AIB becomes first company to exceed £3 billion valuation

FORGET about the fall in the ISEQ Index, yesterday was an excellent day for the Irish market and the decline in the index is totally due to a sharp drop in Elan shares in New York - a slump equivalent to almost 175p in the value of the shares listed in Dublin.

Elan may trade in frequently in Dublin but it does account for 10 per cent of the index, and is actually bigger than Smurfit in terms of market capitalisation.

The highlight of the day was another stunning performance by AIB, which soared to 444p before closing up 10p on the day on 442p. This gives AIB the distinction of becoming Ireland's first £3 billion company.

Bank of Ireland - another aspirant to the £3 billion club - was unchanged on the day on 605p and will have to reach 617p before joining this exclusive club. Irish Permanent was another to hit a new high, with a 10p rise to 560p while Irish Life gained 2p to 273p.

Among the industrials, CBH was in strong demand in both Dublin and London and closed up 10p on 650p - just 3p off an all time high. AIBIM Investment Managers has been a recent seller of CRH, with the stake falling, from 5.8 per cent, to under 5 per cent since that last disclosure.

AIBIM has also been a seller of Smurfit and now holds under 5.8 per cent, compared Id a 6.5 per cent holding in the previous disclosure. This partial unwinding of Smurfit has meant that AIB has sold 19 million Smurfit shares in the space of a year.

The reports of a possible bid by Safeway for Fitzwilton's WellWorth subsidiary failed to stimulate any trading in the shares. From an overnight 47p, the shares were initially bid up to 60p without trading before closing on a bid offer spread of 55p-60p.

Kenmare shares were marginally firmer on 38p despite reports denied by the company - that BHP had offered 43p a share but that the company was holding out for 50p a share.