Iseq up as financials and construction lead way

Market Report:Financial and construction shares led the Irish stock market to extend gains yesterday.

The Irish Overall Index rose 34.78 points to close at 7,922.18. Shares of Allied Irish Banks, one of the index's most heavily weighted stocks, climbed 6 cent, or 0.3 per cent, to €18.95 after announcing the sale and leaseback of its Ballsbridge bank centre for €377.7 million in cash.

The property will be sold in two lots, to Hibernian Life and Pensions Ltd and to property developer Sean Dunne.

AIB will lease back the property from the buyers for 20 years. The bank is expected to make €230 million after taxes from the transaction.

Shares of Bank of Ireland continued to rise yesterday, gaining 7 cent, or 0.5 per cent, to €14.67. However, Anglo Irish Bank dropped 12 cent, or 0.9 per cent, to €13.00, while Irish Life & Permanent fell 25 cent, or 1.2 per cent, to €20.45.

In the construction sector, building materials group CRH jumped 72 cent, or 2.5 per cent, to €29.35 after saying it bought Texan rival MMI Products for $350 million in cash. The purchase will enable Dublin-based CRH to add a new product range and to accelerate sales growth in the US, its fastest-growing market. The company expects the acquisition to increase earnings as early as this year.

"This looks like a good fit for CRH, and it's well priced, at seven times Ebitda," one broker said of the deal.

Shares of Grafton Group increased 16 cent, or 1.5 per cent, to €11.05 on optimism about demand for its products in the UK after builders merchant Travis Perkins reported earlier this week that sales climbed 9 per cent in the first four months of 2006 from the same period a year earlier.

Eircom shares erased Tuesday's gain , dipping 1 cent, or 0.5 per cent, to €2.16, after the Communications Workers Union said it would do all in its power to block the sale of the company unless it receives assurances on pay and conditions.