Headlines

A Circuit Court judge has refused to confirm the appointment of an examiner over three companies tied to KC Capital Property Group, the Irish Times reported. The developer is appealing the decision in the High Court. That will be heard next week. KC Capital is behind a nine-storey office block on Cuffe Street beside St Stephen’s Green, known as the Greenside Building, with the court hearing it has built up debts in excess of €55 million in the construction phase but just two months of work remain.

Higher U.S. tariffs are not the main reason for a surge in Chinese exports to the eurozone, Africa and other parts of Asia, according to economists at the European Central Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported. While President Trump last year hiked tariffs on imports from countries around the world, the duties faced by Chinese businesses are higher than most other countries. That has led to a sharp fall in Chinese exports to the world’s largest economy.

The number of hospitality businesses entering insolvency eased very slightly in 2025, yet remained historically high, reflecting challenging trading conditions for the industry, CatererLicensee.com reported. Some 3,353 accommodation and food service companies, including hotels, restaurants and pubs, closed in the twelve months to December 2025, down 3.2 % from 3,465 for 2024, according to government data. Q4 saw a 2.4% improvement over Q3, with 786 companies in trouble.

Integratel Peru improved its operating result as it moves forward with a financial restructuring plan within the framework of its insolvency proceedings before Indecopi, BNAmericas.com reported. Since the acquisition of Telefónica's operation in April, the company set out to transform its operation to optimize management models and strengthen the foundations of the business, achieving operating efficiencies of 229 million soles (US$67.6 million (mn)). The strategy involves prioritizing higher-profitability customer clusters to improve operating results.

Bank of Ireland is to pull out of its US leveraged acquisitions finance business, exiting a business that had accounted for the bulk of a €137 million bad loan provision in its most recent results, the Irish Times reported. The lender will run down its loan book over the next three years or so, it said in a statement. The book was worth about €1.2 billion at the end of 2025, having had an average value of €1.6 billion throughout the year, it added.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand left interest rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting and said it expected inflation to retreat soon and for economic recovery to gather pace in the year ahead, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The economy is at an early stage in its recovery. With ongoing strength in commodity prices, economic activity in the agricultural sector and regional New Zealand remains strong,” the central bank said Wednesday. The official cash rate was held steady at 2.25% as expected.

The International Monetary Fund urged Japan to keep raising interest rates and avoid loosening fiscal policy further, warning that trimming the consumption tax would erode its capacity to respond to future economic shocks, Reuters reported. The recommendation came as dovish Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide election win heightens market attention to whether she will push back against further rate hikes by the central bank. It also follows Takaichi's pledge to suspend by two years an 8% consumption tax on food sales.

Property website Rightmove said U.K. house prices in February were virtually flat on month as a high choice of homes for sale and steadying buyer activity prevented a rise, the Wall Street Journal reported. Rightmove said that the number of homes for sale was at an 11-year high for this time of year, as confidence rebounded after the prolonged uncertainty surrounding the country’s autumn budget. According to the online real-estate platform, January was the strongest start to the year for asking prices since 2020, with prices rising 2.8% since December.

Cuba's Varadero peninsula is a postcard of a tropical paradise: turquoise waters, powder-white sand and palm trees, Reuters reported. But the resort's beaches, once crowded with tourists enjoying the sand and sunshine, began to clear out shortly after Cuba announced on February 8 it was running out of jet fuel. And they may not be coming back anytime soon. A Reuters survey of hotel and travel companies, airlines and on-island tourism industry workers found virtually every sector suddenly crippled by the fuel shortage.