8 am - Good morning from the Business Post newsroom. Daniel McConnell here with the stories which are making the news across the news outlets here in Ireland and from across the world.
New CRH chief executive Jim Mintern to earn up to $14.8m this year
CRH’s new chief executive, Jim Mintern, could receive total remuneration of up to $14.8 million (€13.6m) this year if the company hits various performance and share price targets set down by the board, documents filed in the United States show.
According to the Irish Times, this would represent an increase of just under 9 per cent on the package that the Irish building materials giant paid last year to Albert Manifold, who stepped down as chief executive at the end of 2024 and was regularly the best paid CEO among Irish public companies. Mr Manifold was paid $13.6 million last year, marginally down on 2023.
It would also represent a 159 per cent increase on Mr Mintern’s $5.7 million package in 2024, when he was the group’s chief financial officer. He took over as chief executive on January 1st.
Cairn Homes offers Clontarf golf club land swap as ‘several thousand new homes’ envisaged
Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes has approached Clontarf Golf & Bowling Club with a land swap proposal that it believes could deliver “several thousand new homes” on the prime 72-acre site, just north of Dublin’s city centre, the Irish Times is reporting.
Cairn, which built 2,593 new homes here last year, has partnered with Green Land Capital on a land swap proposal that would involve the Clontarf club relocating to 185 acres in Kinsealy that were previously part of the Abbeville estate owned by late taoiseach Charlie Haughey.
The 18-hole championship course would be designed by Irish golfer and former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley. Green Land, which is led by businessman Ray Cotter and his sister Barbara Cotter, has an option to buy the Kinsealy land from its owner, the Nishida family, who own the Toyoko Inn hotel chain.
Eddie Rockets returned to profit in 2023, new accounts show
The firm behind the Eddie Rockets-owned chain of restaurants returned to a pre-tax profit in 2023, mainly due to a €1.67m profit from the disposal of fixed assets, the Irish Independent reports.
New accounts filed by Eddie Rockets (Ireland) Ltd show the company recorded the pre-tax profit of €774,827, as revenues rose by 6pc from €16.45m to €17.39m in 2023.
The pre-tax profit of €774,827 followed a pre-tax loss of €1.8m in 2022 – a positive swing of €2.57m.
In accounts signed off on February 26, the directors state that the trading results for the year and the financial position at the year-end were considered satisfactory.
Goldman Sachs pay surges 30% for handful of top executives
Goldman Sachs collectively awarded four of its top executives a 30 per cent pay raise for their work in 2024, far greater than the bank’s overall workforce, and gave its president John Waldron expanded personal use of the company’s private plane, the Financial Times reports.
In its proxy filing released on Friday, Goldman disclosed Waldron earned $38mn for 2024, finance chief Denis Coleman received $27mn and general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler’s pay was $22.5mn. The Wall Street bank in January said last year’s pay for chief executive David Solomon was $39mn.
G7 warns Russia of expanded sanctions unless it backs ceasefire
The US and its G7 partners have warned Moscow they could expand sanctions and use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, as Donald Trump seeks to win over Vladimir Putin to his ceasefire proposal.
After a week in which Kyiv signed up to the 30-day truce but Moscow signalled reluctance to do so immediately, US secretary of state Marco Rubio and his counterparts achieved a degree of unity on Friday by thrashing out a joint statement on possible steps against Russia.
Their communiqué, released after a G7 meeting in Canada, noted the foreign ministers discussed imposing further penalties if the Kremlin did not fully implement a ceasefire. Asked about US sanctions, Rubio cautioned that Trump “doesn’t want to do that right now, because he’s in the hopes of attracting people on both sides to a process where we can negotiate peace”.
He added it was not clear whether Russia was playing for time.
Starmer slaps down Reeves for suggesting Trump to blame for weak economy
Downing Street has slapped down Rachel Reeves after the Chancellor suggested Donald Trump was to blame for Britain’s weak economic performance, the Daily Telegraph is reporting.
A No 10 spokesman denied that the US president’s tariffs were to blame for a contraction in the economy at the start of the year.
Ms Reeves had appeared to point the finger at Mr Trump’s administration after official figures showed the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank unexpectedly in January by 0.1pc.
However, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said “no” when asked if the US president was at fault.
He added: “We know the cost-of-living crisis is not over, and this Government is determined to make people better off, and that’s why economic growth is the Prime Minister’s number one priority.
Trump's trade war is 'wake-up call' for Europe - Lagarde
A full-scale global trade war would hurt the US in particular and could re-energise Europe's push towards unity, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said today, RTÉ is reporting.
The US has imposed a raft of tariffs on friends and foes alike and threatened even more measures, prompting retaliation from most and raising concern that global growth could take a major hit.
"If we were to go to a real trade war, where trade would be dampened significantly, that would have severe consequences," Lagarde told BBC's HARDTalk programme.
"It would have severe consequences for growth around the world and for prices around the world, but particularly in the United States," she said.