AIB MARKS LAST DAY OF TRADE ON MAIN DUBLIN & LONDON MARKETS - AIB enjoys its last day with a main listing on the Irish Stock Exchange today. From tomorrow it will instead list on the smaller Enterprise Securities Market - a trading platform for smaller shares, mainly mining companies.
Robbie Kelleher, head of investment strategy at stockbrokers Davy, says that AIB made many mistakes over the past few years which lead to its delisting today. He says the bank engaged in imprudent lending and lent out money it just did not have. He says the bank gave out far too much money to developers. As well as lending out its customers' deposits, it also engaged far too much in lending on the wholesale markets.
He says that AIB was forced from its main listing in Dublin because a company on the ISEQ must have 25% of its shares open for free float. Now that the State owns over 90% of the bank, this was not the case any more. He says the Enterprise Securities Market was originally established for small upcoming companies, and not for firms on the way down.
The stockbroker says that the Irish banks - as required by the International Monetary Fund - have to be downsized and restructured in a way that does not create any more capital holes.
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MORNING BRIEFS - The Exporters Association is today launching an Asia trade forum strategy on how to tap the emerging markets where they have tonnes of cash.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.3654 and 85.48 pence sterling.
