The insurance firm FBD reaffirmed full year operating earnings per share of €1.45 to €1.55 as well as growth in premium income and further market share gains, according to its latest interim management update.

The banks will not need further capital following the next round of EU-wide stress tests scheduled for 2014, according to Merrion Stockbrokers’s senior credit analyst, Ciaran Callaghan.

Last year’s budget deficit was 7.6%, which is well within the 8.6% target agreed with the Troika, according to latest official data.

The restructuring of the promissory notes will yield the State €800m in savings through lower interest rate payments between this year and 2030, according to Davy Stockbroker economist Conall MacCoille.

Ireland’s prospects of meeting the EU/IMF bailout targets in 2013 and making a full return to the markets received a boost with the latest growth figures from the Central Statistics Office.

Mortgage losses among Irish banks are showing tentative signs of stabilisation with the latest figures from the Central Bank showing the rate of increase in mortgage arrears at its lowest level since the first three months of 2011.

Davy Stockbroker analyst Emer Lang has downgraded Bank of Ireland from “outperform” to “neutral” on the back of near-term challenges to its net interest margin, rising impairment losses, and limited growth opportunities.

Well-above-normal US milk output over the winter and spring period has been a contributory factor to the downward pressure on global dairy product prices.

The National Treasury Management Agency raised €4.19bn in fresh capital for the Government yesterday through the issue of two bonds — one maturing in 2017 and the other in 2020.

The Government’s €2.25bn fiscal stimulus plan is much more about presentation than anything else.

Concerns have been raised over the potential of the latest EU agreement to reduce Ireland’s debt to manageable levels and pave the way for a return to sovereign bond markets in 2013.

Providence Resources has taken “a giant leap forward in advancing its plans to commercialise Ireland’s first oil field”, company chief executive Tony O’Reilly told company shareholders yesterday.

THE bank guarantee scheme is expected to be extended by the European Commission to the end of the year.

NAMA cannot work without the co-operation of the country’s developers, according to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), which has also warned that thousands of jobs will be shed as major projects finish.

IN its annual report for 2008, ExxonMobil notes that the award of two exploration licences was a key event for its exploration portfolio.

TWO of the country’s leading banks stressed this week they were well-funded and would not need to go to the market to raise money.

THE past week has been a bit of a mixed bag in terms of the economy.

Ian Guider

INVESTORS in insurance-to-leisure group FBD could be in line for significant dividend hikes.

DRINK sales in Irish pubs are on the increase after months of falling revenues following the introduction of the smoking ban.

BUY car insurance from FBD, whatever about their shares, is the clear message from Davy Stockbroker’s insurance and banking sector expert Scott Rankin.

AER Lingus is in play. Whether the Government likes it or not the ‘for sale’ sign has been firmly hoisted.

MORE than €1.3 billion was wiped off the value of shares traded on the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday as stocks fell on bourses across the globe on fears of an increase in US interest rates.

KERRY Group has become a bio-science company of world standing following its €355 million acquisition of Quest from ICI, Davy Stockbrokers believe.

GALEN founder Allen McClay’s personal spending spree on acquiring company assets rose to €277m yesterday when he spent €34m buying Galen’s Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Services business (PDMS).

CONSTRUCTION and building materials provider Grafton Group’s shares raced ahead yesterday after the company said it expected profits to exceed stockbroker forecasts.

THE Government may be forced into another round of cutbacks this year as tax returns threaten to fall well below expectations.

ELAN’S share price continued to surge yesterday as the market digested news that its experimental Alzheimer’s vaccine had positive impacts on patients before it was abruptly pulled from testing after side effects emerged.

THE bull-run on world stock markets this week may be more of a trot than a stampede, according to economists who believe the good figures driving the market are not all that they seem.

ELAN shares have been given an "avoid" rating by Merrion Stockbrokers in the wake of the company's global conference call to investors yesterday when plans to raise €1 billion in an asset sell-off were unveiled.