Iseq-quoted companies worth €105bn as trading rises

Trading in the Irish market has risen by 26% to over €10bn in the first quarter of 2012, adding 20% to the value of Iseq-quoted companies which are now collectively worth €105bn.

The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) yesterday released figures showing that equity trading in the Irish market increased by 26.2% to over €10bn in Q1, with the value of Iseq-quoted companies rising by 20.9%.

Equity turnover rose to almost €10.4bn during the first quarter of 2012, according to the ISE’s quarterly update, published yesterday. This represented an increase of 26.2% on the figures recorded during the last quarter [Q4 2011: €8.2bn] and was similar to levels recorded during the first quarter of 2011.

The number of equity trades remained steady at over 630,000 in the quarter [Q1 2012: 632,000 and Q4 2012: 638,000], with year-to-date figures showing daily average trades growing by 12.5% year on year [YTD 2012: 9,883 average trades compared to YTD 2011: 8,786 trades].

Turnover in Irish government bonds and treasury bills exceeded €25bn in Q1, a rise of 46.5% [€8bn] on the previous quarter. This reflected the impact of the NTMA’s bond exchange programme, which saw 30% of investors in an existing 2014 treasury bond switch to a new 4.5% bond maturing in Feb 2015.

A comparison of year-on-year figures shows that turnover and average daily turnover in 2012 is more than twice the level recorded in the first quarter of 2011 [an increase of 138.5% and 135.1% respectively].

All Iseq bond indices also rose in the first quarter of 2012, continuing their strong performance from 2011 with percentage increases ranging from 3.8% to 11.3%. The best performing indices in 2011, the longer term 5 Plus Iseq Bond index and the 10 Plus Iseq Bond index, also showed the biggest returns in Q1, growing by 10.8% and 11.3% respectively

The number of debt tranches admitted to listing on the ISE increased by 32% in the first quarter to 684 [Q4 2011: 518], reflecting additional listing activity across all debt product types, following improved global investor confidence in debt markets during the period. New fund securities admitted to the ISE’s markets fell in Q1 to 68 [Q4 2011: 80].

At the end of Q1 2012, the number of funds and sub-funds listed on the ISE was 2,851 [end 2011: 2,893].