Finance & Management
Finance & Management News
Finance & Management News
Irish M&A deals fall 52% in value in first half from record 2021
The value of inbound investment and takeover deals involving Irish companies fell by 52% in the first half of the year to $6.08 billion (€6 billion) from a record-breaking six months at the start of 2021, according to EY Ireland, as the corporate world navigates challenging geopolitical and economic headwinds.

However, the number of transactions declined by only 9.3%to 117, EY said. The value of deals in the most recent period was down only 17 per cent from the second half of last year, underscoring how Irish M&A figures, because of the small size of the market, can be skewed by some large accords.

Feargal McAleavey, head of corporate finance at EY Ireland, said that a slowdown in investment “three to four months ago has slowly spread to Europe, with some impact in Ireland”.

While Mr McAleavey said there continued to be a lot of venture capital and private equity money globally looking for investments “there’ll definitely be a pullback in valuations” of private M&A deals, in line with a decline by stocks on public markets in recent times. The MSCI All Country World Index, a gauge of equities globally, has fallen by 17.5% so far this year.

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Source: www.irishtimes.com

EU Commission approves €5.4 billion hydrogen project with 15 EU states
The European Commission has approved a €5.4 billion hydrogen project jointly funded by France, Germany and 13 other EU countries, its latest measure aimed at boosting the bloc’s competitiveness and economy.

Called IPCEI Hy2Tech, the project hopes to attract another €8.8 billion in private investments.

The 27-country bloc has in recent years given the green light to jointly funded projects in batteries, microelectronics and infrastructure, labelling such schemes as Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI).

35 companies, including Alstom, Ansaldo, Bosch, Daimler, Enel, Fincantieri Orsted and Plastic Omnium will take part in 41 projects in the hydrogen project.

The scheme will cover the generation of hydrogen, fuel cells, storage, transportation and distribution of hydrogen and end-users applications, in particular in the mobility sector.

Source: www.rte.ie

Card spending decreased 4% in June – Central Bank
Card spending, including ATM transactions, amounted to €8.2 billion in June, according to figures from the Central Bank of Ireland.

It represented a decrease of 4% compared to May and an increase of 16% compared to June 2021, when public health restrictions limited some in-person spending.

Debit card spending was 87% of total card spending at €7.1 billion, while credit card spending was at €1.1 billion.

The data shows that point of sale spending was 18% higher in June when compared to June 2021, at €7 billion, while ATM transactions increased by 6%, to €1.17 billion. ATM transactions continue to remain subdued compared to pre-pandemic levels and were 14% below February 2020 figures.

The volume of PoS card transactions was 10% higher in June when compared to June 2021. The average value of transactions remained relatively unchanged at €44.57 per transaction in June 2022.

The Central Bank figures show that total card expenditure outside of Ireland increased by 16%, or €66 million, when compared to the previous month. When compared to June 2021 this represents an increase of 170%, or €301 million.

Retail spending decreased by 4% in June compared to May. Spending decreased across all retail sectors on a monthly basis.

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Source: www.rte.ie