ISEQ boosted by financials and food firms

The Dublin stock exchange had a good start to the day with a 26-point increase by 11am this morning.

The ISEQ stands at 7,959.7 with the rise spearheaded by the financial sector and food firms IAWS and Kerry Group.

The AIB and Bank of Ireland both saw their share prices increase 15c to €19.60 and €15.25 respectively, while Anglo Irish Bank grew seven cents to €13.30. However, Irish Life and Permanent had a 10c drop to €19.40.

IAWS and rival Kerry Group both raised their stock by 15c to stand at €14.40 and 19.65 respectively.

Oil and gas, exploration and production Group, Tullow Oil, had a modest five cent rise to €5.10 despite announcing record results for the year ended 31 December 2005. Sales revenue at the oil firm increased 98% to £445.2m (€646.1m), Operating profit increased 250% to £198.6m (€288.3m) and profit before tax increased 282% to £178.6 million (€259.2m).

Rival Dragon oil had a 13c fall to €2.83.

Shares at travel software compay Datalex fell one cent to €0.83c after the firm announced a pre-tax profit of €1.58m in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December, 2005 this morning.

After announcing five new routes from Shannon Airport today, Ryanair shares climbed three cents to €7.68.

Elsewhere, business support services group DCC climbed 10c to €19.30 and Grafton Group's share price fell by the same amount to €10.70.