Latest news with #buildingMaterials
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Norwegian sovereign wealth fund invests €400 million in Kingspan
Norway's sovereign wealth fund has taken a stake worth more than €400 million in Dublin-listed insulation and building materials specialist, Kingspan Group, the Sunday Times reports. Norges Bank, which manages the Government Pension Fund Global, took a 3.06 per cent position in the company at a share price of €75.50 on Friday. The total central bank managed fund is worth around $1.8 trillion. In a trading update for the quarter ended March 31st, Kingspan said it overcame a slow start to the year to record a good financial performance. Group sales rose 9 per cent year on year to €2.1 billion, and were 'modestly ahead' on an underlying basis. Sales of its insulated panels rose 4 per cent, while underlying sales were broadly in line, while insulation sales saw a similar performance, and roofing and waterproofing sales were up 55 per cent on the acquisition of Nordic Waterproofing. Amazon Web Services discussing €3.5 billion Arklow data centre takeover Amazon Web Services (AWS) is in early takeover talks with Echelon Data Centres regarding its €3.5 billion data centre Arklow, the Business Post reports. Neither party in the discussions commented. READ MORE Echelon, which launched the Arklow site project last month, are also planning a second data centre on a near-by site. The site was the first Irish data centre to receive a grid connection and is situated close to the SSE Renewables Arklow Bank Wind Park 2, from which it is said to be planning to purchase energy to offset the power demand from the data centre. Four Star Pizza feels the heat during franchise tech tensions Tensions have risen between Four Star Pizza and some franchisees following the introduction of a new digital trading system to handle sales within stores, The Sunday Times reports. Franchised pizza delivery business, Four Star Pizza Ireland, which owned by the Fitzwilliam hotelier Michael Holland is currently going through an expansion. Franchisees are said to be unhappy with the operation of the new system, and have resisted its implementation. The Sunday Times said it understands that franchisees have consulted legal advisers and are seeking a meeting with management on the matter. A statement from Four Star Pizza management said that it had a forum for franchisees to 'air opinions' and outside of which its communication 'has never been better'. Ryanair flights grounded by GPS issues Up to 50 Ryanair aircraft were temporarily grounded last week due to global positioning system (GPS) issues across a number of airlines, the Sunday Independent reports. Newer aircraft such as the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus 320s were particularly impacted by the problems which left thousands of passengers facing significant delays over a number of days, peaking on Thursday, May 21st. While it is reported no passengers were ever put in danger by the issues, numerous flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry and Knock airports faced issues.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Homeowners spend on renovations and repairs despite the uncertain economy and higher prices
LOS ANGELES — U.S. homeowners are spending more on home renovation projects, bucking a broader pullback by consumers amid diminished confidence in the economy . Sales at building materials and garden supply retailers rose 0.8% last month from March, the biggest gain since 2022, and were up 3.2% from April last year. At the same time, U.S. retail sales overall rose 0.1%, a sharp slowdown from March.
Zawya
21-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi cement prices at 12-year high
Strong domestic demand boosted cement prices in Saudi Arabia in April to its highest level in nearly 12 years, press reports showed on Wednesday. The price of a 50kg cement bag increased by around one percent year-on-year in April amidst an increase in the prices of other building materials, the Arabic language daily Aleqtisadia said, citing industry sources. 'The increase last month meant that cement prices reached their highest level in 12 years due to a number of reasons, mainly strong demand,' the paper said. 'Other factors include the rise in production costs which affected the price to consumers and the end of a long-standing price war among manufacturers,' it added. The report showed the price of a 50kg cement bag averaged around 14.5 Saudi riyals ($3.8) and that local demand surged by about 43 percent in April and nearly 13 percent since the start of 2025. (Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
SIG's top boss Slark to resign
May 9 (Reuters) - British building materials supplier SIG (SHI.L), opens new tab said on Friday its CEO Gavin Slark will resign before the end of this year to take up a new role at peer Travis Perkins (TPK.L), opens new tab.
