Dublin Report:Volumes were good on the Irish market, with company news at last taking a driving seat to give the market some direction.

C&C ended the day up 29 cents, at €4.60, after reporting a 25 per cent jump in first-half cider sales. In a pre-close trading update released yesterday, the drinks and snacks maker said its group turnover for the six months to the end of August would be ahead by about 8 per cent on the same period in 2004.

Traders attributed the share-price increase to the strong summer sales of Bulmers in the Republic. The successful launch of Magners in London was expected and was already factored into the stock's price.

FBD gained 75 cents, to €33.25, after the insurance group said pretax profit rose to €106.8 million in the first half of this year.

Jurys again succeeded in drawing attention from some of yesterday's other main newsmakers. The stock gained 45 cents, to end the day at €17.85, with most of the trade taking place around the €17.50 and €17.85 level, according to one trader.

Precinct, the consortium that said it would pay €17.50 for Jurys, confirmed yesterday it was exiting the takeover process, though speculation still remains as to whether some members of the consortium will bid alone or whether other bidders will step into the frame. Separately, Jurys also said yesterday it plans to sell the Berkeley Court and Jurys Montrose hotels in Dublin 4.

Moving in the other direction, Paddy Power lost 40 cents, to €15.20, after a run of poor betting results kept first-half profits flat at the bookmaker. The group said yesterday pretax profits for the six months to the end of June fell to €18.4 million, from €18.7 million in the year-earlier period.

However, one trader said he would still recommend investors to buy the stock.

Ryanair was also among the losers, slipping a further 13 cents, to €6.51, as the price of jet fuel continued to rise.

Irish Life & Permanent ended the day up 17 cents, at €15.02.