Iseq down on weak trading volumes

The Iseq index of leading Irish shares stayed in negative territory this morning with weak trading volumes ahead of the weekend.

By 2.30 pm the Dublin market was down 3.10 points at 2,415.38.

Among banking shares, AIB was trading up 2c at €0.88 while Bank of Ireland rose 1c to €0.68 and Irish Life & Permanent was down 10c at €1.75.

Athlone-based drugmaker Elan, which earlier this week recorded a loss per share of $0.22 in the three months to the end of March, was down 12c to €4.40.

Among the smallcaps, shares in Donegal Creameries rose by 20c to €2.10 following the publication of its annual results this morning.

Profits at Donegal Creameries fell sharply in 2008 due to a decline in the global dairy market, the group said today. Turnover at the group increased by 3.4 per cent in 2008 from €125.6 million to €129.9 million but operating profits from fell €9.3 million to €5.8 million.

Underlying profits were €4.7 million down from €6.1 million in 2007 mainly due to dairy commodity prices and less activity in the property market.

Among construction-related shares, CRH was down 2c at €16.93, while Grafton rose 14c to €2.74 and McInerney fell 1c to €0.09.

Elsewhere, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.7 per cent at 797.22 points this morning. Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 1.6 per cent, Germany's DAX rose 1.4 per cent, and France's CAC 40 gained 1.5 per cent.