Gresham group confirms offer received

The Gresham Group saw a 10c rise to €1.20 after the company confirmed that it had been offered €1.35 a share by an unnamed consortium.

There appears to be a deadlock in discussions however as the consortium has said it wants 80% acceptance of the offer while the largest shareholder with over 20% has indicated it will not sell at the €1.35 offered.

Gresham has asked the consortium to remove the 80% clause. They are still awaiting a response. Cement Road Holdings saw its share price rocket 20c to €16.30 after confirming that it was in talks with Israeli concrete company Mashav about exercising an option on a further 25% stake in the company.

The Irish building materials company must exercise this option before the year is out.

Ryanair said that it expects to carry record numbers – up 63% on last year - over the festive period. Its share price dipped 6c to € 6.54.

This is the third consecutive day shares in Ryanair have fallen following last week’s ruling in a French court on subsidy payments.

Analysts believe increased competition from low cost carriers Hapag Lloyd Express and Basiq Air ex Dublin will also impact the stock.

Bank of Ireland announced earlier today that it was continuing its ‘buyback’ programme as part of its capital restructuring scheme.

On December 19, 313,000 shares were purchased at €10.53 giving a total outlay of €3.3m, the bank confirmed. This brings the overall total to €410.36m.

Profit takers who invested in Anglo Irish made their presence felt today. The share price fell 25c to €12.45.