Dublin Market:It's been a rude awakening for players in the Irish stock market. Having basked in the glory of being the investors' darling during four successive years when gains averaged 24 per cent, shares on the Irish Stock Exchange became loveless in 2007.
The turning of the property market was the catalyst for the change in sentiment, with many institutions deciding the time had come to lock in profits from the sustained bull run in a market dominated by the banks and construction firms - sectors whose fortunes have been tied to the recent property boom.
The decline was exacerbated by the global credit crunch. Dublin also found itself the target of aggressive short-selling for most of the year and an unravelling of the enthusiasm for contracts for difference, as investors incurred significant losses.
The year opened with Ryanair and Aer Lingus locked in combat. The decision of the European Commission in June not to sanction a takeover did little to restore certainty to the situation, especially as it said it was powerless to force Ryanair to sell its 29.4 per cent stake in its rival.
The two airlines continued sniping at one another throughout the year as their stock values declined amid rising oil prices and the generally negative market sentiment. By year end, Aer Lingus had dropped - from €2.74 a year ago to €2.05 - below its 2006 flotation level. Ryanair was also down - from €10.44 at the end of 2006 to €4.65 following its two-for-one share split.
But the big takeover story was the battle for Irish Continental, which entertained market watchers for most of the year. Eamonn Rothwell's attempt in March to buy the company he had run in trying times in the past was swiftly undermined by the rival Moonduster consortium, led by former IAWS chief Philip Lynch of One51 in association with the Doyler shipping group.
As the two sides exchanged bids and words, developer Liam Carroll started quietly building a stake in the ferry group. The initial €18.50 bid by Rothwell's Aella group eventually increased to €24 a share but with Moonduster and Rothwell's Aella consortium each holding stakes sufficiently large to block a takeover by the other, stalemate prevailed. Eventually, the takeover collapsed in November and the share closed the year at €21.25.
Carroll, too, holds a blocking stake although he has yet to indicate his intentions on the back of the 29.8 per cent shareholding he owns. It has been widely assumed that Carroll's interest lies in land owned by Irish Continental around the Dublin Port area.
However, no decision on development in that area is imminent and Carroll's track record says he will be content to hold the stake, effectively stymieing movement on ownership of Irish Continental. Ironically, the battle for the company comes just as ferry travel begins to look more attractive in the face of increasing security and costs for air travel.
Summer also brought grief for drinks group C&C. Having divested itself of its snack business on the back of booming sales in 2006, the group led by Maurice Pratt was betting heavily on the traditional high season for cider drinkers - summer. Unfortunately, the weather did not oblige and Pratt was forced into not one but two profit warnings in the space of three weeks in July. Adding to his woes were indications that C&C was also losing market share to rival Scottish & Newcastle. Pratt remains at the helm of the company as its stock languishes at €4.10, a precipitous decline from the €13.45 the shares were valued at when 2006 closed.
Jim Flavin at DCC was another great survivor. Despite a Supreme Court finding in July that he had been in possession of insider information when his company sold its 10 per cent holding in Fyffes just ahead of a profit warning, Flavin remains in charge with the full support of his board - and, to judge by the deafening silence, corporate Ireland.
In November, DCC was forced to shoulder the full costs of the action and a claim for damages has been sent back to the High Court for assessment.
But no one suffered the reversal of fortunes that dogged former Anglo Irish Bank star Tiarnan O'Mahoney and his new venture, International Securities Trading Corporation (ISTC). In May, announcing interim profits that exceeded the €6.5 million earned in the 12 months to September 2006, he said profits for the year to last September at ISTC would hit €15 million.
By November, the company was struggling to survive with an estimated shortfall of €870 million and, as the year ends, it is in the hands of an examiner, having become the highest profile Irish victim of the credit crunch.
In terms of new arrivals, it was a quiet year on the main market, with just Smurfit Kappa joining the market. Having risen from its €17 flotation price, to €20.88, the shares succumbed to the general malaise and were trading at €11.15 at the end of last week.
Most of the listing action took place on the junior market, the Irish Enterprise Exchange - or IEX, which welcomed nine new entrants this year.
They included Fyffes, one of the two stocks to leave the main market following its decision to split its business into three elements. Another Fyffes spin-off, Total Produce, also joined the IEX back in January, while the third component of the former Fyffes group, Blackrock International Land, has been an IEX member since May 2006.
Agribusiness group IAWS followed Fyffes' example later in the year, listing its spin-off, Origin Enterprises, on the IEX in June.
Others to float on the IEX included Niall McFadden's Boundary Capital; text messaging group Zamano; financial services group First Derivatives; Andor Technology, a Belfast-based manufacturer of high-spec cameras for the scientific sector; Elan spin-off Merrion Pharmaceuticals; and TVC Holdings, the group established by Shane Reihill of Trinity Venture Capital.
In terms of departures, South Wharf left the main market following the sale of its assets, and Calyx abandoned the IEX after a takeover. Later in the year, MinMet decided to concentrate on its UK listing while Trinity Biotech made a similar move in November.
