McDonalds sales rise lifts Kerry stock

The ISEQ index of Irish shares finished up 59.53 points on Monday at 5159.98.

Personal care group IWP announced today that it has conditionally agreed to sell the Skiffy Group - subject to shareholder approval - to international distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl. The fee is believed to be in the region of €28.1m.

Shares in the company were down 1c to €0.33 at close of business. Analysts believe the proceeds will go a long way to reducing IWP's net debt burden, which currently stands at over €100m.

With the disposal of Skiffy, the company may move to pay off some of the loan notes, which are commanding interest rates of over 7.5%.

The Kerry group was up 10c to €14.60 after fast-food chain McDonalds reported sales up 13% in the US in January. Kerry supplies coatings to McDonalds in the States and supplies sliced cheese to its European franchises.

Qualceram Shires were up 5c to €1.85. Earlier the company said it had sold its former production site in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent for £4m (€5.84m) in cash.

The closure of the site is expected to result in significant cost savings to Qualceram Shires and the proceeds of the sale will be used to reduce the group's debt.

DCC subsidiary SerCom Solutions appointed two senior directors today. Kevin Henry became chief executive officer while Ultan Reilly has been appointed chief operating officer. Shares in DCC were up 10c to €12.10.

Betting chain Paddy Power was up 5c to €7.65. The company was the focus of an internet spam attack last week in what looked like a bid to solicit funds from the company.

Pharmaceutical firm Galen releases Q1 results tomorrow.