UBS, TUI, Publicis Groupe Down in Europe

Mukesh Buch
16 Jun, 2009
New York City

German investor confidence increases to a 3-year high this month. National Bank of Greece plunged 11% on rights offering. Publicis Groupe plans 719 million euros convertible bond issue. TUI plunges on a broker outlook and UBS debt put on watch by a rating agency.

[R]8:00 PM Paris, Frankfurt; 2:00 New York – German investor confidence increases to a 3-year high this month. National Bank of Greece plunged 11% on rights offering. Publicis Groupe plans 719 million euros convertible bond issue. TUI plunges on a broker outlook and UBS debt put on watch by Moody’s.[/R]

European markets closed mixed after Germany reported consumer confidence at its highest in three years in June. The index of investor expectations tracked by ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim increased to 44.8 in June from 31.1 in May.

National Bank of Greece plunged 11% to 18.30 euros after it planned a rights offering of two shares for every nine held at 11.30 euros. TUI plunged 18% after a rating downgrade and UBS declined 4.1% after Moody’s Investor Services put the company debt on watch with downgrade implications.

Cogeme SpA surged 8% after Banca Akros in research coverage recommended the machine component maker with a ‘buy’ rating.

Ansaldo STS SpA increased 3.8% to 12.03 euros after the company won 218 million euros contract from Saudi Binladin Group to build metro rail system in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Gainers & Losers

Escada AG increased 6.4% to 3 euros after it received firm commitment from Spanish investment group Bestinver Gestion SGIIC SA for a majority allocation in the proposed 30 million euro stocks offering. The news was first reported in Focus Money.

TUI AG plunged 18% to 5.02 euros after it was rated ‘sell’ in a research report from Deutsche Bank AG. The broker cited rising energy cost and weak tourism environment and continued weakness in container shipping trade.

GEA Group AG increased 2.7% to 11.05 euros after the milk machines maker received orders from Ireland based Lakeland Dairies worth 11 million euros.

Vossloh AG increased 4.5% to 81.42 euros after its China based subsidiary received orders of 170 million euros for concrete railroad ties. The contract is for the high speed rail link between Shanghai and Beijing and requires deliveries between 2009 and 2011.

Air France-KLM declined 2.2% to 9.26 euros after Le Journal des Finances reported that the company is preparing convertible bond sale. 123jump.com sources in Paris suggest the bond sale will be at least 250 million euros.

Publicis Groupe SA decreased 2.8% to 20.60 euros after it planned a convertible bond offering of 719 million euros managed by Calyon Securities, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale and Citigroup.

Zodiac Aerospace SA increased 1.3% to 22.50 euros after it reported nine months and latest quarter sales increased 12.6% and company reiterated its operating income target for the year of 20%.

DAX Index Movers

Merck KGaA led the decliners in the DAX index of 3.81% followed by losses in Commerzbank AG of 3.19%, in K+S AG of 2.25%, in Volkswagen AG of 1.65%, in Allianz SE of 1.07%.

Deutsche Boerse AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 3.86%, followed by increase in Fresenius SE of 1.63%, in Metro AG of 1.62%, in ThyssenKrupp AG of 1.37%, in E.ON AG of 1.18%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Societe Generale SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 3.34% followed by losses in Credit Agricole SA of 2.70%, in Renault SA of 2.64%, in AXA of 2.59%, in PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A. 2.45%.

Danone SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 1.92% followed by gains in L''Oreal SA of 1.69%, in Suez Environnement SA of 1.52%, in Michelin SCA of 1.40%, in ArcelorMittal of 1.09%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 2.56 or 0.06% to 4,328.57, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 5.63 or 0.17% to close at 3,213.95 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 0.78 or 0.02% to close at 4,890.72. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 23.05 or 0.43% to close at 5,377.10.