Market Report:Drinks group C&C was the main story on the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday, falling by more than 15 per cent after bad weather and competitive pressures forced it to issue a profit warning.
It traded as low as €8.20 at one point, having closed at a price of €10.14 on Thursday. A slight recovery in the afternoon meant the stock finished the week at €8.55, as investors acted on their disappointment at the company's statement that profits won't grow this year. C&C had previously guided that its profits would grow by 15-25 per cent.
Almost 16 million shares traded in Dublin with more activity in London, where the company's Magners cider has been the key to its fortunes over the past year.
A late rally in US shares on Thursday didn't feed through into the Irish market in any significant manner on Friday, as the Iseq index of Irish shares finished down 15 points.
A positive start to the day was eroded by lunchtime, although some of the banks managed to hold their ground.
IL&P made gains of more than 2 per cent, while Bank of Ireland was up almost 1.5 per cent to €14.83 and Anglo Irish Bank added 18 cent to finish at €14.48.
AIB dipped slightly, however, falling four cent to €20.22. The other news to affect the market yesterday was a profit warning from Readymix. It closed down almost 4 per cent yesterday at €2.18, although trading in the stock was relatively quiet.
Elsewhere, Kingspan didn't have a great Friday the 13th, dropping 61 cent to close at €18.45, a fall of more than 3 per cent. DCC fell 22 cent to €23.10, Grafton took a 14 cent tumble to €9.80 and CRH fell 12 cent to €36.61.
Dealers said the Iseq is struggling to hold on to gains but that index continues to underperform global stock markets.
