Wednesday April 1, 07:56 AM
French and Benelux stocks - Factors to watch on April 1
PARIS, April 1 (Reuters) - Below are leading stories from
French and Benelux newspapers and company-related news which
could have an impact on the region's markets or individual
stocks.
LAFARGE (Paris: FR0000120537
- news)
French cement group Lafarge launched a 1.5 billion euro
rights issue with a subscription price for the new shares of
16.65 euros, compared with Tuesday's closing price of 33.89
euros. Investors are able to buy six new shares for every 13
held. The subscription period runs from April 2 until April 15.
PPR (Paris: FR0000121485 - news)
Angry workers facing the sack blocked French billionaire
Francois-Henri Pinault in a taxi in central Paris on Tuesday
before riot police came and cleared the road of protesters,
officials and police said.
Pinault, chief executive of retail and luxury group PPR , was trapped in the car by staff from two stores owned
by his firm that have recently announced up to 1,200 job cuts
for their French operations.
PPR's Gucci Fashion house has experienced a satisfactory
trend in the first quarter, Chairman and Chief Executive
Patrizio Di Marco said in an interview in Italian financial
daily Il Sole 24 Ore (Milan: S24.MI - news) published on Wednesday.
FAURECIA
Carmakers have stopped cutting sales and output forecasts
but the recovery will be long and gradual, Yann Delabriere, the
chief executive of parts supplier Faurecia (Paris: FR0000121147 - news) , told Les Echos
newspaper.
RENAULT
Renault Chief Operating Officer Patrick Pelata told RTL
radio that March order volumes were the same or a bit higher
than a year earlier, though the models sold were lower value.
ACCOR (Paris: FR0000120404 - news)
French hotels group Accor raised its stake in French casino
company Groupe Lucien Barriere to 49 percent, purchasing the 15
percent stake held by Colony Capital for 153 million euros, the
company said on Tuesday.
EADS (Paris: NL0000235190 - news)
German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said on Tuesday he
expected an agreement in the next few days on the planned
purchase of a third tranche of Eurofighter jets. Germany,
Britain, Italy and Spain are in negotiations with European
planemaker EADS about the third and final delivery of the
fighter jets.
State-owned Qatar Airways plans to place an order for new
planes in June during the Paris Air Show, Qatar Airways' CEO
Akbar al-Baker told The National.
BNP PARIBAS (Paris: FR0000131104 - news)
BNP Paribas said it has issued 5.1 billion euros worth of
preference shares to the French state, as part of a government
plan to support the economy. The share issue, which is part of a
second tranche of state financing to the banking sector, will
give BNP Paribas core Tier 1 and equity Tier 1 ratios of
respectively 8.4 percent and 6.5 percent, the company said.
VIVENDI (Paris: FR0000127771 - news)
Vivendi won a three-year extension from the French finance
ministry to a favourable tax regime allowing it to offset losses
in parts of the group against tax, La Tribune newspaper
reported.
FORTIS (Amsterdam: FORAL.AS - news)
Belgian-based financial services group Fortis will likely
postpone a shareholder vote in Brussels on the sale of its
banking assets to BNP Paribas, a spokeswoman for the group said.
The board will make a decision this afternoon, she said.
EURAZEO
Eurazeo (Paris: FR0000121121 - news) unit Europcar said its liquidity remained robust and
that the company had no refinancing deadline before mid-2011. It
added that it was determined to emerge from the economic
downturn as a stronger company.
NEOPOST
French mailroom equipment maker Neopost (Paris: FR0000120560 - news) reported a 15.7
percent rise in 2008 net profit to 157 million euros and raised
its dividend by 4.1 percent to 3.80 euros per share. Neopost is
targeting a 1-3 percent rise in 2009 sales at constant exchange
rates and expects its 2009 current operating margin to be at
least 25.7 percent of sales against 25.7 percent in 2008.
VINCI (Paris: FR0000125486 - news)
Construction group Vinci said it had secured the financing
for the A5 motorway section between Malsch and Offenburg in
Germany. The funding includes 400 million euros in bank loans
and around 110 million in equity.
VIVALIS (Paris: FR0004056851 - news)
French pharmaceutical group Vivalis reported a 180 percent
rise in 2008 operating income. The group is targeting net cash
of above 20 million euros at end-2009 and says it has financial
visibility over the next four years.
IPTE (Brussels: IPTE.BR - news)
IPTE warned first-quarter sales would drop 20 percent to 30
percent from the same period last year and said it will likely
swing to an operating loss for the quarter.
BARCO (Brussels: BAR.BR - news)
Belgian display and visual systems group Barco said it has
sealed two separate deals to sell around 200 of its digital
cinema projectors in China.
________________________________________________________
For a diary of top European results and forecasts
For the Itraxx Europe CDS index see
For blue-chip stocks news see
For small- and mid-cap stocks news see
For research on FTSEurofirst 300 companies
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