CRH 2007 FIGURES ON TRACK - CRH has issued a trading statement for 2007. Goodbody analyst Robert Eason said the figures were in line with expectations, with pre-tax profits expected to rise by 19% to €1.9 billion.
He said profits in Europe were up 35%, with US profits in dollars up around 12-13%, despite the problems in the US residential market.
Mr Eason said CRH's 2008 outlook - which said growth would be slower - had also been anticipated by the market. He said the surprise in the statement was the announcement of a buy-back of 5% of its shares.
***
PENSIONS PAY PRICE FOR IRISH EXPOSURE - The big drop in the share price of companies like CRH is one of the reasons why irish pensions funds have finished in negative territory in 2007.
Evelyn Ryder, senior investment consultant of pension and investment adviser Hewitt Associates, estimated that Irish managed pension funds overall would be down around 2.5% in 2007. They had been up 6% in the first half of 2007.
She said 20% of managed pension funds had been invested in Irish stocks, but these had lost around 25% of their value in 2007. She said managers had now reduced their Irish exposure to 15%.
Ms Ryder said Eagle Star was expected to finish in marginally positive territory, but Bank of Ireland would be down 8%.
***
NEWS IN BRIEF - Oil prices have dipped in trading in Asia overnight - a barrel of US light crude, which incidentally contains 159 litres, is trading at $99.30.
British clothing retailer Next, which has a number of shops here, has said it expects its full-year profits to be slightly ahead of market expectations.
But it warned that the outlook for 2008 remains extremely cautious, due to increasing demands on consumers' finances.
Electronics retailer DSG International, which owns Dixons and Currys, has warned that its full year profits will be lower than expected after a weak Christmas spending period, in which its underlying sales fell 1% on the same period a year earlier.
On currency markets, the euro is worth 74.3p sterling, and $1.4730.
