Irish market leaders can teach us all perseverance

Over the last two weeks three Irish companies — Glanbia, Kerry Group and Kingspan — have stated they intend to retain their primary stock market listing in Dublin.

Ordinarily, this would be a footnote to their full-year results, but these are no ordinary times.

Ireland is engaged in an enormous bare-knuckle fight to regain its integrity in the world economy.

After its failure in regulatory, governance and fiscal probity, a combined effort is underway to rebuild confidence in our standing in world affairs, and business is a key part of that process.

You can be sure executives in these three companies, while travelling internationally, have heard the chuckles about the I in PIIGS.

Global investment bankers have been whispering in their ears about the credibility drag caused by being associated with Ireland.

Far better, don’t you think, to shift your primary listing to London. All three would be coveted members of the FTSE indices.

Kerry would land immediately in the bluechip FTSE 100 index. Glanbia and Kingspan would be leading components of the FTSE 250 index.

Their decisions to stay with Ireland are important markers about the country’s credibility. It may also say something about their own experiences in evolving from small businesses to global leaders in their respective markets.

In the early 1990s, I was a cub equity salesman with the Dublin stockbroker Riada.

We were the scrappy underdogs of the market and forever struggled to have big money managers and large companies risk their business with us. A couple did, including Kingspan.

I remember traipsing the City of London with Gene Murtagh Senior, the then chief executive of Kingspan.

We were knocking on doors and getting very tepid responses.

Who did these guys with the odd Cavan and Cork accents think they were? Global leadership in insulation materials? Expanding across the US, Europe and Australia from a base in Cavan? Ha, ha.

After of a couple of days of meetings, and zero reaction in share buying, I was demoralised. Mr Murtagh, who is as tough as steel despite his gentlemanly demeanour, was utterly unfazed. “Never mind, just keep going,” he said.

Today, Kingspan is worth €1.3bn on the stockmarket and last week it announced profits of almost €96m.

There are similar stories around Kerry and Glanbia.

When Kerry joined the stockmarket in the late 1980s it’s innovative co-op plc structure was disliked by many.

Glanbia had a difficult birth after the effective shotgun marriage of Avonmore and Waterford Co-ops.

For years it struggled to have any support from investment bank analysts in London, aside from the faithful Richard Workman of the stockbroker Hoare Govett.

It would be nice to think these histories are now playing a role in how Irish companies react to overtures from numerous international bankers seeking their business as each of them is thriving.

Gene Murtagh taught me a huge lesson about perseverance back then. It applies to the unemployed person who takes his or her welfare payments with dignity.

It applies to small struggling companies who are having problems with markets and customers.

And it particularly applies to a small country when it is under the cosh from so many quarters. It’s at times like this when standing together takes on greater significance.

* Joe Gill is director of research with Bloxham Stockbrokers