Iseq crashes by 119 points

The Iseq index of shares has had a torrid morning after it fell 119.14 points to 9,844.30 by 11.30am.

The financials led the slump with Irish Life and Permanent crashing by 66c to €19.99 and AIB collapsing by 40c to €22.14. Anglo Irish Bank had a modest three-cent fall to €17.50 while Bank of Ireland was down only four cents to €15.92.

The low fares airline Ryanair experienced a 37c slump to €5.05 despite announcing record net profits of €401m this morning, a 33% increase over the prior year figure and €11m ahead of previous guidance. Rival Aer Lingus, whom Ryanair's deputy chief executive Howard Millar said 'unlikely' to be a target for the low-fares airline, also saw their price fall, down 10c to €2.80.

Elsewhere, C&C had a 30c fall to €12.05 as did construction firm Kingspan who went down to €22.08. Paddy Power fell 32c to €21.90 and pharmaceutical firm Elan saw its stock fall 23c to €14.42.

Iaws offshoot, Origin Enterprises started trading on the stock exchange today at a price of €3.75.