Even before Joe Moran gave a profits-warning, many investors had already sold IWP shares aggressively.
Isn't it amazing how astute these sellers have been given the scale of the reversal in the share price in the past year - down from £4.67) (€5.93) to (£1.18) €1.50 this week.
IWP's misfortune is that the fall in pre-tax profits comes at the same time as a clear move out of secondline stocks by the domestic investors who are the biggest holders of IWP shares. The two-tier market that has emerged in Dublin means that second-line stocks have few friends, and second-line stocks like IWP that produce nasty unexpected shocks have even fewer.
Taking brokers' revised earnings forecasts of 25-26 cents, IWP is currently trading on a forward p/e of less than 6, a rating that puts IWP on a discount to some of the dross on the market.
James Crean - a disaster zone for investors - is trading on a forward p/e of 7.
It is hard to justify IWP - with one setback to its name - on a discount to the likes of Crean, which has lurched from one disaster to another for years.
