ISEQ falls back in afternoon to close unchanged

The ISEQ index closed the day almost unchanged, slipping back from morning and afternoon gains to close up .03 to 6,008.47.

Financial stocks were mixed today. Allied Irish Bank shares climbed 15c to €14.57 while Bank of Ireland crept up 1c to €11.61.

Shares in Anglo-Irish Bank fell back 12c to €15.68 but Irish Life & Permanent shares climbed 10c to €13.25.

Meanwhile shares in United Drug closed up 9c today to €3.37. The company this morning reported pre-tax profits of €42.4m for the year to the end of September, up 21% on the previous year.

It was not such a good day for pharmaceutical giant Elan, however, which saw shares tumble 70c to €20.90.

Food group Greencore saw shares slip 10c to €2.90 as it announced an 8% (€73m) increase in pre-tax profits before exceptional items for the year to the end of September.

Shares in Northern Ireland energy group Viridian's shares were unchanged at €9.28 despite pre-tax profits of £54.9m (€78.5m) for the six months to September 30, 2004, compared to £53.8m (€76.9m) for the same period in 2003.

The most traded shares today were AIB, Anglo-Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Ryanair and CRH.