It took quite a while, but Dermot Desmond's confidence in a strong recovery by Golden Vale paid handsome dividends for the Dublin financier, with Desmond making a profit of around £3 million when he sold his entire 8 per cent stake in the Charleville food group last week.

But some in the market not those like Standard Life and Scottish Provident who gleefully snapped up the Desmond shares at 105p each were perplexed at the timing of the sale of the stake, just five days ahead of full-year results that every dog in the street knew would be excellent.

After the results on Wednesday, Golden Vale shares were firmly bid at 115p and it is arguable that the Desmond shares would be worth a good bit more in a few months time if Golden Vale is as good as its word with the expansion of its consumer foods division.

The next question is where Dermot Desmond will direct the £12 million-plus he realised from Golden Vale. So far, all of his public company investments have eventually turned up trumps, so the next time he discloses a stake in a plc it will probably be followed by a rush of small investors.

Red faces, however, at Royal & Sun Alliance where the British institution is nursing a paper loss of more than £3 million after it sold its eight million Golden Vale shares last October at 75p each. That stake had been built up by one fund manager the decision to and then unloaded by his successor. Ouch!