 million.
This delivered a net revenue of €469 million. All of the figures exclude VAT and relate to income generated by PwC’s firms in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
It does not include fees earned in Ireland by PwC firms regulated in other markets.
11.45 -Whitbread signals strong summer demand for Premier Inn
Premier Inn owner Whitbread signalled strong demand for the upcoming summer season and said it was confident about its medium-term goals, supported by planned expansions in the UK and continued strong performance in Germany.
Its shares rose as much as 8 per cent to their highest since February 11.
Hotel operators are navigating waning leisure demand as high inflation curbs consumer spending on vacations. To cope, it initiated an "Accelerating Growth Plan" to enhance offerings, expand operations, and achieve cost savings.
11.30 - The seasonally adjusted live register rose by 4.5 per cent in April - CSO
The seasonally adjusted live register total for April 2025 was 170,500 people, up by 7,400 people or 4.5 per cent from March 2025.
The unadjusted live register total stood at 167,960 people for April 2025, of which 54.4 per cent were male and 72.1 per cent were Irish.
The 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the live register in April 2025 at 39,138 people or 23.3 per cent of the total.
The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases in the number of people on the live register in the 12 months to April 2025 were Kildare (+5.1 per cent) and Dublin (+3.3 per cent), while the largest decreases were in Kerry (-15.3 per cent) and Clare (-12.6 per cent).
In April 2025 there were 112,528 people on the live register for less than one year, which was 4,121 more people (+3.8 per cent) than in April 2024.
11.15 - Euro area annual inflation stable at 2.2 per cent
Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.2 per cent in April 2025, stable compared to March according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services is expected to have the highest annual rate in April (3.9 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent in March), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (3.0 per cent, compared with 2.9 per cent in March), non-energy industrial goods (0.6 per cent, stable compared with March) and energy (-3.5 per cent, compared with -1.0 per cent in March).
11.00 - TikTok fined €530m over illegal transfer of European user data to China
TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, has been fined €530 million for illegally transferring European users’ date to China, and ordered to halt further transfers within six months.
This marks the third highest penalty ever issued under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and follows a four-year investigation.
It is also the second fine to be issued by the Irish Data Protection Commission against TikTok. It previously issued a €345 million fine against the company in September 2023 after it was found to have violated the privacy of young users aged between 13 and 17 years who used its video sharing app.
Read the full report by Charlie Taylor.
11.00 - Ires boss Eddie Byrne calls proposed reference rent regime ‘really, really complicated’
Eddie Byrne, chief executive of Ires Reit, the state’s largest landlord, has said the state needs to balance tenant protections with the need to encourage private investment in rent pressure zones to increase the supply of rental properties in Ireland.
Byrne, who has led the Dublin-listed company for the past year, said a so-called reference rent system proposed by the Housing Commission last year would be too complicated to set up and further delay private rental sector (PRS) development.
A reference rent regime, used in some European countries such as Germany, would link rates to local properties of a similar standard as a way to manage the private rental sector and ensure stability and fairness for both tenants and landlords.
Read the full article by Vish Gain here.
10.45 - Majority of Irish consumers prefer physical stores
A large majority of Irish consumers (70 per cent) still prefer in-person shopping for essentials.
83 per cent favour physical stores for fresh food, while 74 per cent prefer them for personal care items.
These are some of the findings of the 15th edition of the EY Future Consumer Index, which surveyed more than 20,000 consumers across 26 countries, including more than 500 here in Ireland.
It's absolutely fair to say that any talk of the demise of bricks and mortar is definitely not true, particularly here in Ireland, according to Colette Devey, EY Ireland consumer sector lead.
10.30 - ESRI finds investments by SMEs still below pre-pandemic levels
Investments made by small and medium enterprises in Ireland are still below pre-pandemic levels.
This is according to a new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which found that nearly 60 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) invested in capital assets in 2023, an increase from 2020 and 2021 (55 per cent) but still below the pre-pandemic levels (64 per cent).
In nominal terms, the report found that mean and median investments have increased and recovered to pre-pandemic levels. However, after accounting for changes in price levels, the mean and median are below 2019 investments.
10.15 - Tesla's sales in key European markets plunge in April
Tesla sales in some European markets fell sharply in April, in an acceleration of a trend seen since the beginning of the year for Elon Musk's EV brand, as Europeans buy more Chinese cars and some protest against his political views.
Tesla's new car sales in April fell by 80.7 per cent in Sweden, national data showed on Friday, a day after Denmark recorded a 67.2 per cent drop in Tesla sales and France reported a 59.4 per cent fall, its fourth straight month of sales contraction.
10.00 - Tara Mines reports pre-tax loss of €91m for 2024 following operational shutdown
Tara Mines, one of Europe’s largest zinc mines, has reported a pre-tax loss of €91.1 million for 2024, marking a 35 per cent increase from the €67.4 million loss recorded in the previous year.
The Meath-based mine, owned by Swedish metals firm Boliden, attributed the widening losses to the temporary suspension of its operations in 2023.
Recently filed accounts with Companies Registration Office (CRO) show that Tara Mines Holdings Designated Activity Company made a €68.6 million post-tax loss for 2024. The firm benefitted from a tax credit of €22.51 million.
Read the full article by Alice O’Leary here.
09.45 - Moët Hennessy to cut 10% of workforce as luxury slowdown bites
Moët Hennessy will cut its workforce by more than 10 per cent as the newly installed executives at LVMH’s weakest division seek to reinvigorate its performance.
Jean-Jacques Guiony, Moët Hennessy chief executive, and his deputy Alexandre Arnault told staff at the wine and spirits division this week that they planned to cut the workforce back to 2019 levels.
Current headcount of 9,400 would need to be reduced by about 1,200, Guiony said, adding that the division’s revenues were at 2019 levels even though costs had increased by 35 per cent since then.
The Financial Times has the full report.
09.30 - Microsoft Irish subsidiary pays $23 billion dividend to US parent
A Microsoft subsidiary in Ireland paid dividends of more than $23 billion to its US parent company last year, according to its financial accounts.
Newly filed accounts by Microsoft Round Island One, which holds investments in other companies within the Microsoft group, show the company paid $23.27 billion in dividends during the financial year ended June 2024. This was down from $38 billion a year previously.
However, the company declared an additional dividend of $18 billion “subsequent to the financial year end”, according to a note in the accounts.
Read the full article by Vish Gain here.
09.15 - Harrods latest UK retailer to be hit by cyber attack
Harrods has become the latest high-profile UK retailer to fall victim to a cyber attack amid a wave of hacking incidents.
The luxury London department store said it had restricted internet access across its sites yesterday as a precautionary measure following an attempt to gain unauthorised access to its systems.
"We recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems. Our seasoned IT security team immediately took proactive steps to keep systems safe, and as a result, we have restricted internet access at our sites today", a Harrods spokesperson said in a statement.
09.00 - Lisney director warns developers’ confidence in government waning as ‘housing emergency’ worsens
The “housing emergency” is worsening, and there is little confidence among industry professionals in the government’s ability to deal with the situation, a senior Lisney director has said.
James Nugent, a senior director at the firm, said while he had “no view” on whether Brendan McDonagh, the Nama chief executive, was the right person to head up the government’s new Housing Activation Office (HAO), it appeared the housing crisis was worsening and needed to be addressed.
“The issues with our housing emergency appear to be getting worse and from speaking to developers (and industry) there is little confidence in the government’s ability to grapple with the problem.
08.45 - Bank of Ireland net interest income falls by 8% as rate cuts bite
Net interest income has fallen by 8 per cent at Bank of Ireland “primarily reflecting European Central Bank rate cuts”, according to the lender.
In its interim management statement, the bank said the drop is “in line with expectations”.
Commenting on the results, Myles O’Grady, the chief executive at Bank of Ireland said: “We had a very good start to the year, with performance and profitability in line with our expectations”.
Read the full story by Laura Roddy here.
08.30 - Standard Chartered flags tariff uncertainty after 10% quarterly profit beat
Standard Chartered on Friday reported a 10 per cent profit rise as strong wealth, markets and other fee-based business boosted revenue against narrowing rate income, though it joined peer HSBC in saying increased tariffs would weigh on credit quality.
The Asia-, Africa- and Middle East-focused bank reported pre-tax profit for the first quarter of $2.1 billion, versus $1.91 billion in the same period a year earlier and the $1.905 billion average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank.
08.20 - Irish markets update
The Iseq All Share opened in the green Friday morning, up nearly 2 per cent to 10,576.02.
Pillar banks led the gains, with AIB shares surging more than 3 per cent. Bank of Ireland was up 2.95 per cent after Myles O’Grady, the bank’s chief executive, said its latest performance and profitability was “in line with our expectations”.
Other top risers included Ryanair, Kingspan and Kerry Group. Meanwhile, Origin and Glenveagh were the only shares slightly in the red.
08.15 - Europe ready to make Trump a €50bn trade offer, says EU negotiator
Brussels wants to increase purchases of US goods by €50 billion to address the “problem” in the trade relationship, the EU’s top negotiator has said, adding that the bloc is making “certain progress” towards striking a deal.
But Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, suggested in an interview with the Financial Times that the bloc would not accept Washington keeping in place 10 per cent tariffs on its goods as a fair resolution to trade talks.
Steep tariffs are due to be imposed on the EU and multiple countries in early July, leaving the bloc racing to avoid a full-blown transatlantic trade war.
Read more on the Financial Times.
08.00 - Enterprise Ireland’s listed share portfolio loses €4m in two years
The value of Enterprise Ireland’s shares in publicly listed Irish companies has declined to around €1 million - down from more than €5 million in 2021.
The state’s indigenous Irish business development agency does not invest directly in listed companies, but can often hold equity in start-ups that later go public, eventually disposing of those shares at a commercially appropriate time.
In a reply to parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne last month, Peter Burke, the enterprise minister, said Enterprise Ireland, which is led by chief executive, Kevin Sherry, had confirmed to him it currently held investments in 1,398 companies.
Read more by Daniel Murray here.
07.45 - China low-value package tariff exemption ends but questions remain over US collections
The Trump administration ended US duty-free access for low-value shipments from China and Hong Kong on Friday, removing the "de minimis" exemptions availed of by Shein, Temu and other e-commerce firms as well as traffickers of fentanyl and other illicit goods.
The action restores an executive order from President Donald Trump in February that was quickly suspended due to a lack of screening procedures for sub-$800 shipments that sparked chaos at airports and caused millions of packages to pile up.
07.30 - Ryanair carried 18.3 million passengers in April
Ryanair traffic grew 6 per cent in April 2025 to 18.3 million passengers.
New figures released by Ryanair on Friday revealed that passenger numbers rose by 6 per cent in the month, up from 17.3 million in March.
The budget airline, led by group chief executive, Michael O’Leary, operated over 103,000 flights during the month.
According to the figures, the airline also increased its load factor during April, rising 1 per cent from 92 per cent to 93 per cent capacity.
Compared to last year, the number of rolling passengers increased by 9 per cent. In the four months to April 2024, Ryanair carried 185 million passengers and over the same period in 2025, the airline carried 201.3 million passengers.
07.15 - Asian markets update
Global stocks surged on Friday as signs of possible trade talks between the US and China lifted risk sentiment after lacklustre earning results from tech bellwethers Apple and Amazon fuelled worries about the impact of a global trade war.
China's commerce ministry said on Friday the United States has repeatedly expressed its willingness to negotiate on tariffs and that Beijing's door is open for talks, in a move that could ease trade tensions that have roiled global markets.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose to its highest level since March 25, recouping all of its losses since US President Donald Trump kicked off a trade war with his tariffs in early April.
Japan's Nikkei gained over 1 per cent and Taiwan stocks surged 2.4 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.6 per cent, while mainland China markets were closed for a long holiday.
07.00 - Good morning
Good morning from the Business Post. Emma Hanrahan here to keep you up to date on all the latest news as it happens.
Leading the Business Post website is an interview by Alice O’Leary with Poolbeg Pharma chief, Cathal Friel, who said that Trump is ‘’shaking the whole world’ but drug company threats to EU are wrong. Read more here.
Elsewhere, the Financial Times leads with an article about Microsoft, which has emerged as the winner from Big Tech’s first earnings of the new Trump term. Read the full piece here.