Ryanair was the undoubted star of the market yesterday, with the shares rocketing to new highs as institutional investors went into the market in droves to get shares they could not get in the placing of the 28.9 million shares sold by the Ryans, Michael O'Leary and Irish Air.
The placing at €8.39 (£6.60) was five times oversubscribed and fundamentally shifts the shareholding balance at Ryanair towards European investors. Only the 5.2 million shares sold by Irish Air were placed in the US, with the balance going to British and continental institutions.
From last Friday's close, Ryanair jumped 87 cents to a new high of €9.27 (£7.30), while in London in extraordinary trading - almost 32 million shares traded - the shares were up 601/2p to 6031/2p sterling. With many frustrated buyers still looking for shares, Ryanair is well underpinned at these levels.
Elsewhere, early support for the two big banks fizzled out and AIB closed 17 cents higher on €13.90 (£10.95) after hitting €14.15 (£11.14) in early trading. Bank of Ireland peaked at €17.00 (£13.39) before closing unchanged on €16.90 (£13.31).
CRH continued in strong demand and hit an intra-day high of €18.50 (£14.57) before closing up 28 cents on the day on €18.38 (£14.48). Irish Life & Permanent rebounded from some early weakness and was 20 cents firmer on €11.60 (£9.14), while First Active gained seven cents to €3.40 (£2.68). Fyffes weakened after recent private client buying on the back of an Investors Chronicle recommendation and lost eight cents to €2.17 (£1.71).
