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ISEQ rebounds after Govt jobs plan

Friday, February 22 12:51:00

The ISEQ rebounded from yesterday's steep losses after the Government published its Action Plan for jobs.

The index rose 53.29 points to 3,676.56.

The Government today unveiled its Action Plan for Jobs with the goal of 100,000 new jobs by 2016 with 333 measure this year alone - all with highly ambitious deadlines.

The Taoiseach, the Tanaiste and the Minister for Jobs today said Action Plan 2013 contains seven headline "Disruptive Reform" measures - high-impact measures with highly ambitious deadlines, implemented in partnership with senior industry figures and selected because of their potential to have a significant effect on job-creation.

These include "JobsPlus" where, over two years, the State will pay E1 of every E4 it costs an employer to recruit a long-term unemployed person off the Live Register.

CRH shares rose 56c to E15.97. Data released by ARTBA (American Road Transportation Builders Association) shows that contract awards for highways increased by 20pc yoy in January. This is the third consecutive month of strong growth which pushes the rolling 6-month total into growth territory for the first time in almost two years.

There are two trends that we would highlight in the data: (i) This strength is not across all states with 24 still recording declines versus an average last year of 27; and (ii) There are tentative signs that states are now more confident to go for bigger projects given certainty over funding out to Sep-14. The average contract size is now $2.3m versus approximately $1.6m for 2012.

"This is encouraging data for the heavyside building materials sector. However, it should be borne in mind that CRH's US materials business has a significant bias towards rmi work in highways whereas there is increasing evidence that the uplift in contract awards is led by large new build projects," said Goodbody's.