Permanent plc seeks coy shareholders

Some 29,000 people have so far failed to claim free Irish Permanent shares, now worth about £59 million, and the former building society is launching another campaign today to alert them that the shares must be claimed by September 21st, writes Mary Canniffe.Free shares were allocated to saving and borrowing members of the building society when it converted from a mutual society into a publicly quoted bank. Irish Permanent was floated on the stock market on October 27th 1994. Some 48.4 million free shares were issued to members who applied for their allocations, leaving about 21 million unclaimed. Most members got 300 free shares, worth £540 at the 180p flotation price. Since the flotation, Irish Permanent shares have raced ahead and at yesterday's closing price of 668p, each block of 300 shares was worth £2,004. By the end of December 1996 the number of unclaimed shares had fallen to 14.4 million. Some 8.78 million Irish Permanent shares still lie unclaimed.

Those who failed to claim their shares have missed out on dividend payments of £86.25; loyalty bonuses of 15 additional free shares per year, given to people who did not sell their initial allocations; and the opportunity to make a profit of 668p per share if they sold those free shares.

Since June, when Irish Permanent wrote again to those on its list of unclaimed shares, 3.8 million free shares have been claimed. Irish Permanent stressed yesterday that there was no leeway with the September 21st deadline. "After that date we cannot issue the shares," a spokesman said.