At least one new company is expected to list on Dublin's main market this year, with a further eight companies opting for the smaller IEX enterprise exchange, the Irish Stock Exchange said yesterday.

Speaking at the exchange's annual review yesterday, chief executive Tom Healy said 2006 had been one of the exchange's best years, with the main market, the Iseq, ending the year up 28 per cent and reaching a record high of 9,453 in December.

Equity turnover was up 19 per cent to more than €129 billion, equating to an average daily turnover of €511 million, while operating profit for the year is expected to be €10 million, compared with €7 million in 2005.

During 2006, Aer Lingus was the only new company to list on the Iseq, while nine companies chose to list their shares on the IEX.

Brian Healy, director of trading and regulation at the exchange, was quick to point out that the forecasts for new listings this year were exactly that - forecasts, and declined to say which newcomers may join the market.

However, following recent speculation in the media, Smurfit Kappa, which less than two years ago merged with Dutch firm Kappa Packaging to create one of the largest Irish industrial groups, yesterday confirmed it is currently preparing for a return to the market at some point later this year.

The number of equity transactions last year increased to over 900,000, up 14 per cent on the prior year, a gain Tom Healy attributed to strong demand from private investors.

"This is another outstanding performance by the Irish market and the figures show clearly that the Irish Stock Exchange is an attractive location for investors who wish to trade in Irish equities," he said.

As of the end of December, more than 4,300 funds were listed on the exchange, while the total number of classes listed exceeded 9,600.

Debt securities, which include listings such as the BBC's headquarters in London and Air France's planes, experienced good growth last year, with 2,883 entities listed as of the end of December.

During the year, 988 new debt entities were listed, an increase of 45 per cent over the prior year.

Tom Healy said he expects the rate of increase in fund and debt listings to continue at the same pace this year.

He also said the exchange was continuing to review its ownership structure - it is currently a company limited by guarantee - but that it has no plans to change it at the moment.