Five companies may float in 2004

AS many as five companies may float on the Irish Stock market in 2004, chief executive Tom Healy is predicting.

Reviewing last year’s performance, Mr Healy said 2004 may see a turn for the better in the market after a fallow three years.

Already market speculation suggests at least three definite contenders, in the form of C&C, Jefferson Smurfit Group and the return of eircom is also a strong possibility.

However, Mr Healy refused to be drawn on any names when he met the press at the Stock Exchange yesterday.

Both Smurfit and eircom have been listed in the past, but C&C would be a new entrant. Its flotation was pulled at the last minute when markets went flat in 2002.

Chief executive, Maurice Pratt stood to be worth €5 million on completion of the launch.

Underpinning the optimism is the 42% rebound in the Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index since March.

That has boosted confidence among executives looking to the market as a source of funding, that investors are keen to get back in.

Last year, Ireland’s benchmark stock index rose 23%, its biggest annual gain in five years.

There hasn’t been an initial public offering in Ireland since December 2000 and some of the country’s biggest companies such as Jefferson Smurfit Group Plc and, more recently, mortgage lender First Active Plc, have been bought.

Overall the ISEQ has been losing its battle to bigger bourses across Europe. In four years the number of listed companies has plunged from 77 to 52 as companies were bought over and as others delisted due to the lack of support for their shares, as fund managers bought sectors rather than specific stocks.

The exchange plans to step up efforts to convince the Government to reduce or abolish a tax on share transactions.

Irish stamp duty is 1%, double the UK figure, while many EU countries have no tax on trades.

The tax puts Ireland’s stock exchange at a disadvantage, said Mr Healy.

“To be the only ones in the euro zone with a substantial tax is a difficult position,” said Mr Healy.

The tax penalises investors by more than €300m annually, he said.