BOSTON, Nov. 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The New Ireland Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IRL) today released an updated Monthly portfolio statement as of October 31, 2018.
Over recent weeks there has been turbulence in global equity markets, which has dominated the news headlines. Given this backdrop the Board of Directors of the Fund would like to provide the Fund’s shareholders with an update on how Ireland is faring in this environment. While the Irish stock market has had a setback over recent weeks, the overall decline has been in line with other global equity markets and, in fact, has been less severe than many other markets.
KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd (“KBI”), the Fund’s investment adviser, noted that nothing specific or material to Ireland itself occurred during the most recent period. Over the short term, KBI highlights the slow and unpredictable progress on Brexit, which is causing short term volatility on some Irish stocks. The Fund’s share price has suffered a very macro driven setback predominantly based on negative global sentiment due to concerns of escalation of trade wars between the US and China. The underlying positive fundamentals of the Irish economic outlook remain intact as does the underlying health of the stocks held in the Fund’s portfolio.
In sum, Ireland remains the fastest growing economy in Europe and during October, the Irish government, the Irish central bank and various private sector economists have revised upward their forecasts for Irish GDP growth by 2% or more for 2018.
| Issuer Name | Shareholding | US $ Market Value | % of Net Assets |
| AIB GROUP PLC | 333,051 | 1,611,519 | 2.92 |
| AMRYT PHARMA PLC | 1,804,917 | 306,649 | 0.56 |
| APPLEGREEN PLC | 223,909 | 1,506,438 | 2.73 |
| BANK OF IRELAND GROUP | 273,377 | 1,939,890 | 3.52 |
| CIE DE SAINT-GOBAIN | 29,692 | 1,117,877 | 2.03 |
| COVANTA HOLDING CORP | 105,698 | 1,552,704 | 2.82 |
| CRH PLC | 464,188 | 13,895,829 | 25.19 |
| DALATA HOTEL GROUP PLC | 322,959 | 2,000,913 | 3.63 |
| DCC PLC | 18,889 | 1,621,265 | 2.94 |
| GLANBIA PLC | 45,783 | 809,988 | 1.47 |
| GLENVEIGH PROPERTIES PLC | 1,000,000 | 946,890 | 1.72 |
| GRAFTON GROUP PLC | 155,697 | 1,440,847 | 2.61 |
| GREEN REIT PLC | 900,477 | 1,487,043 | 2.70 |
| GREENCOAT RENEWABLES PLC | 1,226,599 | 1,444,872 | 2.62 |
| GREENCORE GROUP PLC | 271,057 | 655,512 | 1.19 |
| HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC | 230,095 | 544,687 | 0.99 |
| IPL PLASTICS PLC COMMON B | 223,828 | 2,271,520 | 4.12 |
| IRISH CONTINENTAL GROUP PLC | 177,922 | 1,047,916 | 1.90 |
| KERRY GROUP PLC | 8,435 | 864,624 | 1.57 |
| KINGSPAN GROUP PLC | 51,141 | 2,224,302 | 4.03 |
| MALIN CORPORATION PLC | 81,980 | 399,273 | 0.72 |
| MINCON GROUP PLC | 562,704 | 764,812 | 1.39 |
| ORIGIN ENTERPRISES PLC | 21,273 | 136,617 | 0.25 |
| PADDY POWER BETFAIR PLC | 13,908 | 1,200,364 | 2.18 |
| RYANAIR HOLDINGS PLC ADR | 20,097 | 1,664,032 | 3.02 |
| RYANAIR HOLDINGS PLC | 295,398 | 3,994,894 | 7.24 |
| SMURFIT KAPPA GROUP PLC | 92,245 | 3,006,956 | 5.45 |
| TOTAL PRODUCE PLC | 748,397 | 1,602,091 | 2.90 |
| UDG HEALTHCARE PLC | 102,268 | 907,085 | 1.50 |
| VEOLIA ENVIRONNEME | 46,257 | 923,217 | 1.67 |
| The holdings are subject to change at any point in time hereafter. | |||
Investment Objective: The New Ireland Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IRL), a closed-end non-diversified investment company, seeks long-term capital appreciation through investment of at least 80% of its assets in a portfolio of Irish securities.
The New Ireland Fund, Inc. is managed by KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of KBI Global Investors Ltd, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IRL. For further information, please contact the Fund at (800) 468-6475 or [email protected] Website: newirelandfund.com
