Greece Sets Bailout Deadline; Euro Wobbles

Mayank Mehta
18 Mar, 2010
New York City

Greek Prime Minister Papandreou set one week deadline for the Europe led bailout. The euro zone trade swung to a surplus in January. Italy based insurance giant Generali said 2009 profit jumped 52%. HeidelbergCement AG full year profit plunges 91%. Dassault Aviation SA 2009 net declined 18%.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – Greek Prime Minister Papandreou set one week deadline for the Europe led bailout. The euro zone trade swung to a surplus in January. Italy based insurance giant Generali said 2009 profit jumped 52%. HeidelbergCement AG full year profit plunges 91%. Dassault Aviation SA 2009 net declined 18%.[/R]

European markets and the euro were under pressure after EU leaders struggle to devise a financial bailout plan for Greece. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told reporters in Brussels today that he may be forced to turn to IMF if leaders fail to set up a plan at the summit on March 25.

Greece needs to raise €10 billion to repay bonds that are due on April 20 and May 19 and hinted that Greece needs to lower its interest cost on bonds closer to German bonds of 3.1% from 6.2% to meet its deficit reduction targets.

German ruling coalition controlled by Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced its dissatisfaction for the EU led bailout and Dutch parliament majority is also against the financial support according to a report published by Financieele Dagblad.

Preliminary estimate of the Euro zone trade surplus in January with rest of the world was €8.9 billion euro, compared with a deficit of €12.9 billion a year ago month. First estimate for the wider EU trade balance in January was €8.9 billion euro deficit.

Teva pharmaceutical Industries Ltd agreed to acquire for €3.63 billion Ratiopharm GmbH, the second largest German generic drug maker. The combined companies will have pro forma 2009 earnings of $16.2 billion and Teva expects the transaction to add earnings after three quarters of acquisition.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 2.01 or 0.04% to 5,642.62, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 19.71 or 0.50% to close at 3,938.18, in Frankfurt DAX index lower11.97 or 0.20% to close at 6,012.31. In Zurich trading SMI increased 5.73 or 0.08% to close at 6,897.74.

The euro edged lower in New York trading after Greek Prime Minister set the deadline of one week to gain financial support from EU leaders and said he may be forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund to seek financial guarantee.

Gainers & Losers

Adidas AG the sporting-goods maker rose 2.1% to €38.21.

Assicurazioni Generali SpA decreased 0.5% to €17.84 after one of the largest insurers in the world said 2009 net earned premiums rose 3% to €64.0 billion from €62 billion a year ago. Net profit or the year rose 52% to €1.31 billion compared to net profit of €860.9 million a year ago.

Mr Bricolage SA added 3.8% to €14.54 after the property investment company said 2009 revenues rose 6% to €547.5 million from €515.3 million a year ago. Net profit or the year fell 36% to €21.4 million compared to net profit of €33.4 million a year ago.

Centrosolar Group AG increased 3.8% to €3.48 after the solar module manufacturer said 2009 revenues fell 7% to €308.7 million from €332.6 million a year ago. Net loss for the year was €29.7 million or €1.94 per diluted share compared to net profit of €4.3 million or €0.31 per share a year ago.

Dassault Aviation SA rose 0.7% to €545.01 an aerospace group said 2009 revenues fell 9% to €3.42 billion from €3.75 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 18% to €315.4 million compared to net profit of €384.2 million a year ago.

Enel SpA fell 1.3% to €4.14 an electricity operator said 2009 revenues rose 4.7% to €64 billion from €61.2 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 2% to €5.4 billion or €0.57 per diluted share compared to net profit of €5.3 billion or €0.56 per share a year ago.

Hi-Media SA climbed 1.4% to €5.75 after the multimedia company said 2009 revenues rose 27% to €172.3 million from €135.7 million a year ago. Net profit or the year rose 6.6% to €6.5 million or €0.15 per diluted share compared to net profit of €6.1 million or €0.15 per share a year ago.

HeidelbergCement AG rose 0.03% to €42.92 after the maker of cement said 2009 revenues fell 22% to €11.1 billion from €14.2 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 91% to €168 million or €0.30 per diluted share compared to net profit of €1.92 billion or €14.55 per share a year ago.

Ingenico SA rose 0.1% to €17.32 after the producer of financial transaction systems said 2009 revenues fell 4% to €700.7 million from €728.0 million a year ago. Net profit or the year fell 27% to €26.8 million or €0.56 per diluted share compared to net profit of €36.7 million or €0.82 per share a year ago.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA rose 1.0% to €86.88 after the luxury-goods manufacturer was upgraded “buy” in new coverage at UniCredit SpA.

Seat Pagine Gialle SpA advanced 1.5% to €0.17 after the yellow-pages publisher said 2009 revenues fell 11% to €1.21 billion from €1.36 billion a year ago. Net loss or the year was €37.7 million compared to net loss of €179.7 million a year ago.

SGL Carbon SE fell 3.8% to €22.22 after the producer of carbon and graphite products said 2009 revenues fell 24% to €1.23 billion from €1.61 billion a year ago. Net loss for the year was €60.4 million or €0.93 per diluted share compared to net profit of €189.7 million or €2.78 per share a year ago.

Total SA fell 1.5% to €42.12 after the oil company announced the launch of the Laggan and Tormore gas fields development in the offshore frontier region of the West of Shetland, subject to the United Kingdom Government`s Department of Energy and Climate Change approval.

DAX Index Movers

Infineon Technologies AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.87%, followed by BMW AG of 1.60%, in Bayer AG of 1.35%, in Deutsche Bank AG of 1.21%, and in E.ON AG of 1.19%.

Adidas AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 3.49%, followed by increase in Linde AG of 1.51%, in MAN SE of 0.86%, in Diamler AG of 0.82%, and in Metro AG of 0.58%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Alcatel Lucent led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.94%, followed by Credit Agricole SA of 2.04%, in AXA of 1.58%, in Air Liquide SA of 1.27% and in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 1.21%.

Vallourec SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 1.45%.followed by increase in EADS NV of 1.38%, in LVMH SA of 1.37%, in L'Oreal SA of 0.74% and in Sanofi-Aventis of 0.50%.