Ireland is still expected to turn a record trade surplus this year, despite latest preliminary data from the CSO showing export performance beginning to wane even before last month’s Brexit vote.

Providence Resources chief Tony O’Reilly Jr has said he remains “hopeful” the company can land a long-awaited development partner for its flagship Barryroe field, in the Celtic Sea, in the next six months.

Almost €10bn was wiped off the combined value of Irish shares yesterday, as the Irish Stock Exchange bore the brunt of investors continuing to react negatively to Britain’s decision to leave the EU.

Irish exploration firm Lansdowne Oil and Gas has shelved its sales process after the successful raise of £2.1m (€2.7m), allowing it to pay off debt and meet working capital requirements into next year.

Shares in Cuisine de France owner Aryzta slid nearly 7% yesterday after the company reneged on assurances it wouldn’t incur any restructuring costs this year and said around 2% of its global workforce may be cut as part of ongoing cost-cutting initiatives.

The next five years is a make or break period for Ireland’s burgeoning offshore exploration sector, an industry analyst said yesterday.

CRH is not expected to buy further assets to be disposed of by European cement giant LafargeHolcim.

Finance Minister, Michael Noonan has vowed the country will avoid repeating past mistakes and won’t return to a ‘boom and bust’ cycle on the back of its current strong economic recovery.

Providence Resources’ chief executive, Tony O’Reilly Jnr yesterday stressed that the company is progressing towards a long-awaited farm-out agreement on its much-heralded Barryroe field off the Cork coast, with signs of “new momentum” evident.

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

Ferry and freight services business Irish Continental Group (ICG) is expected to be debt free by the end of 2016.

Ryanair has put longer-haul route ambitions to the likes of Russia on hold and will focus on closer destinations like Germany to fuel short-term growth.

A budget deficit of under 2% of GDP is still anticipated for 2015, despite latest exchequer returns disappointing slightly.

Irish exploration firm Petroceltic has pulled out of Kurdistan, citing disappointing drilling results and the continuing low oil price environment among its reasons.

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.

Irish drinks group, C&C saw its share price slump by nearly 10% yesterday on the back of it warning that its annual profits are likely to be down by around €10m this year.

Online gambling company, Betfair plans a cash return of £200 million (€253m) to shareholders and higher dividend payouts after posting a 51% rise in first-half earnings.

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.

Specialist building materials group Kingspan expects to see a near 20% increase in trading profit this year, despite management remaining cautious over macroeconomic conditions.

Energy-focused support services group DCC has lowered its full-year profit guidance, despite seeing a strong first-half performance.

Irish-Swiss baked foods group Aryzta has reported a near-7% rise in annual revenues, with the contribution from acquired subsidiaries growing almost 12% on the previous year.

Drinks group C&C has told shareholders it remains on track to meet current year financial targets of mid-single digit operating profit growth.

Building and construction output rose 2.1% in the first quarter of this year, when compared to the final three months of 2013, fresh CSO data shows.

Bakery group Aryzta has said that consolidation opportunities to extend its market share continue to exist, although financial discipline and strong cash generation will remain its key strategies.

Leading Irish recruitment firm CPL Resources is anticipating further profitable growth in the remainder of its current financial year after seeing double-digit percentage growth in first-half profits and revenue.

Inflation levels fell to a three-year low in August, with the annual rate now expected to be below 1% come the end of the year.

Production output across Ireland’s manufacturing industries fell by 2.7% on a rolling month-by-month basis in March and was down by 6.2% on a year-on-year basis, according to newly published data from the CSO.

The exchequer deficit fell by over 13% — to just under €3.7bn — on an annualised basis, in the first three months of the year, despite the Government narrowly missing its quarterly revenue targets for headline categories such as income tax and Vat.

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is far more important to the US economic recovery and the markets than the US President, says John Mennis, a London-based stockbroker with Investec.

Irish oil and gas exploration company Petroceltic said it is on target to meet full-year production targets and will drill 10 wells as part of its enlarged portfolio over the next year.

Building materials group Grafton is expecting its full-year operating profit to come in at the higher end of market expectations, after recording a near 6% year-on-year revenue increase for the first 10 months of the year.

Financial services company IFG will buy up to £30m (€37.3m) of its own shares later this month, it confirmed yesterday.

Providence Resources has been offered a two-year licensing option on an area of the Celtic Sea, which could ultimately increase the total size of its Barryroe find.

Elan suffered a near 9% fall in its share price yesterday after news that its partners have ceased plans for their headline Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

Clinical research company Icon has reported a near 15% increase in first-half revenue to $529m (€437m).

Economists remain upbeat about the manufacturing sector after another strong month of growth.

Providence Resources has suspended drilling at one of the development wells at its Singleton onshore oil field in England.

Manufacturing production levels rose healthily in April, with both the “traditional” and “modern” sectors of the economy showing strong growth, according to the latest data from the CSO.

Industrial production grew by 1% last year but slowed dramatically in the final quarter, according to data released by the CSO.

NOVEMBER saw a marked recovery in Ireland’s trade surplus, with a strong export performance pushing it up to €4.3 billion, its highest level ever.