Paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa is to switch its primary share listing from Dublin to London next month in a move aimed at expanding its investor base and gaining access to the FTSE index.

Shares in Irish-founded packaging company, Powerflute jumped by nearly 2% at one point yesterday following an indicative takeover approach from US private equity house, Madison Dearborn Partners.

Senan Murphy, currently chief operating officer at Bank of Ireland, has been named group finance director at building materials giant, CRH.

CRH has taken its committed spend for the current year to around €8bn on the back of another international mega-deal.

Paper and packaging giant, Smurfit Kappa has announced a 30% increase in its first half dividend for shareholders to 20c per share; bringing the full-year 2015 payment to 60c per share.

Analysts are signalling a near-24% jump in CRH’s medium-term share price on the back of it completing the purchase of certain assets from Swiss and French cement firms Holcim and Lafarge, and those assets making some contribution to the group’s current financial year.

CRH is expected to promote from within when deciding upon a new finance director later this year.

Building materials group CRH raised €1.6bn through an equity placement yesterday to part-fund the biggest acquisition in the company’s history.

A successful takeover of assets being offloaded to facilitate the planned mega-merger between Swiss and French cement giants Holcim and Lafarge could prove to be a “game-changing” deal for Irish group CRH, analysts believe.

Dublin office rents will surpass peak pre-recession levels in the next two years as the lack of development and increasing demand continue to drive prices higher.

Irish debt-to-GDP is set to fall below 80% by the end of the decade and the country is on course to regain its AAA credit rating over the same timeframe, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

Cement giant, CRH is likely to focus more on the US in terms of future investment, but a move for some assets being offloaded as part of the Holcim-Lafarge mega-merger hasn’t been ruled out.

CRH has said it remains “well-positioned” to benefit from acquisition opportunities, even after completing a further six bolt-on purchases during the third quarter of the year.

CRH has been linked to a joint bid for the assets due to be sold in order to pass the planned mega-merger of French and Swiss cement giants, Lafarge and Holcim.

Packaging company Smurfit Kappa yesterday announced that it had struck a deal to acquire an American competitor for $150m (€118.24m).

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa achieved a 79% increase in profits in the first six months of the year compared to the same period of 2013, it was announced yesterday.

Analysts are forecasting significant earnings increases at DCC following the group’s £45m (€55m) purchase of a UK medical products business.

Earnings per share at Smurfit Kappa Group are expected to grow by up to 5% next year, with the company saving more than €20 million in annual interest costs on the back of it repaying €500m worth of debt five years ahead of maturity.

Paper and packaging giant Smurfit Kappa Group has reported an 81% annualised increase in first-quarter profits, with earnings considerably boosted by a strong underlying performance from its operations in the Americas.

Irish packaging group Smurfit Kappa posted an 11% rise in full-year pre-tax profit, buoyed by strong demand and increased exposure to high-growth markets such as Mexico.

GDP growth is forecast to reach 0.2% this year and 0.9% next year, although GNP is expected to shrink by -0.6% in 2012 and remain flat in 2013, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

Pre-tax profits at Smurfit Kappa Group grew by 33% — on a year-on-year basis — to €295 million, in the first nine months of this year.

“On days like today, you just can’t win,” said Davy’s analyst Barry Dixon as European stock exchanges tumbled across the continent on the back of political uncertainty.

Irish packaging group Smurfit Kappa Group is undervalued compared to similar companies operating in the same sector, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa saw its profit jump by 20% in the first quarter of this year, netting the company an extra €30m.

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa will reinstate its dividend following a two-year hiatus after successfully lowering its debt and on the back of an improved outlook.

IRELAND’S CRH was told by a tribunal to sell its stake in a joint venture with Portuguese cement maker Semapa but the attractive exit terms in a difficult sector sent its shares almost 5% higher.

PACKAGING groupSmurfit Kappa’s second- quarter earnings rose by a better-than-expected 20% after it offset higher input costs by raising prices and cutting costs elsewhere, and as demand for its products increased.

IRELAND’S sovereign rating is in danger of being cut again as it hovers close to junk status.

STOCK markets could deliver double-digit growth this year, but that optimistic forecast could be in tatters by the year end.

FINAL bids of up to €400 million for at least one of the two non-core assets up for sale at CRH are understood to have been lodged yesterday.

SHARES in the Irish-headquartered paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa (SKG) rose 8.24% (35c) to €4.60 yesterday, after the business reported a 73% year-on-year fall in pre-tax profits to €39m for the first half of the year.

CRH will benefit from Barack Obama’s $30 billion (€23bn) stimulus plan, which will be used to build highways and bridges across the US.

THE Irish equity market’s 66% fall in 2008 made it the worst performer in western Europe for the second year in a row, and one of the worst markets globally.

SHARES in Jurys Doyle rose by 5.5% yesterday after confirmation from the hotel group that it had received a takeover approach.

HOTEL room rates in Dublin are set to rise this year improving the earnings outlook for the Jury's Doyle hotel group according to Davy Stockbrokers.

DUBLIN hotels enjoyed a good January with room rates up 8%, occupancy levels up 5.7% and the key revenue per available room up 15% compared with a year earlier.

SOFTWARE group Iona Technologies saw its shares rise by almost 8% after it released strong fourth-quarter figures yesterday.

REVENUE growth in the Dublin hotel sector was 9.1% in September, according to the latest Deloitte Hotelbenchmark survey.

IONA TECHNOLOGY shares were re-rated upwards by most stockbroking analysts yesterday following the company’s better than expected third quarter revenues of $17.4m.

FURTHER redundancies are likely at security software firm Baltimore Technologies following the sale of its last significant business unit yesterday.