Elan tumbles on grim news of patient fatalities

MARKET REPORT - Iseq: 4,089.70 (-281.92).IRELANDS ISEQ Index tumbled the most in more than a decade, led by Elan, the State's biggest drugmaker, after confirmation of two new cases of a deadly brain infection in patients taking Tysabri for multiple sclerosis.

The Iseq Index dropped 281.92 points, or 6.5 per cent, to 4,089.7, the biggest drop since October 1997. The index had earlier fallen as much as 9.5 per cent, slipping below 4,000 for the first time since April 2003.

A lunchtime briefing for analysts saw Elan recover some of its losses in afternoon trade but it still closed 45.6 per cent weaker on €7.35, down €6.15 on the day, bringing its losses in a turbulent week to 65 per cent.

Elsewhere it was a relatively quiet day ahead of the bank holiday weekend with food stocks broadly positive and construction groups struggling to find friends.

Among the leaders, Bank of Ireland made some ground, adding three cent or just over half a percentage point to close on €5.38. Irish Life Permanent did even better, closing up 5.4 cent on €5.23.

But, among the banks, trading was heavier in AIB and Anglo Irish Bank. AIB finished 10.5 cent weaker on €7.84, with more than 4.7 million shares changing hands, while Anglo slipped four cent to €5.08. It saw trading volumes of 2.8 million in Dublin with a further 4.5 million shares changing hands on the London market.

The bounce in oil prices had a predictable outcome for Ryanair on the day the company's chief executive Michael O'Leary apologised to shareholders in its annual report for the decline in the value of their investment this year. The airline lost 9.9 cent, or 4.1 per cent, to end the week on €2.341.

Luxury goods group Waterford Wedgwood failed to move the market despite another grim set of results. Bad as they were, the figures had been well-flagged.

Settlement Date:August 6th