ISEQ steadies after initial losses

Dublin's stock exchange recovered ground lost this morning to stand only 0.3 points lower at 6810.64 today.

The financials made a poor start following the Bank Holiday weekend as three of the four institutions recorded losses for the day.

Anglo Irish dropped 17c to €10.98 and Irish Life & Permanent fell 10c to €14.93.

Bank of Ireland had a more marginal 2c loss to stand at €13.78 while AIB bucked the trend to gain 17c to finish on €17.92 by the end of the day's trading.

The biggest loser today was building material group CRH who saw their share price tumble 21c to €23.24 while Kerry Group's price fell 15c to €20.65.

Budget carrier Ryanair shares were up 5c to €6.85 as it announced a 21% improvement in first quarter profits today, despite seeing its fuel bill more than double on a year earlier.

The Dublin-based carrier was helped by a surge in passenger numbers, up by almost a third on a year earlier to 8.5 million in the three months to June 30.

Ryanair, which has refused to follow the lead of many of its rivals and introduce a fuel surcharge, said the charges imposed by other European carriers made its fares look more attractive, allowing it to raise ticket prices.

This helped it post better-than-expected net profits of €64.4m.

The ISEQ 20 ETF had a two-cent rise to €13.76 today, as the first Irish Exchange Traded Fund to be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange announced a strong performance in the first three months of its life on the Dublin stock exchange.

The Fund, which invests in the top 20 stocks quoted on the ISEQ, produced a return of 13% since its launch on April 22, 2005.