Settlement Day: May 31stSmurfit was once again the heaviest traded stock in an otherwise dull day on the Irish market. Smurfit continued to edge ahead on reports that Soros Private Equity may be joining the Madison Dearborn/management grouping that is in discussions on a possible bid. Smurfit shares were three cents higher on €3.20 in turnover of 3.8 million shares.
Financial shares were mixed and Anglo Irish hit a new high of €7.05, a gain of seven cents and not affected by more substantial selling by directors. Irish Life & Permanent regained some recent losses and was 11 cents higher on €16.03 although the two big banks were both weaker with AIB down 11 cents on €15,14 and Bank of Ireland down eight cents on €13.62.
Barlo continued to edge higher after its recent results and added another two cents to €0.28. The Barlo buying, which has left the shares 33 per cent above the pre-results price, is seen as investors speculating in some corporate activity, possibly a management buyout.
CRH drifted 12 cents lower to €18.75, Fyffes was unchanged on €1.55 after an annual general meeting which said that trading in the first five months was in line with targets.
Greencore was a cent higher on €3.28 ahead of interim results today while Independent News & Media gained five cents to €2.15. United Drug gained 25 cents to €15 after good results although Ryanair lost 10 cents to €5.84.
In New York, Elan was trading marginally higher in midday dealing while the recently consolidated Trintech shares took a bit of a battering and were down 37 cents on €2 as the Dublin market closed.
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