Ryanair shares soar as it announces new routes

Ryanair was the star of the show yesterday, with expectations of solid third-quarter results on Monday driving the stock ahead.

Shares in the airline, which also generated good feeling in Dublin by announcing a series of new routes, climbed by 15 cents to €5.90. Dealers said the market is expecting good news on yields.

Paddy Power was also an outperformer on the day, rising by 15 cents to €11.65 after UK peer Stanley Leisure made positive comments on its casino operations.

Gains were more muted elsewhere, with the ISEQ as a whole closing in slightly weaker territory.

IAWS looked solid against this backdrop, with shares up by four cents at €12.29 as the market hoped for an update on trading at the firm's annual general meeting on Friday. IAWS was boosted late on Tuesday when Swiss baker Hiestand, in which the food group has a 22 per cent stake, issued upbeat guidance on its 2004 performance.

The banks as a whole were weaker than most sectors, with Anglo Irish the worst hit financial. The bank, which fell by 42 cents to €18.70, is also expected to offer some indication of current trading when it holds its a.g.m. on Friday.

AIB was down three cents at €15.47, while Bank of Ireland fell by four cents to €12.46.

Irish Life and Permanent, which is expecting to gain market share with Permanent TSB's new free current account, fell by six cents to €14.25.

Eircom was up by one cent at €1.88 on reasonable volume. NCB has raised its price target on the stock from €1.90 to €2.10 to reflect potential catalysts such as mobile re-entry. Fyffes was one of the busiest stocks of the day as it added two cents to finish at €2.05.

On the losing side was Donegal Creameries, which fell by 20 cents to €4.10 in the wake of Tuesday's profit warning.

Greencore also lost ground, falling from €3.39 to €3.31.

The firm holds its annual general meeting in the second week of February.