Kingspan collapse echoes uncertainty

Dublin report:The parlous state of the Irish market was starkly illustrated by the collapse in the share price of Kingspan yesterday following a trading statement that stated "present market conditions leave it difficult to guide for the coming year".

The market reacted by slashing almost a quarter of the company's value. After a brief rally, the stock settled to close on €10.524, down €2.826 or 21.2 per cent, having flirted with the €10 level earlier. More than 7.3 million shares changed hands, making it by far the most active stock on the Dublin market yesterday. Directors Gene Murtagh and Dermot Mulvihill exercised options over small tranches of shares following the statement.

The negative sentiment towards constructions stocks spilled over into CRH and Grafton, which were among the other notable losers.

CRH ended the day on €23.95, 64 cent or 2.6 per cent weaker, while Grafton was down 20 cent or 3.7 per cent on €5.20, having traded in positive territory briefly toward the end of morning trade.

Banks had an up and down session - buoyed by better than expected UK inflation data in the morning, only to retreat in the face of adverse US stock market sentiment in the afternoon.

AIB managed to claw back some ground, closing on €15.15, up 16 cent on the day. The other financials continued to lose ground, with Bank of Ireland five cent weaker on €9.90, Anglo Irish Bank off 3.6 cent on €10.69 and Irish Life & Permanent closing on €12.05, down 8 cent.

On the upside, C&C's rally from last Friday's sell-off continued with a further gain of 16.7 cent or 4.4 per cent to €3.99 and Greencore's recent outperformance was reinforced by a 25 cent gain to €4.75.