BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has increased its stake in Irish building materials group CRH and Bank of Ireland, by 0.29 and 0.07 per cent respectively.
Recent regulatory filings show the New York-based fund manager has built up a stake of more than 9 per cent in Ireland's largest publicly quoted company, while its shareholding in Bank of Ireland has risen to 5 per cent.
Recently, CRH announced that first-quarter sales in Europe had grown by 6 per cent while like-for-like sales in the Philippines had dropped by 12 per cent. In its first-quarter trading update the company said it expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be ahead of the €1.12 billion posted for the same period in 2016.
Bank of Ireland also held its agm recently at which shareholder approved a corporate reorganisation to establish a new listed holding company, and a consolidation of its shares.
BlackRock continues as the largest shareholder in CRH, followed by Norges Bank and BNP Paribas, both of which hold about 3.8 per cent of the stock. Its Bank of Ireland holding makes it the third-largest shareholder behind the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and the Minister for Finance.
