Eircom was the focus of heavy trading on the Dublin market as investors took a punt on the outcome of the various approaches to buy the fixed line business once Eircell is sold to Vodafone.
Almost 9.4 million Eircom shares traded in Dublin as the shares hit a high of #2.62 before closing six cents higher on #2.59. Yesterday's £1.97 sterling closing price for Vodafone values Eircell at #2.68 and values the rump of Eircom at #1.09. This is well off the indicative bids from the O'Brien and O'Reilly consortiums and it is this type of potential pick-up that is tempting some investors into the market.
One of the best performers on the day was Anglo Irish which jumped 15 cents in volume of almost six million shares after its sparkling results last week. Anglo is attracting strong overseas interest and was well-bid at yesterday's close.
Other bank stocks were firm with Bank of Ireland up 18 cents to #11.02 ahead of Thursday's results. Pre-tax profits around #1.08 billion and earnings per share of around 82 cents have been pencilled in by analysts, but most attention will be focused on the comments on current trading given this year's slowdown in the domestic economy. AIB was 21 cents higher on #12.90, while Irish Life gained 15 cents to #12.55.
Among industrials, CRH remained in demand and dealt up 65 cents to #19.95, although volumes in the stock were modest. CRH was boosted by a Morgan Stanley research note which put a #23.00 price target on the shares. DCC was 10 cents higher on #10.50 - Fidelity disclosed that it recently sold 510,000 shares to take its stake to 9.4 million shares or 10.65 per cent.
