The major business events happening this week

MONDAY

Results: Horizon Pharma, Hertz Global Holdings, Marriott International, Subaru Corp

Indicators: UK house price index (April); German factory orders (March); US labour market conditions (April), consumer inflation expectations (April)

TUESDAY

An Post has highest reputation among Irish companies

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EU to revise down growth forecast for Greece to 2%

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Oil prices continue to slide as oversupply concerns persist

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Aer Lingus’s parent company reports record profits for Q1

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Results: Aon, Avadel Pharmaceuticals, Electronic Arts, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Mitsubishi Motors, News Corp, Office Depot, Pandora, Symrise, Toshiba Corp, Toyota, Trip Advisor, Walt Disney, Yelp

Indicators: German industrial production (March); US economic optimism (May)

Meetings: IFG Group trading update; Grafton Group interim management statement; Biopharma Outlook Summit (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)

A centrepiece of Ireland’s reliance on foreign direct investment, the biopharma industry is facing challenges on a number of fronts. Donald Trump’s determined tax reform aimed at luring US companies (and not just their profits) home and how exactly that might threaten the sector here is among them, and is likely to be picked apart during the Biopharma Outlook Summit in Dublin.

There is also the issue of reputational challenges for an industry increasingly seen as charging big money for innovative products, which is usually fine until it comes to treating serious illness. Pricing models and pressure from governments are key themes, as are “biosimilars” – not quite generic drugs but similar, cheaper alternatives, often so attractive the bigger companies market their own.

It’s not all (potentially) negative. According to the organisers, capital investment in the sector has reached $8 billion, “turning Ireland into a thriving biopharma hub with a growing thirst for more and more talent”. This of course is a lynchpin in the eternal search for employment opportunities, another aspect likely to emerge during proceedings.

According to the Government’s recently published Expert Group on Future Skills Needs in the Biopharma Industry report, organisers remind us, the sector will create 8,500 more jobs over the next five years, bringing the total number to almost 40,000.

WEDNESDAY

Results: Mylan, Acer, BT Group, Bridgestone, Crocs, Heidelberg Cement, Nikon, Sotheby's, Telefonica, Time Inc, Wienerberger, Zurich Insurance

Indicators: Irish residential property prices (March); US business optimism (April), mortgage applications (May), export and import prices (April)

Meetings: Permanent TSB interim management statement; Barratt Developments trading update; Digital Workplace Ireland Conference (Aviva Stadium)

THURSDAY

Results: Allianz, AP Moller-Maersk, Citizen Watch, Deutsche Post DHL, Isuzu, Nissan, Panasonic, Singapore Airlines, Suzuki, Yamaha

Indicators: Irish inflation (April); UK construction output (March), manufacturing production (March), industrial production (May), inflation report; US jobless claims (April/May), PPI (April)

Meetings: UK interest rate decision; Ibec Employment Law Conference (Croke Park Conference Centre); International ARVR Innovate conference on augmented reality and virtual reality (RDS)

Zero-hours contracts, banded hours contracts, data protection obligations and the employment implications of Brexit are all policy areas likely to be developed during 2017. Ibec has described it as a “pivotal year” given the potential for Irish businesses. Its employment law conference will also focus on a Labour Court recommendation “which has given rise to a number of concerns regarding pay rates, industry comparators and the policy direction of the Labour Court in wage setting”.

It will examine the new regime for registered employment agreements and sector employment orders under revised legislation which has, Ibec notes, “created a new landscape for employers”.

The representative group will also examine the EU General Data Protection Regulation due to arrive by May 2018, bringing with it severe fines for non-compliance with data-protection obligations.

Assistant data protection commissioner John Keyes will brief delegates on the practical implications of the new legislation. They will be walked through a number of recent cases which give some insight into the potential problems arising from workplace investigations.

“It is important that you protect your business interests while ensuring that you are acting in line with HR best practice and in compliance with the law,” organisers note in a line essentially summarising the entire conference.

FRIDAY

Results: Buzzi Unicem, Naturex, JC Penney

Indicators: Euro zone industrial production (March); German GDP growth rate (Q1), inflation (April); US inflation (April), retail sales (April)

Meetings: ACI World Congress (Convention Centre Dublin); The Sales Institute's Sales Leaders Summit 2017 (InterContinental Hotel, Dublin 4)