Seen and heard: IDA paying US giants for jobs and consumer sentiment wavers

Amazon eyes UK Homebase stores and Ford warnings over Brexit

Trade war tops agenda as US actions take toll on Turkish lira

Business Week: Vulture funds, housing and corporate struggles fill the headlines

Homebase to close three of its 11 Irish stores

Store also plans to cut 1,500 jobs as struggling home-improvement chain seeks to shore up performance

Bayer shares fall up to 14% after Monsanto’s Roundup lawsuit

California jury has ordered a Bayer subsidiary to pay €254m for not warning of cancer risks posed by its main weed killer

Homebase to cut 1,000 jobs by shutting 80 stores next week

DIY chain with 11 Irish outlets was bought by restructuring experts Hilco in May

Bank of Ireland attracts interest as markets generally flat

Weaker oil prices hit majors, including Tullow Oil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell

Wesfarmers concedes defeat with £1 sale of Homebase

Restructuring specialist Hilco buys DIY group after Australian retailer learns an expensive lesson

Are DIY skills becoming a thing of the past?

We lost our DIY skills in the boom when we we got notions and hired people to do things for us

Market turmoil, tracker scandals and sporting profits

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from ‘The Irish Times’ business desk

Homebase takeover becomes tale of retail disaster

Australian owners write down almost £600m after totally misjudging market

Global stocks extend biggest sell-off since 2016

Investors remain spooked by threat of inflation in US

Homebase owner mulls exit from UK and Irish markets

Wesfarmers is reviewing future of its 250 Homebase stores in UK and Ireland after bungling 2016 takeover

Brexit drives profits down 72% at Laura Ashley

Fashion and homeware retailer cites weaker pound and ‘challenging’ trading conditions

Laura Ashley shares drop 18% after profit warning

Home furnishings and womenswear group says its full-year earnings will take £2.8m hit

Retail parks bounce back as recovery in spending picks up

Dublin centres have less than 4% space available, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate

Argos has best sales performance for two years

Improvement despite takeover by Sainsbury’s and poor weather

Pricewatch queries: Direct debit bounce leads to unwelcome charges

Plus: Homebase has experts on all things fairy

Debenhams gave year-long commitment to Irish arm in December

Irish operation has accumulated losses of more than €22m in past three years

Argos owner faces wait for approval on Sainsbury’s takeover

Deal expected to complete in third quarter of year assuming no intervention by authority

North’s largest retail parks bought for €55m by Lotus and Tristan

Junction One in Antrim and The Outlet outside Banbridge cover 95 acres in total

€5.25m for Fonthill office/industrials

Buildings now used for workshops, showrooms and warehousing.

Sainsbury’s buys Argos-owner Home Retail in search for growth

Meanwhile EasyJet founder takes on Aldi and Lidl with easyFoodstore in London

Sainsbury to buy Argos owner for £1.3bn

Deal will combine two of the UK’s biggest retailers in an effort to fight back against competition

Home Retail confirms Homebase sale to Wesfarmers

Homebase to rebrand as Bunnings in Ireland and the UK as it goes head-to-head with B&Q

Argos reports 2.2% drop in sales despite rise in digital trade

Owner Home Retail in talks to sell Homebase chain to Australia’s Wesfarmers

Markets suffer Chinese burns after currency woes

Tullow Oil loses 9.9% in Dublin after further falls in oil price, but Ryanair gains 2.2%

Sainsbury considers offer for Argos owner

Deal with Home Retail Group would combine two of the UK’s largest retailers

Private equity groups consider bid for Argos owner

Home Retail Group shares rose the most in more than two years after reports suggest £1bn bid could be forthcoming

Irish firm to invest in Cork’s Wilton

Clarendon Properties expected to have share in company bidding for Cork centre

US company favourite to acquire five retail parks for over €170m

Davidson Kempner is top bidder for Nutgrove and four others producing rent of €12.2m

Home Retail’s Argos suffers yet another sales fall

Sales at stores open over a year fall 2.8% in the 13 weeks to the end of August

€115m for provincial retail portfolio

Nama to offload Cork’s Wilton shopping centre and Galway, Drogheda retail parks

Toys R Us leases shops in Dublin and Limerick

Store takes over vacant retail spaces at Westend Retail Park and Parkway Retail Park

More than €162m for five retail parks in receivership

Portfolio of retail assets largest to come on market since crash

LA investment fund buyer of Navan Retail Park

Unit bought by Target Investment Opportunities is about a kilometre from the Co Meath town centre

Home Retail says Argos sales dented by poor electricals market

Sales at Argos stores open for more than a year fell 3.9% in the 13 weeks to May 30

Disappointing end to year for Argos owner

Home Retail delivers a weaker-than-expected finish to the year at both its Argos and Homebase chains

Swiss roll throws markets into turmoil

Move sends most European shares soaring as bond yields and Swiss equities tumble

Argos owner Home Retail reports weak Christmas sales

Retailer sought to protect its profitability by not chasing sales with further discounts

Argos owner Home Retail first half profit rises

Retailer to close 80 Homebase stores while MD Paul Loft is also planning to step down

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

The Irish Times ePaper

Stardust

Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people

Common Ground

How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands