Europe Movers: Axa, freenet, DSM, TUI, UBS, Merck, Swiss Re

Arthi Gupta
19 Dec, 2012
New York City

DSM completed its acquisition of Fortitech for

[R]12:40 PM Frankfurt – DSM completed its acquisition of Fortitech for €495 million. TUI financial year 2012 sales increased 5% to €18.3 billion from last year. UBS agreed to pay nearly Sfr1.4 billion in fines to resolve LIBOR-related investigations.[/R]

AB Volvo dropped 0.8% to SEK 90.60 after the trucks manufacturer reported total deliveries from its truck operations in November declined 15% to 19,104 vehicles compared to the prior year month. Deliveries of Volvo branded trucks in November decreased 17% to 9,446 vehicles compared with the same month last year.

Axa SA, the French insurer dipped 0.5% to €12.98 after a broker downgrade.

freenet AG rose 1.3% to €14.72 after the German telecommunications provider acquired Gravis - Computervertriebs for an undisclosed price.

Koninklijke DSM N.V. climbed 2.2% to €46.40 after the science-based company completed its acquisition of Fortitech, Inc. for a total enterprise value of $634 million or €495 million.

Merck KgaA slumped 3.3% to €98.23 after the German drugmaker said its Phase III trial of its investigational product L-BLP25 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer did not meet primary endpoint.

Swiss Re AG gained 1% to Sfr66.50 after the reinsurer estimated economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters will likely reach at least $140 billion in 2012. Natural catastrophes alone will lead to over 11,000 lives lost and roughly $60 billion in insured claims.

TUI AG soared 4.6% to €8.19 after the travel group reported that its financial year 2011/12 turnover increased 5% to €18.3 billion from last year. Underlying EBITA, the group’s key performance indicator, surged 24% to a record €746 million.

UBS AG advanced 1.6% to Sfr15.49 after the Swiss lender agreed to pay nearly Sfr1.4 billion in fines and disgorgement to the US, UK and Swiss authorities to resolve LIBOR-related investigations.

The company said it would pay $1.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, £160 million to the UK''s Financial Services Authority and Sfr59 million as disgorgement of estimated profits to Swiss regulator Finma.