Shares in DCC came under heavy selling pressure on the Dublin market, as investor got to grips with the potential implications of the unprecedented litigation against the company and its chief executive by Fyffes.

In early trading, DCC shares fell by €1 to €11.50 before recovering in later trading to close down 65 cents to €11.85. "The stock in going to be very hard to market over the next 12-18 months, investors will be reluctant to invest in a company which has this kind of action hanging over it," said one dealer.

But he added that despite the pending litigation and yesterday's fall in the share price. DCC is still no more than 8 per cent below its €12.90 high of earlier this year.