Financials help ISEQ jump over 90 points
The financials helped the ISEQ to surge towards the 6000 barrier today with excellent half-year results from Anlo Irish Bank a major contributor to the rise.
Strong performances saw the Dublin market gain 91.60 points to 5,984.01.
Anglo Irish Bank today produced a sparkling set of half-year results with pre-tax profits up a whopping 35% to €308.4m.
The number of staff at the country’s third largest bank rose 17% to 1,315.
Chairman Sean FitzPatrick, commenting on the six months results to March 31, said total loan balances now stand at €28.7bn.
Anglo Irish was the main mover, adding 65c to stand at €9.63. AIB followed suit with a 30c rise to €16.40, while Bank of Ireland gained 24c to stand at €12.07. Irish Life & Permanent had a more modest 15c rise to end the day at €13.10.
It was a mixed day for the construction sector, with CRH adding 18c to its share price to stand at €19.63 and Grafton adding 15c to €8.85. However, McInerney Holdings saw their staock fall eight cent to €7.80, while both Abbey and Readymix fell three cent to €8.57 and 2.02 respectively. Kingspan had a one cent fall to €8.94.
Meanwhile, Waterford Wedgewood added 1c to €0.05 today as it announced it planned to cut 1,800 jobs as part of a major restructuring of its operations in Ireland and the UK.
The moves by the new owner of Royal Doulton include the closure of its Waterford Crystal plant at Dungarvan, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs.
It will also increase the level of savings stemming from its acquisition of Stoke-based Royal Doulton – bringing an additional 500 job losses worldwide on top of 450 posts already lost.
The company, which will employ around 9,500 people following the restructuring, said it needed the cost savings in order to return to “sustainable profitability”.
