Mr Terence O'Rourke, a partner in KPMG accountants and an expert witness for Fyffes, yesterday presented a report dealing with accounting issues in the case.

In the 72-page report, Mr O'Rourke said it was his opinion that price-sensitive information was information which was not generally available and, if available, would be likely to materially affect a share price.

He considered that information on Fyffes' trading for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2000 (beginning November 1st, 1999), made available to Mr Flavin in January 2000 in the form of management accounts for November and December and a forecast for January, was price-sensitive.

He also considered that the Fyffes budget for the fiscal year 2000 contained price-sensitive information. He said management accounts were for internal company use and were not generally available.

The information would have allowed Mr Flavin to conclude that Fyffes was experiencing trading difficulties, that the performance was not as expected, and that there was no sign of an upturn.

While not an expert on the impact of poor trading on the stock market, he noted that when information on Fyffes' poor trading became available to the market via a profit warning from the company on March 20th, 2000, the Fyffes share price had fallen by some 25 per cent in two days.

He said the information available to Mr Flavin in January 2000 would be seen as equivalent to a profit warning.