February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — The Irish are getting in on the stock market craze with a dramatic increase in the number of now owning shares in companies, according to a new survey by the Goodbody Stockbroking firm. The survey found that 17 percent of Irish adults are now stock-holders.
There are now 507,000 shareowners in Ireland compared to only 390,000 a year ago, with the increase being mainly due to the privatization of the former State-owned Telecom Eireann, now re-named Eircom.
The study found two-thirds of those who bought shares in the telecom floatation last summer have held onto them.
More than half a million people applied for Eircom shares but only 14 percent have sold their allocation.
Most Irish investors had only own small amounts of shares, with two thirds of portfolios valued at less than £5,000. About 70 percent have shares in only one company.
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The survey suggests share ownership could go a lot higher, with more privatizations and flotations in the pipeline and nearly a third of Eircom investors saying they would be interested in another flutter in the next year.