Small listed firms’ share price gains put big groups to shame

AT this time of year we normally review the excellent performance of Ireland’s largest public companies and the dismal performance of the smallest.

However, 2003 has proved to be different, with the small listed companies recording higher share price gains than the largest.

The reliable Anglo Irish Bank was the only one of the top 10 largest companies to record an all-time high in 2003, but even its growth was overshadowed by the surge in mining and exploration company share prices.

Despite 2003 being a good year for the Irish stock market in general, with a 20% jump in the past 12 months, and an even greater rise since the lows hit in March when war the war with Iraq hit all equity markets, this year has been disappointing for the biggest Irish companies.

The largest rise has been in Tony O'Reilly's oil exploration firm Providence Resources, which is up over 500% on the back of positive test drilling in the Celtic Sea and the awarding of further licences.

Joining in on the list of top risers this year is the mining company Minmet, up 250%, while shares in oil and gas company Aminex have also made strong gains, up from 19 cent at the beginning of the year to 30c in mid December.

Others in the sector, such as Kenmare Resources, Glencar and Ormonde Mining, have also soared The larger capitalised companies had a mixed year with only one of the top five companies Anglo Irish Bank hitting an all-time high, while the others, AIB, Bank of Ireland, CRH and Ryanair saw modest or average growth.

For Anglo Irish Bank shareholders, it was another amazing year with the share price nearly doubling and the dividend rising by more than 50%. The departure of veteran chief executive Sean Fitzpatrick may dent some of the optimism for the share price in 2004, but few expect the share price not to record another year of growth.

Another surprising winner in 2003 was Elan, which had been among the biggest fallers in 2002. While still in recovery mode and a far cry from the heady days when it was Ireland's largest public company, it has made gains in the past year, despite the odd setback. Having begun the year at 246c, it traded as high as 846c as moves were made to reduce its debt and tackle investors' concerns.

But it was a below par year for the big banks with a 2% fall in AIB's value, while Bank of Ireland shares were up 10% (50% below the ISEQ rise), helped by the use of hundreds of millions of cash on a share buyback during the year. It did, however, manage to overtake AIB as the largest company in Ireland.

Phil Lynch may have moved upstairs to become chairman of food group IAWS, but in his last full year in the top job, the Cork-born Lynch has seen shares reach an all-time high of 965 cents. With further acquisitions during the year and the roll-out of its joint venture with the Tim Hortons chain of restaurants in US, brokers have upgraded the share and expect further gains in 2004 under new boss Owen Killian.

For Ryanair shareholders, it was another turbulent ride with any share price increases gained from the jumbo profits of over 250 million eroded by the investigation by the EU into the contract it was awarded to run services from Charleroi airport.