What Wednesday's papers say
AIB u-turn on India outsourcing; judge's social media worries; boost for car-pool plan; Sessions future in doubt
IRISH TIMES
- The Irish Times says the future of US attorney general Jeff Sessions looked increasingly uncertain last night as president Donald Trump renewed his attacks on the country's top justice official, prompting speculation that Sessions could be forced to resign.
- The paper quotes minister for local government Eoghan Murphy as saying that he has "complete confidence" in the management at Irish Water, describing the water outages in Louth and Meath as the biggest crisis the body has faced.
- In business, the Irish Times says AIB has changed its mind on offshoring certain IT functions to India as part of a five-year outsourcing arrangement with Wipro. It is understood the bank decided that such a move was too risky in the current environment.
- The paper quotes sources as saying that US private equity giant Oaktree Capital Management is lining up former Nama executive John Mulcahy to chair a new housebuilder that it is preparing to float on the Irish Stock Exchange in the coming months in what is expected to be a €350m deal.
FINANCIAL TIMES
- The Financial Times leads with news that BMW will build a fully electric version of the Mini in Britain, despite previously warning that it would make the car elsewhere because of the uncertainty created by Britain's departure from the EU.
- The FT reports that Greece returned to the sovereign debt market for the first time in three years yesterday, using incentives to woo still-hesitant investors to a €3 billion bond sale that marked a milestone in the country's return to economic health.
- In companies news, the paper says McDonald's has reported its best showing for global comparable sales in five years, reassuring investors that the world's biggest burger chain can keep pace with shifting appetites.
- The FT says Citigroup has signalled that it will hand over at least $60 billion to shareholders over the next three years as the US bank seeks to move on from a protracted period of post-crisis restructuring.
IRISH INDEPENDENT
- The Irish Independent says Irish Water has to replace almost 1,300km of mains pipes to prevent cut-offs to some of the country's biggest towns and cities, and has identified 1,000km of cast-iron and asbestos pipeline which needs to be replaced before 2021.
- The paper says a government plan to introduce a late-night car pooling system aimed at rural pub-goers has been given a boost after the insurance industry said it was "open" to such a scheme.
- The Irish Independent reports on figures from the Central Bank which show that small and medium-sized businesses with loans of less than €250,000 are being hit with interest rates almost double those with debt of more than €1m.
- The paper says small and medium-sized businesses trading cross-border are being encouraged to take up government-backed support advising them on the level of tariffs that would apply to their products under a hard Brexit. An average of four firms a day have been in contact with InterTradeIreland looking to tap into its Brexit Advisory Service.
IRISH EXAMINER
- The Irish Examiner leads with comments from the state's top judge, Chief Justice Susan Denham, who said the administration of justice is being threatened by the use of social media in the courts. She said such concerns were "widespread and real" and that new laws were needed.
- The paper reports on figures from the Courts Service annual report for 2016, which show that new repossession cases have more than halved in the last two years.
- In business, the Examiner says Domino's Pizza is to restart store expansion in Ireland on the back of a strong performance in the first half of the current financial year. It has 47 Irish outlets, but plans to open a further store - in an unspecified location - during the final quarter of this year, its first expansion in Ireland in a number of years.
- The paper says catering firm HMS Host Ireland Ltd's pre-tax profits for last year increased by 48.5 per cent to €676,320, boosted by a €427,500 pay-off by Shannon Airport for an early termination of a contract.
