BoI and AIB suffer sharp losses due to profit-taking

DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq:2,831.83 (-13.60) Settlement Date:December 15th

THE ISEQ ended the week in negative territory, slightly underperforming its European peers, as financial stocks plummeted yesterday after more than a week of gains.

Having held up relatively well before lunch, the three listed banks fell sharply in afternoon trade. Bank of Ireland suffered the most significant falls, losing 18 per cent to €0.387, AIB shed 12 per cent to €0.439 while Irish Life Permanent fell 7.8 per cent to €1.16.

Having rallied for more than a week, the falls were unexpected – and due to profit-taking according to traders – mirroring a trend across Europe which saw profit-taking in shares of financial institutions after a 10-day rally.

The decision by Fitch to downgrade the Irish banks’ guaranteed debt had little impact on the equity side of things, according to traders.

Meanwhile, index bellwether CRH underperformed in comparison with industry peers in Europe amid continuing uncertainty about future state spending on infrastructure in the United States. The construction giant slipped 0.4 per cent to €15.09.

Elsewhere on the index things were somewhat brighter, with some of the mainstays of the Iseq – such as Kerry Group, Elan, Smurfit Kappa and Ryanair – posting gains.

After Bank of Ireland, CC was one of the most traded stocks on the back of strong off-trade figures from Britain, although the stock closed almost half a per cent off at €3.15.

Having announced details of a stock buyback on Thursday, housebuilder Abbey lost 5 cent to finish at €4.85 – the same price at which the 425,000 shares were purchased on Thursday.

Overall, Dublin traders noted that it was a fairly quiet day on the market as trading began to wind down ahead of Christmas.