European Markets Extend Feb Loss to 10%, Banks Lead Decliners

Lucy Stoeva
11 Feb, 2016
New York City

European markets extended February losses to about 10% as concerns over the banking and resource sectors dominated the session. Societe Generale net fell short of expectations. Rio Tinto Plc swung to a loss and discarded its dividend policy.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt, Germany – European markets extended February losses to about 10% as concerns over the banking and resource sectors dominated the session. Societe Generale net fell short of expectations. Rio Tinto Plc swung to a loss and discarded its dividend policy.[/R]

European markets headed south again and extended February losses to about 10% as concerns over the banking and resource sectors dominated the session.

After a short rebound on Wednesday, banks again led the downward trend as Societe Generale’s disappointing earnings exacerbated worries about banks’ profitability in a low-interest rate environment with tighter capital regulations.

Swedish banks were among the top losers after the country’s central bank cut its key rate by 15 basis points and deeper into negative zone to 0.50%.

Nordea Bank fell 5.1%, Svenska Handelsbanken plunged 4.5%, Swedbank was down 3.8% on Thursday.

Italian banks extended losses after Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario reported lower than expected profit.

Resource stocks also declined after oil prices fell and Rio Tinto posted an annual loss and discarded its progressive dividend policy.

Brent crude oil futures lost 0.91% to $30.56, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid 2.95% to $26.64.

Precious metal miners were among the few gainers as they benefited from the flight to safe havens. Fresnillo soared 5.4% and while Randgold Resources jumped 6.6%.

In London, FTSE 100 index fell 111.30, or 1.96%, to 5,561.00 and in Frankfurt, the DAX index lost 198.28, or 2.20%, to 8,819.01.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index tumbled 137.26, or 3.38%, to 3,923.94.

Alcatel-Lucent SA inched up 1% to €3.05 after the Paris-based telecom equipment maker doubled its profit in 2015 and reported positive free cash for the first time since 2006 just before the company was acquired by Finland''s Nokia.

The company reported net profit of €589 million, more than double the net profit of €271 million a year ago.

Revenues increased 13% to €4.16 billion, partially due to currency fluctuations.

Excluding the effects of currency, revenues grew 4% on growth in Australia and Latin America and good performance of its Internet-related units.

Glencore Plc tumbled 4.8% to 88.86 pence after the mining company reported lower copper and zinc output in the fourth quarter.

Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA dropped 5.4% to €5.75 after the Italian bank posted a lower second-quarter net profit due to a one-time contribution to a bailout fund.

Net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 fell to €76.8 million from €100.6 million a year earlier.

Metro AG plunged 6.5% to €23.09 despite reporting 35% growth in net profit for the first fiscal quarter due to strong Christmas sales in Germany.

Net profit after special items in the three months ended Dec. 31 was €549 million.

Sales were flat at €17.1 billion and the outlook for the fiscal year remained unchanged.

Rio Tinto Plc declined 3.3% to 1,706 pence after swinging to a loss in 2015 and discarding its progressive dividend policy due to the slowdown of the global economy and the sharp decline in commodity prices.

The global mining company reported a net loss of $866 million for 2015, compared to a profit of $6.53 billion the previous year, mainly due to impairment charges and foreign exchange and derivatives losses.

Capital expenditure decreased 43% to $4.69 billion from the previous year as the miner keeps spending in check.

Chairman Jan du Plessis said maintaining the progressive dividend policy in the current market conditions would not be sensible, so the company plans to take into account its profit, the outlook for major commodities, and the health of its balance sheet before setting future dividends.

Societe Generale Group tumbled 10.7% to €28.07 after the bank reported disappointing profit due to additional litigation costs of €400 million to a total of €1.7 billion.

Net profit for the fourth quarter rose to €656 million from €549 million a year earlier.

Zurich Insurance Group AG lost 3.4% to 181.29 after the Swiss company reported a bigger-than-expected net loss in the fourth quarter.

Net loss in the quarter was $424 million, compared with $860 million in the same period a year earlier.

Total revenues fell 18% to $16.2 billion, while return on investment declined to 0.5% from 2.2% in the quarter a year ago.