Lessons from the month of November

As storms battered and elections raged, the penultimate month of the year brought with it much to think about. Here are some of the best lessons we learned.

1. Things are looking… good?

According to the latest flash estimate for the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) energy prices are estimated to have grown 0.2 per cent in November, they were down 7.7 per cent year-on-year. Food prices were estimated to have risen by 1.7% in the past 12 months. The cost of consumer goods and services in Ireland increased by 0.5% in the year to November. Despite the rise, the headline rate remained close to a three-year low.

That said, the number of people employed in the Republic rose to a fresh record high of 2.79 million in the third quarter of 2024, up 3.7% from a year earlier. The latest Labour Force Survey from the Central Statistics Office estimates the employment rate among people aged 15 to 64 at 75.3% in the period, the highest rate recorded since its data series began in 1998.

Finally, Irish consumer sentiment was “steady but subdued,” according to RTÉ.ie, in November. The latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index, in partnership with Core Research, shows an index reading of 74.1 for November, identical to that in October. (Only once in 29 years has the index been completely unchanged between one month and the next.) Based on the data, all is pretty positive, with economist Austin Hughes insisting it is a good deal better than last year and moving in the right direction.

2. Homebase is no more.

The High Court has appointed provisional liquidators to DIY chain Homebase after Hilso, the franchise’s owner, struggled to find an outright buyer. CEO Damian McGloughlin said the company suffered by way of persistent high inflation, global supply chain issues and unseasonable weather.

Homebase had been owned by Hilco since 2018 when it paid just £1 to Australia’s Wesfarmers for the then 255-store chain. Unfortunately, Wesfarmers had a pretty poor two-year tenure, paying £340 million for the business. Teneo said Homebase had recently completed the sale of 11 stores to Sainsbury’s and had agreed to sell a further three. It said the remaining 49 stores would continue to trade while it held talks with interested parties, there would be no immediate redundancies and customer orders would be fulfilled “as far as possible”. Those with vouchers are being asked to spend them sooner rather than later, or risk being left out of pocket.

3. It’s all comin’ up AI.

A new research group designed to advance accountability in artificial intelligence, the AI Accountability Lab, has been launched at Trinity College Dublin. Its aim is to examine the broader impacts of AI, hold powerful entities accountable for technological harms and research how AI technologies disproportionately affect vulnerable groups.

Continuing with AI, startup Anthropic revealed this month that it’s raised an additional $4b from longtime backer Amazon. This brings the e-commerce giant’s total investment to $8b and underscores Big Tech’s growing genAI investments. Anthropic, which was co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, said last year it had also secured a $500m investment from Alphabet, which promised to invest another $1.5b over time.

Finally, in other tech-related news, revenues surged at Facebook’s Dublin office in 2023, resulting in an uptick of 20%, or €11.69 billion to €69.75 billion, in a record performance for the business. New accounts show that pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of social media giant Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd increased by 6% from €1.75 billion to €1.85 billion. Directors for the Irish arm state that the company “has continued to grow during the year. Substantially all revenue is generated from advertising”.

4. Monkey see monkey punish.

November was very much a political month around the world, but perhaps none more political than in the US – or Pennsylvania, for anyone who watched – as president-elect Donald Trump regained his seat as the most powerful man in the US. Before he officially takes office, he’s already made clear one of his first intentions; applying tariffs of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada, by way of accusing both of failing to control the flow of illegal migrants and drugs into the US. Additional tariffs of 10% above those already in place for China are also being threatened, because Beijing has not acted to stop “massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl,” being sent to the US, as per the soon-to-be Commander in Chief.

Is this simply a negotiating tactic? Who knows. But Trump – a person with Scottish heritage, a Slovenian wife and ample properties and businesses worldwide – seems insistent on punishing citizens of other countries for any connection to the US. How he will balance this with his desire not to upset the financial markets remains to be seen.

5. The price of fair pay at Disney.

Disney will pay $43.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit from roughly 9,000 women employees in California who have accused the company of gender-based pay discrimination. As a result of the deal, Disney will retain experts to address “significant pay differences” using a model commissioned by lawyers representing the women, they said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, centres on claims made by female workers employed by Disney since 2015, who said they were paid less than their male counterparts for substantially similar work. At the time, Disney denied allegations. A settlement was reached in September, with details only becoming public now. “This settlement would not be possible without these courageous women. Because of them, women can expect equitable treatment at Disney in the future,” said Christine Webber, a lawyer for the women and partner at Cohen Milstein. “I am hopeful the court will move swiftly to approve the settlement, so these hard-working women can move forward with confidence that best practices will be used and unencumbered by further litigation.”

6. And the obligatory M&A roundup:

Two of Dublin’s best-known law firms ByrneWallace and LK Shields Solicitor, are to merge their practices to create Byrne Wallace Shields. The new practice will have over 430 employees – including 220 solicitors – and will take effect from January ‘25. The firm’s offices will be in the current offices of ByrneWallace on Harcourt Street in Dublin, and Feargal Brennan, current managing partner of ByrneWallace will lead the new practice as managing partner.

Not to self-indulge… But we’re in the news, Fitzgerald Power has raised €2.5 million in growth capital from five well-known investors to fund its expansion in Ireland and Britain. All five involved are joining the advisory board of Fitzgerald Power, these include Jarlath Dooley, a former senior executive in Irish technology company Version 1; Lorcan Tiernan, a former partner in law firm Dillon Eustace; Bob Haugh, the founder of tour group operator The Travel Department; Lar Bradshaw, a former member of McKinsey’s global leadership team and Kevin Lane: former CEO of Kerry Group company, Mastertaste. “I’ve learned so much from the five new investors already,” CEO Stuart Fitzgerald recently told The Currency. “What we’re getting is a blend of capital and expertise. We are ready to go to the next level.” Musgrave’s has taken over Meath-based Healy Supermarkets Ltd, a move which has been cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. A deal was reached in October which saw the wholesale giant acquire Healy Supermarkets, which operates a SuperValu store and Tara Newsagents in Dunshauglin, in October. Terms have not yet been disclosed, but this will be the nearly 50th Supervalu Musgraves will operate. Musgrave also owns the Centra, Donnybrook Fair and Mace franchises, and its brands now operate a total of 1,343 retail stores in Ireland and Spain.

Kerry Group has agreed to sell its dairy business, Kerry Dairy Holdings (Ireland) Ltd, to the Kerry Co-Operative Creameries Ltd in a deal that values the company at €500m. Kerry Dairy Ireland generated revenue of close to €1.3bn, EBITDA of €53.4m and profit before tax of €32m last year. The firm had net assets of €446m and gross assets of €562m in December. The company, which employs over 1,500 staff, processes more than 1.1bn litres of milk per year from 2,740 farms across Munster and exports to around 58 countries worldwide.

In summary:

Who knew November could have so much to say for itself? We surely didn’t. Between elections, liquidators and juicy pay settlements, it’s been a big month for pretty much everyone. No one more so than Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, some might argue. Or perhaps, Gregggggg Wallace. But the less of that said the better.

In lighter news, Christmas is around the corner and, hopefully, all of our taxes will be filed before we get stuck into some turkey. Enjoy the festivities.

See you next month!

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