Corporate results lead Iseq higher

The Iseq index of leading shares performed strongly today on the back of results from a number of leading players including AIB, CRH and Paddy Power.

By 2.25pm, the Dublin market was trading up by more than 8 per cent to 2923.74.

Shares in AIB were trading at €1.04, a gain of 4.5 per cent after it announced an overall pretax loss of €2.65 billion for the year, its first ever full- year loss.

The bank, which reported a pretax loss of €3.5 billion for its Irish operations in 2009, said it had made a provision of €5.4 billion in bad loans, €3.4 billion of which has been identified for transfer to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

Commenting on the results, AIB managing director Colm Doherty said it was "inevitable" that mortgage rates would rise in 2010.

Rival Bank of Ireland shares rose on the back of AIB's results. Its shares were up 3 per cent to €1.01 while Irish Life and Permanent, which will announce its full-year results tomorrow, was up 4.7 per cent to €2.85.

Elsewhere on the Dublin market, heavyweight CRH saw its shares gain 4 per cent to €16.95 after it said reported pretax profits of €732 million for 2009, down 55 per cent from the €1.6 billion recorded a year earlier.

The building materials giant said full-year operating profit declined 48 per cent to €955 million as against €1.8 billion for fiscal 2008, while revenues were down 17 per cent from €20.8 million to €17.4 million.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation declined 32 per cent from €2.65 billion to €1.8 billion.

Bookmaker Paddy Power also saw its share price surge today following publication of its 2009 results.

The company's shares were up 3.3 per cent to €23.82 after it reported a 15 per cent decline in pretax profits for fiscal 2009 to €67.2 million.

Paddy Power said operating profit declined by 12 per cent over the year from €75.7 million to €66.7 million while gross profit rose 2 per cent from €253 million in 2008 to €258 million last year.

Other movers on the Dublin market today included mobile data services provider Zamano, whose shares fell 17 per cent or 3 cents to €0.14 after it said earlier that it returned to profitability last year despite a 39 per cent decline in revenues.