ISEQ makes modest gains

The ISEQ index of shares closed in positive territory today although most companies saw their share prices falling back.

The Dublin stock exchange added 7.37 points to 6,118.91 as IAWS announced the acquisition of Groupe Hubert for €130m this morning.

The purchase of the bakery products developer in France led to a 33c increase in their share price to €11.58.

Warner Chilcott plc also posted significant gains, adding 20c to €12.38.

However share prices elsewhere were going down, notably at concrete products group Readymix who had a profits warning late on Friday.

The group warned that profits for 2004 would be 'substantially below' market expectations after a drop in margins in the third quarter had grown worse in the final quarter. Their price fell 15c to €1.70.

There were mixed fortunes for the financials with Anglo Irish Bank down 23c to €17.35 and Irish Life & Permanent down 6c to €13.09.

Both the AIB, up five cents, and Bank of Ireland, up seven cents, were in the positive to stand at €14.90 and €11.72 respectively.

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