{"id":391165,"date":"2026-04-10T06:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/391165\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:18:07","slug":"microsoft-takes-50bn-in-dividends-from-ireland-and-iran-crisis-dents-imf-outlook-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/391165\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft takes $50bn in dividends from Ireland and Iran crisis dents IMF outlook \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft\u2019s Irish business paid almost $50 billion in dividends<\/a> to their US parent last year, according to results published this morning. Ciara O\u2019Brien has been looking at the numbers which attest to a strong year for the software giant.<\/p>\n

Economic growth will be slower than previously projected, even if peace in the Gulf holds, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva says. The IMF<\/a>, which had expected to raise forecasts in next week\u2019s World Economic Outlook, now says even the most hopeful of the scenarios it outlines involves a reversal.<\/p>\n

Despite the world being roiled by Donald Trump, Israel and Iran, Ireland\u2019s exchequer receipts<\/a> for the first quarter look remarkably resilient, writes Paul Colgan, but when it comes to the energy price shock, that does not mean the Government cannot protect the whole country from the rise in prices, according to Seamus Coffey, chairman of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, Ireland\u2019s budgetary watchdog.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new turnover is \u20ac4.75 billion. That makes us a big butcher\u201d, says Dawn Meats boss Niall Browne<\/a> who is splitting his time between Ireland and New Zealand these days as the Waterford meat processor works on integrating New Zealand group, Alliance in which it took a 65 per cent stake last year for the equivalent of \u20ac132 million. He walks Ciar\u00e1n Hancock through the business. <\/p>\n

Back to the fuel crisis, consumer watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has found that price increases in the home heating oil<\/a> and road fuel markets in recent weeks have not been \u201cin breach of any law\u201d. Their report follows complaints from some people about alleged price gouging.<\/p>\n

The price of home-heating oil rose by 67.5 per cent last month, according to the Central Statistics Office<\/a>. That is the largest monthly increase on record with home heating oil rising to its highest price since the CSO started publishing detailed sub-indices in 1996. Diesel was at its highest level since July 2022, while petrol was at its highest level since August 2022. Colin Gleeson crunches the numbers.<\/p>\n

Electricity business Pinergy says it may invest up to \u20ac35 million expanding its solar power operation<\/a> to meet demand among its growing number of commercial customers for cheaper energy. Barry O\u2019Halloran reports.<\/p>\n

Pay to directors at international construction business Ward & Burke <\/a>surged last year by 78 per cent to \u20ac14.82 million on the back of another record performance by the Co Galway headquartered engineering group, writes Gordon Deegan.<\/p>\n

Listed housebuilder Glenveagh<\/a>, meanwhile, is asking shareholders to back a plan to award founder CEO Stephen Garvey options over 11 million shares in the coming years to ensure he remains on board and motivated. Joe Brennan has the details.<\/p>\n

Gordon Deegan also reports on a bumper year for Emerald Park in Co Meath<\/a> where revenues soared after it opened one of the longest intertwining roller coasters in Europe.<\/p>\n

In Smart Money, Cliff Taylor walks a generation who have never heard of it through what bridging finance<\/a> is, along with its advantages and what to beware of.<\/p>\n

Finally, research from PTSB shows that fewer than one in four people have a clear financial plan for their retirement<\/a> and close to half are not confident they will be able to afford the lifestyle they want when they stop working. A sizeable number are also relying on inheritance to allow them to meet their long-term financial goals. Ciara O\u2019Brien has the details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Microsoft\u2019s Irish business paid almost $50 billion in dividends to their US parent last year, according to results…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8319,61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-391165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-business-today","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}