Irish Life & Permanent saw its share price shrivel to just three cent today as the market reacted to news that the group may be effectively nationalised by the end of next month.
The group's share price halved from six cent to three cent, giving the group a market capitalisation of just €8.3 million. Investors dumped the stock following media reports that IL&P will be 99 per cent State-owned by the end of July, subject to shareholder approval.
Industrial stocks were generally positive on the Irish market today. Building materials group CRH attracted some buying interest, and closed the session 11 cent higher at €14.29.
Paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa appeared to get a bounce from its investor day in New York today, rising almost 4 per cent, or 30 cent, to €8.14.
Grafton Group rose more than 2 per cent, or seven cent, to €3.35 after UK retailer Carpetright reported full year results which were in line with expectation.
Cider manufacturer C&C also moved slightly higher in advance of its agm and trading update tomorrow. The stock finished about two cent up at €3.62.
Overall the Iseq index finished the day about 0.9 per cent higher, or 25 points, to 2,912.05.
Across Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 Index advanced 0.8 per cent. France's CAC 40 Index climbed 1.5 per cent, while Germany's DAX Index added 0.9 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg
