Waterford shares slump following profit warning

Settlement Day: March 6th: Waterford Wedgewood took centre stage in Dublin yesterday but for all the wrong reasons. The company issued a profit warning and was hammered by a market which felt it had previously been told it was being unduly pessimistic in its assessment of the giftware company.

Having drifted down to 30 cents from 40 cents over the past month, the share slumped almost a quarter to 22 cents in exceptional volume of almost 24,5 million shares following the profit warning. It recovered some ground as the day progressed to finish on 25 cents, down four cents, on expectations that the company is unlikely to cut its dividend despite its current troubles. That would leave it with a dividend yield of around 14 per cent.

Financials held up reasonably well in what was, Waterford Wedgwood apart, a very quiet day in Dublin. Goodbody issued a report on the Irish banks in the morning arguing for a switch from Bank of Ireland to AIB. For that reason or otherwise, the two big banks did move in opposite directions with AIB gaining 26 cents to €12.11, closing on its session high before drifting slightly in late trade. Bank of Ireland was two cents off at €10.20.

Irish Life & Permanent was 25 cents off ahead of results tomorrow after taking a hit late in the session and finishing on €8.85. First Active surrendering six cents to €5.34 while Anglo Irish Bank was stronger, finishing 10 cents ahead on €6.35.

FBD Holdings, the insurer which reports tomorrow, was 15 cents off on €5.65. CRH was another to drift on a day when industrial stocks as a group lost ground. It was two cents weaker on €11.38 as it prepared for results for which expectations are low.

It was a difficult day for the interests of Sir Anthony O'Reilly, with Independent News & Media also closing weaker following a weekend broker report questioning the real strength of its ABC sales figures. Shares in the media group were eight cents weaker on €1.27. Ryanair also gave up a bit of ground towards the end of trade, having been eight cents firmer on €6 earlier. It closed at €5.95, up three cents.

Grafton was off 21 cents as it confirmed the completion of its acquisition of British-based Jackson Building Centres, and the listing of 35.3 million shares as a result of the €70.6 million rights issue which helped fund the deal.