Schneider, Credit Suisse, Air Liquide Drop

Mayank Mehta
22 Oct, 2009
New York City

European markets fell after banks closed mixed and miners traded lower. Ericsson dropped 6% after quarterly net plunged 71%. Credit Suisse dropped 3% after reporting third quarterly profit in a row. Schneider SA quarterly sales fell 15%. Bilfinger Berger AG completed its

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets declined after banks closed mixed and resource stocks traded lower. Ericsson dropped 6% after quarterly net plunged 71%. Credit Suisse dropped 3% after reporting third quarterly profit in a row. Schneider SA declined after quarterly sales fell 15%. Bilfinger Berger AG completed its €269 million offering.[/R]

Investors in Europe turned cautious after weak earnings and growing worries that valuations are stretched. Investors are looking for a market correction that can take stocks lower as much as 10% in the region.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 50.49 or 0.96% to 5,207.36, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 52.37 or 1.35% to close at 3,820.85, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 70.56 or 1.21% to close at 5,762.93. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 28.75 or 0.45% to close at 6,405.91.

Ericsson plunged 6% after it reported a 71% plunge in quarterly profit and Air Liquide declined after it reported 5% decline in sales. Credit Suisse swung to a profit for the third quarter in a row and reported higher than expected profit. Schneider declined after third quarter sales fell 15%.

According to the statistics agency in France confidence among manufacturing executives in October increased to 89 from 86 in September. Insee, the statistics agency also suggested that the government subsidy to support auto sales lifted the outlook in the month.

Gainers & Losers

Alstria office REIT-AG the real-estate investment trust fell 6.9% to €7.45.

Altana AG surged 10.1% to €14.41 Susanne Klatten, Germany''s wealthiest woman, raised her offer for the remaining 8% stake of specialty chemical maker through Skion GmbH.

Air Liquide SA fell 2.9% to €77.43 after the producer of industrial gases said third quarter sales slid 5.2% to €2.98 billion. Gas and services in the quarter declined 5.2% to €2.51 billion.

Amadeus FiRe AG added 5.0% to €13.87 after the temporary-employment agency said the board expects 2009 sales of more than €105 million and an operating result of around €13 million.

Asian Bamboo AG the Chinese bamboo plantation operator decreased 5.2% to €21.42.

Bilfinger Berger AG decreased 1.5% to €47.92 and it completed its 8.8 million shares placement that priced each share at €30.60.

Comdirect bank AG fell 0.1% to €6.55 after the online broker estimated pre-tax 2009 profit of more than €70 million.

Credit Suisse Group AG the global financial services company reported third quarter revenues of CHF8.9 billion. Net profit in the quarter was CHF2.4 billion compared to net loss of CHF1.26 billion a year ago.

Deutsche Bank declined 2.3% to €52.77.

Evotec AG fell 1.5% to €1.96 after the biotechnology company said that it has achieved another milestone in its research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.

Fuchs Petrlub AG increased 1.6% to $50.57 after it reported nine months sales declined 19% and net income fell 13.8% to €81 million.

Infineon Technologies AG decreased 4.3% to €3.56.

Gemalto NV plunged 10.3% to €29.83 after the microprocessor personal devices maker said third quarter sales declined to €401 million from €418 million a year ago. For the year the company expects operating income of €180 million.

K+S AG dropped 1.5% to 40.20 after Potash Corp reported a sharp drop in the latest quarterly profit.

Nexans SA slipped 8.5% to €52.31 after the cable maker said third quarter fell 15% to €988 million on a constant currency. The company maintained its full year operating and net income outlook.

Pernod Ricard SA rose 2.1% to €57.19 after the liquor maker met forecast with a 6.3% drop in first-quarter sales on Thursday as emerging market growth helped offset sales in the developed markets.

Praktiker Bau und Heimwerkermaerkte Holding AG fell 5.9% to €9.22 after the home improvement and do-it-yourself chain store reported third quarter sales fell 4.8% to €968 million from €1.02 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter fell 65% to €9.8 million or €0.16 per diluted share compared to net profit of €28 billion or €0.48 per share a year ago.

Schneider Electric SA fell 2.4% to €73.93 after the maker of circuit breakers reported third quarter sales declined 15% to 3.95 billion and comparable sales declined 17% from a year ago. For the nine months sales decreased 17.3%. The company also guided higher margin for the full year.

STMicroelectronics N.V fell 2.4% to €6.09 after the chipmaker was downgraded to “sell” from “hold” at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Thomson SA slipped 6.2% to €1.26 after the media technology group said 20% fall in third quarter sales to €803 million and cannot predict the outcome of the asset sale negotiations.
DAX Index Movers

ThyssenKrupp AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 3.35% followed by losses in Infineon Technologies AG of 3.33%, in Deutsche Post AG of 2.59%, in Commerzbank AG of 2.47%, in BASF SE of 2.18%.

Deutsche Telekom AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 1.35% followed by increase in Allianz SE of 0.34%, in BMW AG of 0.32%, in Beiersdorf AG of 0.17%, in Bayer AG of 0.10%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

ArcelorMittal led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 3.01% followed by losses in Schneider Electric SA of 2.91% in AXA of 2.73%, in Air Liquide SA of 2.70%, Renault SA of 2.67%.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 2.48% followed by gainers in Pernod Ricard SA of 2.32%, Suez Environnement SA of 1.19%, in Credit Agricole SA of 0.27%, in France Telecom S.A of 0.11%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 11 increased, 90 declined and 1 were unchanged.

Carnival Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 4.27% followed by losses in British Airways Plc of 4.12%, in Old Mutual Ltd. of 3.95%, in Randgold Resources Plc of 3.81%, in Prudential Public Limited Company of 3.29%.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 3.61% followed by increase in Vodafone Group Plc of 3.41%, in BT Group Plc of 1.45%, in Inmarsat Plc of 1.34%, in Bunzl Plc of 1.30%.