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Roundup-Quinn gets court judgements

Tuesday, February 19 07:57:54

The dissolved Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) has been granted court judgments against the fugitive nephew of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn in its action to prevent the stripping of assets from the Quinn family's International Property Group (IPG). Peter Darragh Quinn has not been involved in the action since June when the High Court ruled that he, his uncle Sean and cousin Sean Quinn Jnr, were in contempt of court orders restraining stripping of assets.

Damages against Mr Quinn will, subject to the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, be assessed at a hearing on April 18. It is not yet clear how effective any enforcement order would be - or what assets the IBRC might try to pursue. The Irish Independent

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NAMA expects to sell E3bn to E3.5bn of assets this year, as the agency moves ahead with the sale of two major portfolios of property loans. The news comes as liquidators of the former Anglo Irish Bank dismissed reports that they are putting E2bn of property loans up for sale.

NAMA has faced recent criticism in the press for being seen to be slow in disposing of its almost E30bn of assets.

The agency has rejected the criticism, insisting it must act carefully in maximising value for taxpayers.

Last year NAMA, headed up by chairman Frank Daly and chief executive Brendan McDonagh, generated E4.4bn in cash, with E4.3bn of it coming from sales and much of the rest made on rents. The Irish Independent

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The drinks industry - specifically pubs, off licences and drinks manufacturers - are contributing nearly E3bn per year to the economy, through necessary outlays. A spending survey conducted by Tony Foley, of Dublin City University Business School on behalf of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland covers all kinds of spending from raw ingredients on behalf of drinks manufacturers to wage, entertainment and security bills by pubs and off licences.

With a total of over E2.8bn per year, the report concluded that the drinks sector is responsible for "a far greater" proportion of domestic purchasing than the chemical and technology sectors.

"The drinks industry - both manufacturing and retail - plays a very substantial role in the procurement of inputs, as is apparent from this report," according to Mr Foley.

European corporate relations director at Diageo Ireland and also drinks industry chairman Peter O'Brien said: "The economic contribution that the drinks industry makes to the Irish domestic economy each year, as detailed in this report, demonstrates the importance of the sector.

"What is particularly significant is the high proportion of investment in domestic services and materials - 62pc in services and 42pc in materials - worth E800m, and greatly exceeds the domestic content levels of other leading sectors in the country such as the hi-tech and chemical sectors. The Irish Examiner

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Circle Oil, the oil and gas exploration, development and production company, is planning to drill 12 wells in 2013, with the group's growing available net cash and working capital facility providing the funding for the work programme.

Chief executive Chris Green noted that Circle is "now well placed and well funded to accelerate its operations in 2013 and begin unlocking the latent value in its substantial portfolio."

In Morocco, it has six well drilling programmes planned for the first half of the year, which will boost gross production by 50 per cent. In Egypt, four well drilling programmes, comprising of one producer and three injector wells, are planned from now through to the end of July 2013. The final two wells will be drilled in Tunisia, while an offshore 2D seismic survey will be completed in Oman.

In addition to developing its existing assets, Circle will continue to assess new opportunities to build on its portfolio in its current areas of operations and throughout the MENA region. The Irish Times