First Active

First Active, the former First National Building Society, was floated on the stock market on October 6th last year. The float price was €2.86. On its first day's trading the price jumped by 28.7 per cent to close at €3.68.

That price held steady for a few days but, on October 9th, slipped back to close at €3.36, still 17.5 per cent ahead of the float price but back from the heady increase on the first day's trading.

Over the following week the shares were volatile ranging from a low of €3.43 to a high of €3.68 at the close of business. Then they took off again breaching the €4 figure on October 21st and rising to a high of €4.57, some 60 per cent above the float price, on October 29th. That level stood for two or three days before the shares started to slide again.

In volatile trading, they fell to €4 on November 10th before starting a tentative recovery to reach €4.23 on December 1st. Then the slide started again with the shares at €3.94 on December 4th.

The shares have ranged widely since, from just over €3 to well over €4. Their highest point since flotation has been the €4.95 reached on January 7th, 1999, some 73 per cent above flotation. However, in recent weeks the shares have been trading at close to their 1999 lows - €3.23 - and they are currently trading around €3.30. At that price, First Active is trading at a premium of 15 per cent on the flotation price.

Norwich Union

Norwich Union was floated on the London market on June 16th, 1997, at a price of 265p sterling (now worth €4.05).

On their first day's trading, the shares touched 340p sterling before closing 22.5 per cent ahead at 324.5p sterling. Over the next two days the shares dipped slightly to close at 318.5p sterling before moving ahead again.

One week after the flotation the shares had reached 326.5p, a gain of 23 per cent on the flotation level.

The shares reached their all-time high in February 27th, 1998, closing at 516p sterling, pushed by takeover speculation. Since then they have been volatile, trading in a range of 410p to 480p sterling and currently moving within the 430p to 440p sterling range.

At current levels, the shares are some 60 per cent ahead of their 1997 flotation price.

Irish Permanent

Irish Permanent, the former mutual building society, came to the market on October 27th, 1994, at a price per share of €2.29. On the day it floated, the share price rose by 21 per cent to close at €2.77. In their first week on the market, the shares hit €2.86, a rise of 25 per cent, before closing at €2.77. Over the following weeks the share price rose steadily.

After two weeks trading the shares closed at €2.82. A week later the price was still at €2.82. Then it began to move - to €2.83 on November 24th, €2.86 on December 1st, €2.88 on December 8th, €2.93 on December 22nd and €2.96 on December 30th.

By the end of the year, just two months after the flotation, the shares were 29.3 per cent above their flotation price of €2.29.

Irish Permanent shares continued to rise through 1995, pushed ahead by good demand in the mortgage market and by speculation that Abbey National, which had taken a stake in the company in the early days after the flotation, would launch a bid for Irish Permanent as soon as a five-year period of protection for a converting mutual expired.

On January 27th, 1995, three months after the flotation the shares closed at €3.07, up 34 per cent. By April 12th, just under six months after the flotation the price was 46 per cent stronger than the flotation level at €3.34.

Irish Life

Floated at a price per share of €2.03 on July 23rd, 1991, Irish Life shares did not produce a huge premium on their first day on the market. The shares closed at €2.13, a gain of 4.9 per cent on the day. In subsequent days, the shares ranged from €2.12 to €2.16 before hitting €2.20 on July 30th, a rise of 8.4 per cent on the flotation price within a week.

A week later, however, the shares had slipped back to close at €2.18, just 7.4 per cent ahead of the flotation level. After a dip to €2.16 on August 13th, the shares climbed steadily though slowly over the following weeks to €2.21 on August 27th, €2.22 on September 3rd, €2.24 on September 10th and €2.25 on September 17th.

By October 17th, just under three months after the flotation, the shares had reached €2.37, a gain of 16.7 per cent on the flotation price. The shares hovered generally within about eight and 10 cents of this level for the remainder of the year.