NCB Stockbrokers came first in the Republic in a quarterly analysis of the accuracy of predictions made by European stockbroking firms.

Davy Stockbrokers, the leading Irish firm in the sector, was included in the study but was not in listed in the results, according to London company Accuracy Quotient (AQ). A spokesman said it only listed firms with "above average" results. Davy scored a below average result.

The study looked at the accuracy of brokers' predictions of earnings for the largest 300 companies in 10 European countries.

The research and rankings company's latest study involved results reported up to August 15th, 2003.

As well as brokers' performances, it also assessed the performance of Europe's top 300 public companies in terms of the "predictability" of their results.

The survey found that Irish companies performances were particularly predictable, according to the AQ spokesman.

CRH came first in Europe in the construction companies category in terms of predictability of results. The Bank of Ireland came third in the banking sector and AIB fifth. Irish Life & Permanent came 12th out of 19 companies in the insurance sector.

Ryanair proved to be more predictable in this study than in previous ones. "The analysts are getting more of a handle on the company," said a spokesman for AQ. It proved significantly more predictable than Lufthansa, the only other airline in the study.

As far as brokers' performances in predicting results was concerned, NCB Stockbrokers was the "runaway winners" in the Republic, according to the spokesman.

NCB was followed by Goodbody Stockbrokers followed by Merrion Stockbrokers. The other stockbroking firms in the Republic who scored above average results were, in descending order: Smith Barney, UBS, BNP Paribas, Merrill Lynch, HSBC and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Overall, William de Broe was found to be the most accurate brokerage, a position it has held for the third consecutive quarter.

UK company Bunzl was the most predictable company in the report.