Financial stocks tumbled again on the Dublin market today, dragging the Iseq index of Irish shares down by almost 5 per cent ahead of the close of business.
Bank of Ireland issued a trading statement earlier today warning that profits will be down for the six months to the end of September, while it expects the number of bad debts on its books to increase.
The bank's value plunged by 14.3 per cent to close at €3.96, its lowest price in over 11 years, on the back of the news and the general crisis in the global financial services industry.
It's biggest rival, AIB, suffered similarly, losing 13.7 per cent to end the day at €6. Traders said that investors sold 28 million shares in both banks between Dublin and London.
Of the Irish financials, Anglo Irish Bank fared best, falling by just 3.3 per cent to €4.40. Home loan and retail specialist, Irish Life and Permanent, dropped 8.1 per cent to close at €4.90.
In London, a sell off in mining shares combined with the general malaise in world markets to send the FTSE 100 index of leading shares down 113.2 points, or 2.25 per cent, to 4912.4.
In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 2.1 per cent to 258.04, the lowest close since May 2005, bringing its three-day drop to 8 per cent.
