Financials perform poorly

The ISEQ Index of shares mirrored the British market

The financial sector performed very poorly. Allied Irish Bank lost 53c to €12.55 and Bank of Ireland fell 27c to €9.58. Other financials to suffer included Anglo Irish, down 30c to €6.50, Irish Life & Permanent falling 21c to €10.29 and First Active declining 10c to €5.70. IFG was unchanged at 45c. The financial index of shares closed 267.34 points lower at 7841.45.

Ryanair, Europe's no.1 low fares airline, delivered record Q3 2002 figures, reporting a 50% improvement in profits. Ryanair closed down 47c to €6.30 yesterday after gaining 16% in the previous five sessions.

Grafton fell 40c to €2.80 after announcing it will buy Jackson Building Centres Ltd for 135.4m to accelerate its expansion in Britain. Grafton also said that it will issue shares to finance the purchase. CRH, the leading company in the building sector, lost 25c to €11.92.

Other significant movers on a disappointing day for the Irish market included pharmaceuticals group, Elan, down 32c to €4.08, and Galen, falling 7c to €5.40.

On a positive note, Qualceram gained 5c to 95c.