Commercial property company Hibernia REIT has said the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on market rents and property values is yet to be felt. Reporting its annual results for the year to the end of March, Hibernia REIT said that its portfolio value rose by 2% to €1.465 billion. The company said its net asset value per share - a key measure of performance - rose by 3.5% to 179.3 cent during the year. | The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has cautioned against a "cliff edge" removal of income and liquidity supports introduced during the Covid-19 crisis, and called for a fundamental programme of economic and social reform. In a document titled 'No Going Back' Congress proposes a new deal to build a fairer society, while boosting economic recovery. | Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit company aborted its first attempt to launch a rocket into space from the belly of a 747 airplane yesterday, the company said. In a test of the company's plan to launch satellites into space, the 70-foot rocket called LauncherOne was to blast into orbit at about six and a half miles altitude from a modified airplane named Cosmic Girl. | Stanley Ho, the Hong Kong-born tycoon who made billions transforming neighbouring Macau from a sleepy Portuguese outpost into the world's biggest gambling hub, died today at the age of 98, his family said. | Latin America's largest airline LATAM Airlines Group said today that the company and its affiliates in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and the US have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US. LATAM is the latest corporate victim of the coronavirus pandemic that has brought a virtual halt to air travel. It joins Colombia's Avianca Holdings and Australia's Virgin Australia Holdings in bankruptcy protection as it seeks to restructure its debt.   |||