CRH and AIB make ground while BoI sheds over 5%

DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq:2,864.39 (–6.45) Settlement date:January 13th

THE ISEQ index flatlined for much of yesterday’s session despite a strong performance from its largest constituent CRH.

The building materials stock outpaced all its peers, climbing more than 1 per cent, or 19 cent, to €14.49. This jump came after Davy stockbrokers upgraded its 2011 earnings per share forecast for CRH by 7 per cent.

AIB also finished in positive territory, gaining more than 5 per cent, or 1.4 cents, to close just below 29 cents, but brokers said there was no real news behind this gain.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was Bank of Ireland, which yesterday confirmed the completion of the sale of its asset management division Bank of Ireland Asset Management (Biam). It also announced it was considering a junior debt-for-equity swap, news that weighed on the stock, which tumbled more than 5 per cent, or 1.7 cents, to 31.5 cents.

In the airline sector, Ryanair fell 2 per cent, or eight cents, to €3.90, wiping out gains made on Friday on the back of positive traffic figures from EasyJet. Brokers attributed yesterday’s dip to profit-taking.

Former State carrier Aer Lingus failed to gain traction even though its latest traffic statistics showed an improvement in its load factor in December. The stock closed pretty much unchanged at just under €1.05 on insignificant volume.

In exploration, Tullow Oil found favour with investors after releasing a positive update on its operations in Mauritania yesterday. The London line of the stock was up about 1.5 per cent on the day.

Agri-services business Origin Enterprises traded on decent volume as food stocks came into focus because of merger and acquisition activity in the sector. It finished up more than 6 per cent, or two cents, at €3.50.