Europe: Commerzbank, ArcelorMittal, Gameloft

Mayank Mehta
24 Mar, 2010
New York City

European leaders negotiate Greece bailout that may involve the IMF. ArcelorMittal aims to produce 100 million tons of iron ore a year by 2015. Gameloft SA soared 8% after video games developer said 2009 revenues rose 10.6%. Commerzbank increased on the first quarter profit estimate.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European leaders negotiate details of Greece bailout that may involve the IMF. ArcelorMittal aims to produce 100 million tons of iron ore a year by 2015. Gameloft SA soared 8% after the publisher and developer of video games said 2009 revenues rose 10.6%. Commerzbank increased on the estimate of first quarter profit.[/R]

European markets and the euro declined after the EU leaders struggled to devise a strategy to offer financial assistance to Greece.

The euro fell to $1.334 in early trading in New York after the rating agency Fitch downgraded Portugal debt.

The rating agency Fitch lowered sovereign debt rating on Portugal to AA- with “negative” outlook. Fitch highlighted rising debt and noted that weak economy may force lead to additional downgrades in the year.

France and Germany are working with the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to provided assistance to Greece as early as next week. Greece is scheduled to issue new bonds to repay 10 billion euros of bonds that are maturing in the next few weeks.

The regulators and officials are not just facing financial stress from Greece but Portugal, Spain and Italy will need larger assistance as early as 2011. The estimates of total financial package involving four nations can top more than 140 billion euros according to 123jump.com estimates.

Industrial new orders for EU16 area decreased by 2.0% in January 2010, after an increase of 0.8% in December and in EU27 new orders fell by 0.2% in January, after a rose of 0.9% in December.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 4.25 or 0.07% to 5,677.88, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 2.74 or 0.07% to close at 3,949.81, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 21.73 or 0.36% to close at 6,039.00. In Zurich trading SMI increased 2.79 or 0.04% to close at 6,879.95.

Gainers & Losers

Allianz SE added 1.4% to €89.99 after the insurer was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore SpA added 0.4% to €2.87 an editorial group said 2009 revenues fell 15.4% to €1.54 billion from €1.82 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 65% to €34.3 million compared to net profit of €97.1 million a year ago.

ArcelorMittal rose 1.3% to €31.98 after the steelmaker aims to produce 100 million metric tons of iron ore yearly by 2015, a senior company executive said Wednesday.

Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl rose 1.8% to €4.78 after the bank said 2009 net interest income fell 17.4% to €884.8 million from €1.07 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 37.6% to €103.6 million or €0.25 per diluted share compared to net profit of €75.3 million or €0.19 per share a year ago.

Boizel Chanoine Champagne SA the champagne maker climbed 2.6% to €43.60.

Commerzbank AG increased 2.8% to €6.58 after its chief financial officer Eric Strutz predicted that the bank will generate pre-tax income in the first quarter on higher trading revenues.

Deutsche Telekom AG fell 0.1% to €9.85 after the phone company was downgraded to “underperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

EADS NV rose 2.1% to €15.00 after the planemaker Airbus SAS projected sales of 200 additional aircraft in Latin America over the next five years with $150 billion of regional demand over 20 years.

Gameloft SA gained 8.4% to €3.46 after the publisher and developer of downloadable video games said 2009 revenues rose 10.6% to €122.0 million from €110.3 million a year ago. Net profit for the year was €6.0 million compared to net loss of €1.8 million a year ago.

Havas SA closed unchanged at €4.45 after the advertising group games said 2009 revenues fell 8% to €1.44 billion from €1.57 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 11.5% to €92 million or €0.21 per diluted share compared to net profit of €104 million or €0.24 per share a year ago.

Kontron AG the maker of miniature computers for slot machines and drone aircraft dropped 2.7% to €7.39.

Meetic SA the online dating service rose 0.4% to €23.50.

Q-Cells SE gained 7.5% to €7.69 after the producer of solar cells said 2009 revenues fell 36% to €801.6 million from €1.25 billion a year ago. Net loss for the year was €1.36 billion or €11.81 per diluted share compared to net profit of €190.6 million or €1.69 per share a year ago.

Nexans SA the maker of cables and wires increased 4.8% to €63.30.

Rhodia SA slipped 2.3% to €15.23 after the stock was downgraded to “underweight” from “neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Sequana SA increased 2.2% to €8.80 after the company announced that the board of directors has decided to propose a payment of dividend for full year 2009, an amount of €0.35 per share.

ThyssenKrupp AG the steelmaker rose 1.4% to €25.15.

Wacker Chemie AG the maker of chemicals for solar modules and microchips increased 2.7% to €106.35.

DAX Index Movers

Henkel AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 2.13%, followed by Linde AG of 1.37%, in Deutsche Lufthansa AG of 1.09%, in Bayer AG of 0.97%, and in Merck KGaA of 0.90%.

Deutsche Boerse AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 4.56%, followed by increase in Infineon Technologies AG of 3.89%, in Commerzbank AG of 1.78%, in Fresenius SE of 1.59%, and in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA of 1.49%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.16%, followed by Lafarge S.A. of 1.87%, in Alstom SA of 1.59%, in Alcatel Lucent of 1.50% and in Cap Gemini SA of 1.23%.

STMicroelectronics N.V. gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 4.52%.followed by increase in EADS NV of 3.00%, in Veolia Environnement of 1.26%, in PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A. of 1.20% and in ArcelorMittal of 1.03%.