Getting ready to do his bit for Irish tourism ….singer Ronan Keating gets in the groove for his new programme on the British radio station Magic 105.4. Over the next three months the programme will promote holidays on the island of Ireland. Tourism Ireland’s Britain Manager, Lawrence Bate, looks on.

FT Video: Gary McGann, chief executive of Smurfit Kappa, on the decline of Ireland's competitiveness

VW sales in China

German car giant Volkswagen AG has reported a 36.7% surge in 2009 China sales to maintain the top position it has held for more than 20 consecutive years.

In 2009, Volkswagen sold about 1.12 million of its VW brand cars, up 32.4% from the previous year. The company attributed the rise largely to its popular new models, especially the Passat New Lingyu, New Golf, Lavida and New Bora, as well as its cutting-edge TSI engines.

Sales by its Audi brand rose 32.9% to 158,941 units while its recent arrival Skoda more than doubled sales to 122,566 units.

The company also sold 484 Bentleys and 118 Lamborghinis in China last year.

China's official news agency Xinhua reports that customers like a long wheelbase on their cars, indicated by the letter "L" in the name of the model.

"If the car body has not been extended to provide enough inside space, it's almost impossible for a luxury sedan to survive in China's high-end vehicle market, especially the official car market,"said Jia Xinguang, an independent car analyst based in Beijing.

"If someone is spending half a million yuan to buy a car, why choose a smaller one?"asked An Li, a 53-year-old civil servant who is considering buying a BMW 530Li. "A big car not only brings me comfort, but also indicates my taste and wealth."

German luxury car brand Audi has been the biggest winner with its long wheelbase strategy in China.

Changing remuneration mix

Financial organisations have changed the mix of pay, moving emphasis away from short-term incentive schemes in favour of increased salary, deferred compensation schemes and modified incentive programme design, according to a global survey by Mercer, the human capital, compensation and employee benefits consultancy. The sector is also changing the nature of its short-term incentive (STI) schemes, with more focus on balanced, risk-adjusted performance measurement and deferral of bonus payouts over a multi-year timeframe.

Mercer’s Global Financial Services Executive Incentive Plan Survey indicates that, in light of many firms having to seek financial aid from governments and recent regulatory developments, there has been a notable impact on remuneration practices. The data came from 61 global financial firms in the banking and insurance sector. One third of the respondents had received government aid in some form, the majority of which (82% of that number) had limits imposed on their executive remuneration programmes over the duration of that support.

Some of the blame for the financial crisis was leveled at executive remuneration practices in the financial sector and, in particular, the focus on paying for short-term performance at the expense of long-term sustainability. In response, over 80% of all firms surveyed have made, or plan to make, changes to their annual bonus or short-term incentive (STI) plan design.

According to Vicki Elliott, worldwide partner and leader of Mercer’s financial services human capital consulting network, “National regulators are attempting to make the sector consider risk more thoughtfully in their performance measurement and reward schemes so as not to encourage excessive risk-taking behaviours. Our data shows that the majority of participants are changing the nature of their pay structures and their short-term incentive schemes, including the way performance is measured and evaluated. The industry is moving in the right direction.”

This is not the perception in the US - -  see links to related stories in Box below.

Irish M&A activity back to levels previously seen in early to mid 90’s - Mazars

Consultancy firm Mazars has published its annual survey of the Mergers & Acquisitions market in Ireland which shows a significant dip in M&A activity in 2009 back to levels previously seen in the early to mid nineties although the deal flow has stabilised, according to Enda Gunnell, corporate finance partner, Mazars.

“2009 was an extremely difficult year and this was reflected by the significant fall in the number of transactions. The deal volume was consistently low throughout the year and transactions took place at multiples far lower than their peak of a couple of years ago. A painful transition is taking place but there are signs that confidence is beginning to reappear which we believe will lead to more transactions in 2010,” he said.

The Mazars M&A survey shows:

There was a total of 140 transactions in 2009 compared to 276 in 2008 and 287 in 2007. This represents a fall of 49% on 2008 and a fall of 51% from the peak of 2007.

During 2009 there was an average of 35 deals per quarter, significantly lower than the 59 deals transacted per quarter during the second half of 2008.

There was a continued absence for the second year of large deals (valued at over €250m). In 2009 only 3 such transactions were recorded with an aggregate value of €1.6bn compared to 5 deals valued at €3.2bn in 2008. The largest single transaction in 2009 was the €630m acquisition by Johnson & Johnson of an 18% stake in Elan.

More than half of all deal announcements did not reveal the value of the transaction. Despite this lack of visibility on deal values, the raw data shows a very marked reduction in overall deal value from a 2007 peak of €23bn to circa €4.1bn in 2009. This suggests a drop of 52% in value during the year and a staggering 82% from the Celtic Tiger peak of 2007.

The most active sectors were Waste Energy and Natural Resources (24 transactions) and Food Drink and Agriculture (17 transactions). The Construction & Property sector saw deal numbers fall from 71 in 2008 to 19 in 2009.

There was a trend away from acquisition led activity towards an increase in disposals by Irish companies. Disposals to non Irish acquirers accounted for 29% of the total number of transactions in 2009.

The number of transactions completed in 2009 by major Irish corporates was reduced significantly. CRH, who have been the most active Irish corporate with regard to acquisitions over the last number of years completed €450m worth of acquisitions in 2009 which was down from €1.5bn in 2008 and €2.2bn in 2007. Their activity levels mirror the significant fall in the industry generally.

Enda Gunnell said: “The ability to raise capital and particularly bank funding deteriorated further during 2009 so it became incredibly difficult for companies to raise finance for development purposes. This has undoubtedly affected the levels of M&A activity. The funding multiples have reduced further, the cost of funding and commercial terms became more restrictive.”

“Transactions in 2010 are likely to be fuelled by restructuring requirements and strategic opportunities. It is anticipated that a need for consolidation and divestment of non-core assets will continue. MBO transaction opportunities will also arise but can only be executed once the bank lending position improves and with considerable equity backing," he added.

Irish Insolvency Statistics

Wolseley

British building materials group Wolseley has announced that it has to sell its businesses in the Republic of Ireland and the Brooks business in Northern Ireland.

It has disclosed that it has sold thee businesses to a group of private investors for €26.5m in cash.

The deal covers Brooks, Heat Merchants, Tubs & Tiles and Encon in the Republic of Ireland and the Brooks business in Northern Ireland.

Andrew Leung, founder of Andrew Leung International Consultants, believes that the strong trade data out of China will continue. He makes his case to CNBC's Oriel Morrison: