Live News: Tesco pleads guilty to failing to display unit pricing; Council pours cold water on DAA parking plans

Welcome to the Business Post’s Live News section. We’re here all day to keep you up to date on the latest developments in business, tech and current affairs.

17.35 - Grocery inflation now at 2.5 per cent

The rate of grocery inflation fell to 2.5 per cent at the beginning of June, continuing a recent decline in the rate of price increases, new data from Kantar shows.

The 12-week figure is down marginally from 2.6 per cent a month ago and significantly lower than the 13 per cent rate recorded a year ago. The rate now stands at the lowest rate since March 2022.

The full story is here.

17.05 - Tesco pleads guilty to failing to display unit prices

Tesco Ireland has pleaded guilty of not displaying unit pricing for products it sells on promotion through its Clubcard scheme.

The case follows an investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in August last year which found the infringing price labels.

Tesco Ireland was ordered to pay the legal costs of the CCPC and a donation of €1,000 to the Little Flower Penny Dinners charity.

Unit pricing is legally mandated in Ireland, and allows consumers to easily compare the price of products in different volumes.

16.40 - Fingal County Council pours cold water on DAA parking plans

Fingal County Council has informed the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) that it would be difficult to support plans the authority has for 950 additional car parking spaces for staff.

As reported by the Irish Times, the council said in pre-planning consultations that due to a shift in national policy towards sustainable transport, the proposal for additional spaces contravened their development plan.

DAA said that the spaces were replacing existing parking, and so should be permitted, but the council said this was “not strong enough” a reason for the scale of proposed parking.

16.15 - Solution to Aer Lingus dispute ‘difficult to see’ - expert

An industrial relations expert has cast doubts on the pay dispute between Aer Lingus and its pilots who are members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) being resolved in the coming days.

Aer Lingus pilots who are members of Ialpa will commence an indefinite work-to-rule on Wednesday and an eight-hour strike starting at 5am on Saturday.

Professor Michael Doherty of Maynooth University said he would be “very surprised if there was anything that would avert the action coming up over the coming days”.

Ellie Donnelly has the full story.

15.30 - Credit unions to offer energy upgrade loans

Cork Credit Unions have announced a partnership with Energywise Ireland to offer competitive loan rates for households.

Through the “one-stop shop” programme, homeowners can claim up to €34,000 in grants for energy improvement measures, including solar panels, heat pumps and energy-efficient ventilation systems.

The loans are aimed at Corkonians living in a house with a BER of B3 or lower.

With the help of SEAI grants, Credit Union members based in Cork will be able to apply for energy improvement loans and a fast drawdown of funds.

Energywise currently has similar partnerships with Credit Unions in Kerry & West Limerick.

14.49 - Former EIB head under investigation

Werner Hoyer, the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) former president, is under investigation for corruption, abuse of influence and misappropriation of EU funds, reported the Financial Times.

The investigation of Hoyer, 72, a German economist and former junior minister who led the EU’s bank for 12 years, is being conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (Eppo), which polices the misuse of EU funds. The subject of the investigation was the compensation paid to a departing EIB employee, an agreement signed by the then-EIB president.

The EIB is the EU’s lending arm and the largest multilateral development lender in the world, with reserves of over €500 billion. The case is one of the most high-profile launched by the Eppo since it launched in 2021. Hoyer has described the allegations against him as “absurd and unfounded” and says that he is “co-operating fully” with the Eppo in its investigation.

13.54 - BOI issues ticket scam warning

Bank of Ireland has issued a warning to consumers about potential ticket scammers as the music festival season commences. Nicola Sadlier, head of fraud at Bank of Ireland, said that with Taylor Swift playing in Dublin this week and summer festivals kicking off, it is important that concertgoers are alert to fraud.

"They are counting on people being so keen to get to see their favourite artist play that they ignore the warning signs and take a chance on the offer of a ticket even if it sounds too good to be true," she said.

Illegitimate sellers will often ask customers to send money directly through bank transfer which provides little protection. Sadlier advised consumers to only buy tickets from reputable sites and added that if a person is a target of a scam, they should contact their bank immediately to try to stop fraud in progress and potentially recover funds.

13.23 - Ryanair working with Aer Lingus on transfers

Ryanair has said it is working closely with Aer Lingus to accept some of its transfer passengers ahead of industrial action starting on Wednesday, Ellie Donnelly reports.

Aer Lingus pilots who are members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) will commence an indefinite work-to-rule on Wednesday, and an eight hour strike starting at 5am on Saturday morning.

Today Ryanair said it had added two extra flights to and from London Stansted and two additional flights to Malaga and Faro airports on Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30 in response to the strikes.

12.50 - Report says Shein has filed for London IPO

The online fashion retailer Shein has confidentially filed papers for a potential listing in London with Britain’s market regulator, Reuters has reported, citing two sources. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that an initial public offering could value the company at about £50 billion.

The listing would potentially help London claw back a chunk of the market value it has lost from companies shifting their primary listings to New York. The London Stock Exchange also has largely missed out on this year’s revival of European IPOs so far.

Shein, which was founded in China and is now headquartered in Singapore, looked to list in London after judging it unlikely that the US Securities and Exchange Commission would approve a New York IPO, Bloomberg News reported in February.

12.26 - Ergo weighs up equity investment

Ergo, the privately-owned IT services company, is weighing up plans to take on equity investment for the first time as part of a strategy that could see it going public.

The news comes as the company eyes a number of acquisitions as it seeks further growth in the UK and US. It is also targeting opportunities in Asia Pacific, having recently opened an office in Auckland, New Zealand, to serve the region.

Our technology editor Charlie Taylor has all the details.

11.19 Decathlon to open Clery’s store on Friday

The sports retailer Decathlon will open its third store in Ireland in the restored Clery’s Quarter on O’Connell Street in Dublin this Friday, June 28. The store will have a floor area of over 2,200 square metres, span two levels and create over 50 jobs.

Decathlon currently has two other stores in Ireland. Its first opened in Ballymun in Dublin in 2020 and its second in Limerick in 2023.

11.05 New director at Re-turn

Edel Russell, the director of insight and innovation at Musgrave, the supermarket group, has been appointed as a director of Re-turn, the firm responsible for Ireland’s deposit return scheme, according to new filings.

Documents filed with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) show that Russell, the co-chair of ECR Ireland, the retail representative group, has joined senior figures from Tesco and Heineken’s Irish arms, as well as one RTÉ board member, on the Re-turn board.

Read more here.

10.25 - EU gives Apple fresh warning

Apple’s anti-trust feud with the European Union over allegedly illegal practices on its App Store has intensified, with watchdogs issuing a fresh warning that could lead to more fines just months after they slapped the firm with a €1.8 billion penalty for thwarting music-streaming rivals.

The European Commission has said that Apple must allow app developers to steer users to cheaper deals and offers outside the App Store in order to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which lays out a raft of dos and don’ts for some of the world’s largest technology platforms.

Get the full story here.

09.00 - New chair at Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland

Helen Nolan has been appointed as chairwoman of Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland. Nolan will succeed Paul Raleigh, who recently stepped down from the position after six years.

Nolan is a former group secretary of Bank of Ireland, and also previously served as a chief internal auditor at Bank of Ireland. She is a non-executive director of the New York-listed fresh fruit group Dole, the insurance technology company Companjon Insurance, and the Institute of Directors Ireland.

The UK-based Aviva divided its Irish business in 2019 into two units: Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland and a general insurance arm, Aviva Insurance Ireland. Michael Shaw is currently the chairman of Aviva Insurance Ireland.

8.30 - House prices up

House prices rose by an average of 3.8 per cent between April and June according to new figures from the property listings website Daft.ie, the largest quarter-on-quarter gain since mid-2020.

This increase brings the average advertised price for a house in Ireland to €340,398. The increases in listed prices varied by region but were highest in Munster, which experienced a 10.3 per cent year-on-year growth, and smallest in Dublin where prices rose by 4.7 per cent year-on-year. Read more here.

8.10 - Investors ponder French election

The prospect of a change in the balance of power in France has investors on edge, with banks, road operators and utilities among the stocks with most on the line.

Weighed down by potential risks around tax hikes, higher borrowing costs and possibly even nationalisations, those sectors have been at the forefront of a €225 billion rout in the Paris bourse since president Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary vote on June 9.

With Macron’s party and its allies trailing far-right politician Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, as well as the left-wing New Popular Front in polls, investors have much to ponder ahead of the two vote. Get the full analysis here.

7.30 - Tenants pay €30k over asking prices to secure homes

Tenants whose landlords are selling up are paying €30,000 over guide price to secure properties in Dublin before their leases expire, according to new research from the Real Estate Alliance (REA), a countrywide network of estate agents.

Anthony McGee of REA McGee, which has offices in Tallaght and Rathfarnham, said properties are regularly exceeding their value by €30,000 in the band between €250,000 and €350,000.

"Properties guiding at €320,000 are routinely selling for €350,000 simply because the buyer is under time pressure due to a notice to quit," McGee said. “If they are forced into the market, they are maxing out their loan approval to secure somewhere to live within their time frame."

7.00 - Over 10,000 workplaces inspections carried out

More than 10,000 workplace inspections were carried out by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) last year, according to new figures. The body’s annual report showed 9,995 proactive inspections took place, while 463 inspections were carried out reactively.

Following those inspections, 225 investigations took place, with 83 of those involving a fatal incident. Of those fatalities, 43 were deemed to be work-related.