EU Extends Deficit Deadline; Thales Falls

Mayank Mehta
11 Nov, 2009
New York City

EU extended deadline for fiscal deficit target requirement for France and Spain to 2013 and for the UK and Ireland to 2014. Nine countries were added on the deficit watch list. Banks in Europe closed higher after Credit Agricole reported better than expected earnings.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – EU extended deadline for fiscal deficit target requirement for France and Spain to 2013 and for the UK and Ireland to 2014. Nine countries were added on the deficit watch list. Banks in Europe closed higher after Credit Agricole reported better than expected earnings. Thales SA declined after quarterly sales fell.[/R]

European markets closed as commodities gained after China reported a sharp rise in industrial production and machinery orders in Japan increased.

Banks in Europe closed up after Credit Agricole reported better than expected earnings. Utilities in Germany traded higher after E.ON AG revised its earnings for the second time on lower interest expenses. Swiss cement maker Holcim increased after it reported better than expected earnings on cost cutting. In Frankfurt MLP AG increased after third quarter net tripled on cost cuts.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 39.30 or 0.75% to 5,269.85, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 23.43 or 0.62% to close at 3,809.02, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 32.90 or 0.59% to close at 5,646.10. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 12.09 or 0.19% to close at 6,357.01.

The European Commission extend deadline for France and Spain by one year to 2013 for meet budget deficit target and UK and Ireland were given to 2014. The guidelines require the nations to keep the budget deficit below 3%.

The Commission also added nine countries on the deficit watch list including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Gainers & Losers

Arcadis NV increased 6.9% to €15.18 after the engineering firm said third quarter revenues rose 12% to €318 million from €284 million a year ago. Net profit in the quarter rose 22% to €13.9 million or €0.21 per diluted share compared to net profit of €11.4 million €0.19 per share a year ago.

Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl added 1.2% to €5.36 after the bank said third quarter net interest income fell 22% to €204.6 million from €264 million a year ago. Net profit in the quarter rose 262.7% to €57.3 million compared to net profit of €15.8 million a year ago.

Banco de Sabadell SA the bank said nine months net interest income fell 13% to €1.22 billion from €1.08 billion a year ago. Net profit in the nine months fell 38.5% to €468.4 million compared to net profit of €762.2 million a year ago.

Bechtle AG the computer and software retailer rose 2.7% to €18.09.

Compagnie Nationale a Portefeuille SA advanced 1.2% to €36.97 an investment company said nine months revenues fell 22.4% to €9.54 billion from €12.3 billion a year ago. Net profit in the nine months rose 6% to €360.3 million or €3.34 per diluted share compared to net profit of €339.9 billion or €3.08 per share a year ago.

Credit Agricole SA increased 5.3% to €15.27 after the banking group said third quarter net banking income rose 20% to €4.8 billion from €4.0 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter fell 20.8% to €289 million compared to net profit of €365 million a year ago.

DIC Asset AG added 0.6% to €9.24 after the commercial property company said first nine months revenue declined to €127.6 million from €140.6 million a year ago.

E.ON AG gained 2.2% to €27.54 after the utility said better-than-expected third-quarter net profit on lower interest costs.

Holcim Ltd the Swiss cement maker said third quarter sales fell 17.7% to CHF5.69 billion from CHF6.91 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter was flat at CHF673 million or CHF2.12 per diluted share compared to net profit of CHF673 million or CHF2.37 per share a year ago.

H&R Wasag AG rose 0.8% to €14.83 after the specialty chemicals make said that in view of the economic crisis, earnings for the whole year 2009 will be very buoyant, if not quite up to the level of the 2008 financial year.

Henkel AG & Co slipped 0.09% to €32.37 after the household consumer products maker said third quarter sales fell 7.3% to €3.49 billion from €3.76 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter rose 70% to €172 million or €0.39 per diluted share compared to net profit of €101 million or €0.23 per share a year ago.

ING Groep N.V increased 3.1% to €14.50 after the global financial institution said net profit in the third quarter was €499 million or €0.25 per diluted share compared to net loss of €478 million or €0.22 per share a year ago.

Intesa Sanpaolo SpA rose 2.2% to €3.01 after the banking group said nine months net interest income fell 7.7% to €8.07 billion from €8.74 billion a year ago. Net profit in the nine months fell 40.2% to €2.26 billion or €0.18 per diluted share compared to net profit of €3.78 billion or €0.30 per share a year ago.

Lafarge S.A the cement maker gained 3.2% to €58.50.

Mediaset SpA climbed 4.5% to €4.84 after the communications and broadcasting group said third quarter revenues fell 6% to €700.4 million from €746.6 million a year ago. Net profit in the quarter fell 40.4% to €3.4 million compared to net profit of €5.7 million a year ago.

Swisscom AG the telecommunication services provider said third quarter revenues fell 2.6% to CHF3.01 billion from CHF3.09 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter rose 8.2% to CHF512 million or CHF9.88 per diluted share compared to net profit of CHF473 million or CHF9.13 per share a year ago.

Television Francaise 1 SA rose 2.4% to €12.14 after the television broadcasting and communication group said third quarter revenues fell 2.5% to €498.4 million from €511.1 million a year ago. Net profit in the quarter was €1.7 million or €0.01 per diluted share compared to net loss of €14.5 million or €0.07 per share a year ago.

Thales SA fell 3.5% to €32.15 an electronics company said third quarter revenues fell 2% to €2.59 billion from €2.64 billion a year ago. Aerospace & Space sales fell 4.6% to €800 million from €839 million a year ago. Security sales rose 3.2% to €640 million from €620 million a year ago. Defence sales flat at €1.14 billion from €1.14 billion a year ago.

Theolia SA dropped 2.4% to €4.03 after the wind-power producer was downgraded to “underweight” from “neutral” at HSBC Holdings Plc.

UniCredit SpA rose 0.9% to €2.53 after the bank said third quarter net interest income fell 18.7% to €3.99 billion from €4.91 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter fell 26% to €394 million compared to net profit of €532 million a year ago.

DAX Index Movers

K+S AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.73%, followed by losses in Deutsche Lufthansa AG of 1.16%, in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA AG of 1.04%, in Henkel AG of 0.95%, Beiersdorf AG of 0.49%.

Infineon Technologies AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 7.42% followed by increase in Deutsche Boerse AG of 4.12%, in BASF SE of 2.61%, in ThyssenKrupp AG of 2.55%, Commerzbank AG of 2.37%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

EADS NV led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.64%, followed by losses in AXA of 1.18%, in Alstom SA.of 1.14%, in Renault SA of 0.65%, France Telecom S.A of 0.60%.

Credit Agricole SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 5.45% followed by gainers in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 3.58%, in ArcelorMittal of 3.37%, in Societe Generale SA of 3.21%, in Lafarge S.A. of 2.22%.