Fresenius, VW Lead European Indexes Lower

Mayank Mehta
01 Sep, 2009
New York City

Areva SA first half net plunges 79%. Vivendi first half revenues rose 17%. French new cars registration increased 7% in August on

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – Areva SA first half net plunges 79%. Vivendi first half revenues rose 17%. French new cars registration increased 7% in August on €1,000 rebate. Fresenius declined after negative comments from an analyst. Vinci agreed to acquire electric contractor Cegelec SA for €1.2 billion from Qatar fund.[/R]

European market indexes decreased as investors worried that valuations are ahead of economic fundamentals. Investors sold industrial stocks and banks. An index of manufacturing in the euro zone region suggested early recovery taking hold in the region.

The index increased to 48.2 in August from 46.3 in July according to the data released by Markit Economics today.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 89.20 or 1.82% to 4,819.70, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 70.10 or 1.92% to close at 3,583.44, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 137.32 or 2.51% to close at 5,327.29. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 88.95 or 1.43% to close at 6,128.17.

Unemployment in euro zone increased to 9.5% in July, the highest since in May 1999 according to the latest release from Eurostat in Luxembourg. The jobless rate in June was estimated at 9.4%.

The statistics office estimated approximately 22 million people are without jobs in the wider zone of 27 nations of the European Union and rate of unemployment increased to 9% in the month from 8.9% in June.

French new car registration increased 7% to 110,607 according to the French car makers’ association. PSA Peugeot Citroen sales increased 17% to 32,977 and Renault sales added 11% to 26,618. But the sales of BMW declined 4.1% and Daimler fell 30%.

Gainers & Losers

April Group SA declined 7.2% to €26.21 after the insurer earnings outlook disappointed investors.

Areva SA fell 3.0% to €388.75 after the builder of nuclear reactors said first half net income dropped 79% to €161 million or €4.55 per share.

Bongrain SA increased 4.1% to €52.00 after the maker of camembert cheese was upgraded by Natixis Securities.

Eiffage SA sank 8.2% to €45.46 after the builder reported first half net income declined 64%.

E.ON AG slipped 3.1% to €28.59 and the power producer and distributor opened a plant in Sweden.

Eurofins Scientific SE dropped 7.3% to €33.00 after the food testing services provider reiterated was downgraded by an analyst after the company reiterated its sales outlook.

Fleury Michon SA surged 14.2% to €33.60 after the meal services company strengthened its corporate governance and rating revision from two analysts.

Fresenius declined 4.6% to €37.55 after an analyst at Commerzbank AG lowered his price target to €45 from €50 and said that the company may face competition in heparin market earlier than expected. Volker Braun lowered his earnings estimate by 5% as reported by Bloomberg.

Gameloft SA dropped 4.8% to €2.73 after the maker of games for mobile phones said first half net profit of €2.2 million compared to a loss of €0.8 million net loss a year ago.

Gecina SA the real estate investment trust fell 3.9% to €66.47.

Theolia SA fell 1.9% to €5.00 after the wind power producer said first half revenue increased 89% to €104.9 million and may not have sufficient cash on hand to repay the maturing debt in the near term.

Unibail-Rodamco SA the real estate developer declined 2.0% to €135.20.

Vinci SA added 0.1% to €37.47 after the construction company said first-half revenues fell 3.6% to €15.2 billion from €15.7 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 5.8% to €690 million or €1.42 per diluted share compared to net profit of €733 million or €1.52 per share a year ago.

Vivendi SA advanced 1.1% to €20.05 after the telecommunications and media entertainment company said first-half revenues rose 17% to €13.2 billion from €11.3 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 2.5% to €1.19 billion or €1.00 per diluted share compared to net profit of €1.22 billion or €1.04 per share a year ago.

Volkswagen AG decreased 8.2% to €124 after it reported 8.7% August sales decline in France.

DAX Index Movers

Volkswagen AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 8.80% followed by losses in Fresenius SE of 5.16%, in Salzgitter AG of 3.99%, in Deutsche Post AG of 3.95%, in E.ON AG of 3.71%.

Commerzbank AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 3.56%.
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CAC-40 Index Movers

Accor SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 4.90% followed by losses in Renault SA of 4.39%, in Vallourec SA of 4.39%, in Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA of 4.35%, BNP Paribas ACT of 3.77%.

Vivendi SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 1.11% followed by losses in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 0.40%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 13 increased, 87 declined and 2 were unchanged.

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 6.94% followed by losses in Vedanta Resources Plc of 5.25%, in Lonmin Plc of 4.93%, in Anglo American Plc of 4.90%, in Lloyds Banking Group Plc of 4.79%.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 0.95% followed by increase in Diageo Plc of 0.89%, in Autonomy Corporation Plc of 0.77%, in British American Tobacco Plc of 0.75%, in AstraZeneca Plc of 4.08%.