bad week for...

Niall McFadden

McFadden may be one of the most highly thought of corporate financiers in Ireland but his company still posted a pre-tax loss of €4.1m for the first six months of the year, partly because of the reevaluation of his sterling investments into euro. McFadden blamed volatility in global markets and the widespread negative attitude towards the Irish economy for the fall in the valuation of the company's quoted investments such as Veris and Siteserve whose value fell by €800,000. The stock market reacted by dropping the company's price by 50%.

Boundary Capital's stake in the Northern Quarter development, which will be built on the Arnotts site and surrounding properties, remains its chief growth opportunity but it is still to be seen how the retail element of that scheme will fare given the huge competition it faces from Joe O'Reilly's Dublin Central site. Retailers are also in the driving seat at the moment when it comes to negotiating rents as a lack of liquidity and available finance has put the breaks on a number of fashion retailer's expansion plans.