Greencore shares fell by over 5% as a better-than-expected trading update and talk of a recovery in its US operations failed to impress investors.

UDG Healthcare is expected to pursue more acquisition opportunities on top of spending an aggregate $82.4m (€71m) on two US companies.

CRH’s market value has increased by €1bn on the back of it announcing an ambitious four-year growth plan which could see the building materials giant spend around €7bn on acquisitions.

Troubled Cuisine de France owner Aryzta is still expected to sell its 49% stake in French food retailer Picard in order to pay down debt before its financial year closes at the end of July.

Smurfit Kappa said it will buy Dutch paper and recycling firm Reparenco for about €460m, increasing the intrigue as it continues to try and see off a takeover bid from rival International Paper (IP) of the US.

Ryanair shares jumped more than 5% despite the airline warning that earnings in its financial year could fall by at least 7%.

The prospect of an increased tax on UK online gaming revenues represents a bigger threat to Paddy Power-Betfair than the enforcement of maximum restrictions on in-shop gaming machine betting, analysts have warned.

By Eamon Quinn

Analysts are expected to increase net profit forecasts for Origin Enterprises, following the Dublin-based agri-services group reporting a strong start to its current financial yea, writes Geoff Percival.

Kerry Group shares rose nearly 3% despite management cutting the upper limit of its full-year earnings expectations, writes Geoff Pervical.

Irish fruit distribution company Total Produce is eyeing further North American acquisitions on the back of purchasing one of the continent’s main produce exporters for an estimated €10m to €15m.

Shares in FBD jumped over 11% on rising hopes of a resumption of dividend payments, in time.

CRH is still tipped to win out in its plans to acquire US cement giant Ash Grove but will likely have to pay more than the $3.5bn (€2.98bn) it had planned for it to fend off an 11th-hour from a US rival.

Shares in CRH rose 3% after the building-materials giant announced it was to buy a leading US cement manufacturer for $3.5bn (€2.93bn).

The chief executive of Green REIT–the Dublin-focused commercial real estate developer — said the demand for top-grade office rentals in Cork will likely increase.

Shares in consumer foods group Greencore fell a further 8% yesterday, even after management rushed to soothe investor fears over share price erosion in recent days.

Building materials giant CRH has said it is ready to act further on what it sees as “a strong pipeline” of acquisition opportunities in light of selling part of its US operations for $2.6bn (€2.2bn).

Shares in betting services group Paddy Power-Betfair dropped a further 4% yesterday after it posted first-half earnings which fell short of analyst expectations.

A commitment to resume paying a delayed dividend, and a reassurance over how its key operations in Britain will weather Brexit, helped boost the shares of Bank of Ireland.

Shares in Independent News and Media (INM) rallied yesterday, after a turbulent week ended with the group announcing a deal for pension scheme members.

Costs associated with probes into corporate governance helped to damage profits at Independent News and Media, the group has said.

The huge run up for shares of US giants, such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and the Alphabet-owned Google, as well as semiconductor stocks, may have peaked, according to the latest global outlook from Merrion Capital.

Shares in Grafton have risen 1% in London as the Woodie’s and international merchants group reassured about the outlook for its UK operations. 

The State is set to recoup around €3.05bn when 25% of its near total ownership of AIB is sold off to stock market investors early next week. It is marginally more than was initially targeted.

The Government, through its advisors, has already received more than enough orders from investors to proceed with the sale of 25% of its near total shareholding in AIB.

Irish fruit distribution company Total Produce has raised its earnings outlook for 2017 after seeing a continuation of its strong trading performance in the first four months of the year.

Shares in Permanent TSB rose 5% after it told shareholders it had taken on new business and improved its profitability in the early part of the year.

Shares in FBD rose almost 5% as the insurer signalled it was on course to boost profitability as claims conditions had improved and premium prices had increased in recent months.

Pending legislation in the UK could weigh on betting services giant Paddy Power-Betfair’s stock performance, analysts have warned.

Strikes by French air traffic control and by ground staff in Berlin have pushed up “multiple headwinds” against Ryanair achieving its earnings guidance, according to Merrion Capital analysts.

Shares in Aryzta fell more than 7% at one stage yesterday before sharply paring losses, as the troubled Irish-Swiss baked goods company said it plans to accelerate its management shake-up.

Irish fruit distributor Total Produce remains on the lookout for more acquisitions on the back of stronger-than-expected annual earnings.

There is a very low risk that political strains at home will scupper the launch of a sale of shares in AIB by early summer, analysts have said.

A decision to delay paying its first dividend since the financial crisis was mainly due to accounting issues surrounding the bank’s pension scheme, and not to do with underlying issues such as Brexit, Bank of Ireland has said.

Kerry Group has dismissed speculation it might sell its consumer food arm by saying it remains “very, very committed” to it and still sees further growth opportunities arising from the division.

The Government has cut the value of AIB by a modest €900m, in a move that may signal it still eyes selling a stake in the lender at the first opportunity.

An early sale of shares worth up to €3bn in Government-owned AIB could be delayed amid calls for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to step down.

Shares in Cuisine de France owner Aryzta jumped by almost 12% yesterday on the back of the troubled group launching a recovery bid which will see founder and chief executive Owen Killian leave the company and its investment strategy reviewed.

Irish investors have been warned off from increasing their bets on overvalued Irish and global shares because the risks posed by President Donald Trump cutting US corporation taxes and by Brexit-driven choppy currency markets for Ireland’s economy are just too great.

Sterling yesterday surrendered most of the ground it had gained after Theresa May outlined her hard Brexit vision for Britain on Tuesday, as investors looked to Irish property stocks as potential winners from the UK’s rupture with Brussels.

Shares in Permanent TSB rose more than 3% on hopes that the mortgage lender has turned a new chapter by focusing on growing new mortgage lending here after selling off a major UK loan book.

Two of Ireland’s largest food companies — Kerry Group and Glanbia — have seen an analyst upgrade on the back of strong quarterly updates showing they are weathering currency headwinds.