Ireland

Operating losses at Irish explorer Botswana Diamonds increased by almost 45 per cent last year as the company lamented a lack of investment and a sector that is “out of favour”. The company, which has been heavily involved in diamond exploration in southern Africa since the 1980s, said losses for the year ended June 30th, 2018, grew to €556,407 from €310,898 the year before, The Irish Times reported. The company’s annual results show the increased losses can largely be attributed to a charge of €179,524 for the “impairment of exploration and evaluation assets”.

The High Court has approved payments of more than €20 million out of the Insurance Compensation Fund to meet a 35 per cent shortfall in awards concerning motorists insured by the collapsed Malta-based insurer Setanta Insurance, The Irish Times reported. The payment orders were sought by the State Claims Agency and were granted on Monday by the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly. They relate to 1,268 eligible claims and will involve total payments of €20,647,966, representing an additional 35 per cent of money due.

The Central Bank of Ireland opted not to change capital requirements on six institutions deemed to be of systemic importance to the Irish economy, The Irish Times reported. A review of what are known as “other systemically important institutions” (O-SII) was consistent with the 2017 review and therefore didn’t require any new policy changes, the bank said on Monday. Bank’s considered “too big to fail” include Bank of Ireland, AIB, Citibank Holdings Ireland, Ulster Bank Ireland, Depfa Bank and Unicredit Bank Ireland.

Insurer FBD Holdings’ original backer subscribed for €20 million worth of loan notes used in clearing a €70 million debt to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, The Irish Times reported. Farmer Business Developments plc, FBD’s founder and one of its biggest shareholders, confirmed that it subscribed for €20 million of the €50 million loan notes used in the insurer’s recent restructuring. This allowed FBD to buy out Fairfax’s loan, which the Canadian group could otherwise have converted to shares.

Investor advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has reversed its initial advice to Aryzta shareholders to vote down the company’s planned €800 million capital raise, while two other proxy advisors have come out in favour of the plan, the Irish Times reported. Following discussions with management and the food group’s largest shareholder Cobas, which is opposing the deal, ISS said it was now advising investors to support the rights issue, which will be put

A summary judgment application for €1.7 million against former AIB and Central Bank director Bernard Somers in relation to a loan that was secured on various assets, including his home in Foxrock, Dublin, has been struck out at the Commercial Court after the sides reached an agreement, The Irish Times reported. Launceston Property Finance DAC had brought the case arising from a demand issued on October 4th, 2017 for some €1.76 million allegedly outstanding on a €3.62 million loan but the matter was adjourned for talks.

Aryzta, the troubled Irish-Swiss baked goods group, has been urged to halve the scale of a planned €800 million rights issue designed to pay down debt and fund the group through a major restructuring of its operations, The Irish Times reported. Cobas Asset Management, the Spanish group that is Aryzta’s largest single shareholder, said on Monday that it is requesting an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to reduce the money being raised to €400 million. Cobas owns almost 15 per cent of Aryzta’s voting stock.

The Irish Banking Culture Board being set up by lenders in the wake of the tracker mortgage scandal is a “self-regulatory” body that will not work unless the Central Bank, unions and consumer groups also have stakes, the Financial Services Union (FSU) has said, the Irish Times reported. “If the banks were serious about culture change, rather than setting up a self-regulatory body, they would support the FSU’s call for a stakeholder-led culture board on banking with the equal participation of management, the Central Bank, FSU and consumer groups,” said Gareth Murphy, the union’