Iseq finishes flat compared with peers across Europe

DUBLIN REPORT:Iseq: 3,008.70 (-0.03) Settlement date: March 15th

THE DUBLIN market finished flat yesterday, just above the 3,000 mark, slightly underperforming in comparison with its European peers.

Food group Glanbia was one of the main sources of news flow yesterday, following the announcement it has entered negotiations with the Glanbia Co-operative Society about the sale of its Irish dairy division. The group also posted results for 2009 which, despite showing falls in profit and revenue, were in line with expectations. The share price, which was trading between €2.50 and €2.70 during the session, closed down 2.7 per cent at €2.53 on the day, with traders noting that investors were adopting a “wait and see” approach to the deal which still has to be confirmed, and may see a sizeable percentage of the company coming onto the market.

Tullow Oil also posted results, which showed that profit after tax fell 92 per cent to £19 million (€ 20.9 million), while sales revenue was down 16 per cent to £582 million. The results, although containing few surprises, drove the share price down by 2.5 per cent to €13.95 as investors looked for more detailed news flow.

Banking stocks regained some ground, though on low volumes, with one trader noting there was “little or no” interest in Irish financials from investors. AIB and Bank of Ireland rose 3.4 per cent and 2 per cent respectively while Irish Life & Permanent was pretty much flat on the day at €3.09.

Smurfit Kappa was one of the best performers, gaining just under 5 per cent on the day. According to one trader, this was on the back of a positive Bank of America Merrill Lynch note.

Kingspan also saw a lot of activity after 4.5 million shares were sold in the afternoon. The insulation group added more than 4.2 per cent to close at €5.87.