ISEQ in red after morning trade

Building company Grafton saw share values dip 4c to €9.31 in morning trade today, after the firm announced in a trading statement that group turnover for 2005 exceeded €2.6bn.

The group benefited from a continuation of a favourable operating environment in Ireland that compensated for weaker trading conditions in the UK during the second half of the year.

Meanwhile, drinks and snacks group C&C saw a 9c surge to €5.62 on the back of news that its Tayto brand had snapped up a division of collapsed UK-based crisp maker Golden Wonder, safeguarding almost 200 jobs.

It was overall a negative morning on the ISEQ, which is now trading 16.20 points down at 7505.85.

Financial stocks saw a grim morning, all recording falls or, at best, staying level. Irish Life and Permanent saw 38c drop from their share value and is now trading at €16.97. Bank of Ireland saw a drop of 17c to 13.48 while Anglo Irish Bank fell 5c to €12.97. AIB stayed level at €18.20.