Coronavirus was again everywhere in the business world yesterday, with the banks again the focus of much attention. A key development was an undertaking from credit-servicing companies managing loans for so-called vulture funds following mainstream banks in offering measures such as payment breaks to customers affected by Covid-19. Joe Brennan has all the details on this, and on a plan by AIB to sell off troubled loans hitting the brakes. He also reports that raising the contactless payments threshold from €30 to €50 may take longer than expected.
In another Covid-19 story, Joe writes that Irish Life and Zurich Life have moved torestrict investors taking money out of flagship property funds after seeing a spike in client withdrawals.
Outside the crisis, Mark Paul has dissected a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General on a Nama loan sale, which highlights what it describes as "errors and poor analysis" from the State agency. It also suggests that the mistakes could have cost the State up to €29 million.
And back with coronavirus, Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports that KBC Bank's latest consumer confidence index has recorded a nosedive, and that was before school closures were implemented.
Retailers have been among the companies feeling most pain in recent days, leading a group comprising most of the major British retailers in the Republic to ask Government to suspend commercial rates. Mark Paul has more on this.
And with job losses spilling out into every town and village, the loss of 900 jobs at O'Neills Sportswear (700 in Strabane, Co Tyrone) makes for particularly grim reading. Freya McClements has the story. We also learned that Dublin and Cork aiports are scaling back activity and an Aer Lingus union said wages at the airline were effectively being halved. Kingspan also took drastic measures.
Pat McDonagh of Supermac's has been in business for 43 years and says he has never experienced anything like the coronavirus crisis in his lifetime.
“It’s going to change the whole face of the country,” he tells Peter Hamilton in this week’s Business Interview, where he also discusses expansion plans, Galway GAA and his legal battle against McDonald’s.
Ciara O'Brien takes a slightly more positive look at the impact of coronavirus on business in our Agenda feature, looking at the businesses that have nimbly switched gear to meet a new type of demand. From distilleries making hand sanitiser to restaurants doing collection-only service, many enterprises have moved impressively quickly.
Mark Paul must have had something in his eye when he put together this week's Caveat, within which he reflects on the inherent Irish sense of fair play and casual decency that permeates society. He suggests this will help in getting through the coronavirus half-life we're all living, but also argues that it should be a two-way street, with insurance companies and utilities still having more to do.
And finally, if you believe the economy is doomed, read John FitzGerald on the three things Government can do to save the day.
Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our business news alerts and our Business Today daily email news digest.
