Elan surges to become Irish market's biggest stock

Market report:PHARMACEUTICAL GROUP Elan emerged the winner on a day when Irish stocks were friendless, as news that a report today will slash growth forecasts for the Republic's economy sent investors running for cover.

Elan over took building materials giant, CRH, as the biggest company on the Iseq index of Irish shares, thanks to a 5.52 per cent gain that saw it close €1.147 up at €21.941.

At close of business yesterday, it accounted for 15.8 per cent of the total index, compared to CRH's 15.2 per cent. CRH's price fell 69 cent or 3.66 per cent to €18.16.

Investors bought just over 420,000 Elan shares in Dublin, but much of its shareholder base is in the US, and that is where most of the business is done in its stock.

It was one of the few stocks to gain ground on a bad day for Irish shares.

The financials were the worst performers yesterday, mirroring London, where banking stocks lost 2.4 per cent on average.

The worst performer was Bank of Ireland, which fell over 5 per cent to €6.05, which dealers estimated to be one of its lowest quotes in a decade. Investors sold over 3.15 million shares in the bank in Dublin yesterday.

AIB dropped 17 cent or 1.69 per cent to close at €9.90. Volumes were strong, with over five million AIB shares traded on the Dublin market during the day.

Anglo Irish Bank fell in line with the overall average, tumbling by 2.44 per cent to €6.476, a fall of 16.9 cent a share. Just over 3.6 million shares in Anglo Irish changed hands.

"It was a complete disaster," one dealer said as business closed yesterday. He said news that the Economic and Social Research Institute was to cut growth forecasts for the Republic hit all Dublin's leading shares. "The No vote to the Lisbon Treaty isn't helping things either," he added.

Settlement date: June 26th