Irish technology stocks came under renewed pressure on international markets, with this latest weakness triggered by earnings warnings and sharp falls from the German chipmaker, Infineos and the British group, Bookham. The weakness came about even though the Nasdaq was steady in its opening session.
Predictably, Baltimore suffered more than most. It seems now that any excuse is being used to sell the shares. Baltimore fell 3 1/2p to another new low at 37 1/4p sterling and is now valued at £190 million sterling (#310 million) - not much more than twice the amount of cash on its balance sheet. This means that the market is now valuing the underlying Baltimore software business at around £100 million sterling.
Parthus was the other main casualty, falling 5p to 71p sterling. On Nasdaq, Baltimore and Parthus remained weak but otherwise there was little change in the prices of Irish shares. Elan traded strongly in New York and by midday was trading $1.35 higher on $62.60.
On the home market, the main feature was the continued strength of Bank of Ireland which jumped 34 cents to #11.40 in trading of almost 2.7 million shares. AIB drifted three cents to #13.20 but Irish Life was in demand, closing up 12 cents on #14.12 with almost 1.6 million shares changing hands. CRH fell heavily in early trading but recovered some ground before closing 60 cents lower on #20.00.
Unidare fell heavily after warning that its results in the second half of the year would be just as bad as in the first half. The shares fell as low as #1.30 before closing 22 cents lower on #1.40, their lowest closing level for two years.
