CURRENT ACCOUNT: Time is fast running out for Elan's management team. The company's chairman and chief executive, Mr Donal Geaney, is on record as saying he does not expect to hold onto his job if he does not restore investor confidence in the next six months.

But whether shareholders' patience will last that long is a moot point. The last six months have been pretty awful for investors in Elan. They have been forced to watch as the company has lurched from one crisis to the next and the share price has slid from more than €50 in January to its current level around €8.

Confidence in the company is now so low that all it took was a single, negative broker note to send the stock into a tailspin that saw it shed more than 20 per cent of its value in a single day last week. The steps taken by Elan during the week to help restore confidence fell short of what was needed.

Despite a management reshuffle, the ailing drugmaker failed to introduce new blood to its board while Mr Geaney's determination to hold onto his dual role of chairman and chief executive, while appointing an independent lead director, has angered many investors.

Without even an up-to-date annual report to help gauge the value of the firm, shareholders face an uncertain future.

A growing number believe the best hope for recouping some of their investment lies in tidying up the company and its balance sheet so it can be sold on. There is also increasing doubt that the current management team can find its way out of the morass and realise some value for shareholders.

Investors are now looking to the release of the annual report and the eagerly-awaited annual meeting on July 31st for more information on the company, its precise value and its prospects.

Whether Mr Geaney and his colleagues can hold onto their jobs will become clear well before next winter.