ISEQ up, buoyed by CRH

The ISEQ index was up 12.23 points at 6597.33 at closing time today.

House builder Abbey fell 22c (2.3%) to €9.43 on news that it reported pre-tax profits of €57.26m for the year ending April 30, 2005, down from more than €460m the previous year.

CRH rose 20c to €22.19, while Grafton was level at €8.73.

Jurys Doyle Hotel Group was another heavy faller, down 20c (1.3%) to €15.45.

Iona Technologies was down 3c (1.3%) at €2.22 as the company announced second-quarter revenues of $14m (€11.6m), down from $15.2m (€12.6m) in the same period last year.

Anglo Irish Bank fell 10c to €10.36, while AIB was down 3c at €17.71. Irish Life and Permanent rose 4c to €14.43. Bank of Ireland was the day’s most heavily-traded share, and finished the day up 1c at €13.51.

Food group IAWS gained 3c to €11.61. The company today said that it had backed changes to its structure.

Pharmaceutical Elan was down 1c at €5.88 at the end of the day. Elan will host a conference call on Thursday, July 28, to discuss the company’s second-quarter results, which will be released before the US and European financial markets open.