Saturday, December 14, 2024

The week ahead in business: CSO figures on labour costs and tourism, Eurostat data on energy, and results for Currys and Halfords

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Engage XR chief executive David Whelan

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will share an update of earnings and labour costs in 2023 on Tuesday.

The report will break down the total earnings in each economic sector in Ireland.

The CSO will also publish inbound tourism figures for May on Thursday.

Over 548,100 foreign visitors came to Ireland in April, with 41.6pc of these travelling to the country for a holiday.

The retail sales index for May will also be shared on Friday.

In April, the volume of retail sales was down 1.2pc from March and dipped by 0.9pc from April 2023.

On Thursday, Eurostat will publish insights into energy production and imports in the EU last year.

ECB chief economist Philip Lane will also address an international monetary policy conference in Finland on Wednesday. This event will discuss low and high inflation environments.

Earlier this month, Mr Lane said inflation is slowing faster than expected in the euro area. He added that the ECB will keep “policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary” to achieve the medium-term inflation target of 2pc.

It is set to be a quiet week for corporate results.

A number of UK retailers with outlets in Ireland will share some updates.

Currys will publish its full year results on Thursday. In December, Currys reported a £16m (€18.6m) loss before tax in the first half of its financial year driven by a challenging economic environment and a sluggish performance in the Nordics.

It has 16 stores in Ireland.

Halfords, which has 20 shops in Ireland, will publish its final year results on the same day.

Irish virtual reality company Engage XR, whose chief executive is David Whelan, also holds its annual general meeting on Thursday. The company has its EU headquarters in Waterford

The business signed its largest contract to date with a company in the Middle East in February. Engage XR said education, training and development contracts are expected to drive revenue this year.

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