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Ryanair shares lead ISEQ lower

Wednesday, February 27 12:53:51

The ISEQ dipped back in to the red this morning led by Ryanair after the EU rejected its third bid for rival Aer Lingus.

By 12:45, the index was down 11.58 points to 3,721.21.

Ryanair will appeal today's decision by Europe's anti-monopoly watchdog to block its third takeover bid for Aer Lingus, potentially leaving the fate of its Irish rival in limbo for years. The rebuff was expected after Ryanair said earlier this month the EU Commission had told it of its intention to block the 694-million-euro bid to seize control of Ireland's 75-year-old former flag carrier. The veto, which is the first time the Commission has twice rejected a proposed takeover, was expected to force Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary to decide whether to finally set its smaller rival free by selling its 30 percent stake. But by following through on a threat to try to be the first company in a decade to overturn an EU anti-monopoly decision, Ryanair could tie up the stake for years and stymie the Irish government's efforts to offload its own 25 percent holding. Ryanair stocks fell nearly 1pc or 6c to E5.61 while Aer Lingus gained 1c to E1.25.

CRH shares fell 6c to E16.62. Holcim has reported adjusted fourth quarter EBITDA of CHF1,019m (+2pc yoy) versus Bloomberg consensus of CHF973m (4-5pc ahead). However, this is before restructuring costs of CHF181m (which look higher than expected) and is on the back of lfl sales growth of 2pc (versus 3pc Q3 and 6pc H1). For the FY EBITDA was up 6pc before restructuring costs (flat when included). "In terms of CRH there is no additional information at a regional level but it is another set of results that highlight the diverging trends between Europe and US. Underlying sales in Europe were down 5pc in both Q4 and FY, while North America was up 2pc in Q4 and +3pc FY. We expect these trends to continue in 2013 resulting in single-digit EBITDA growth for CRH," according to Goodbody's.

DCC has completed the acquisition of Kent Pharmaceuticals in line with the time frame set out by management when the deal was announced last December. Shares in the Irish group, which intends to de-list from the Irish market in favour of London, climbed 27c to E27.02.