STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary
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10:07GMT 13Jan2009-Blavod Extreme Spirits up after trading update
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Shares in Blavod Extreme Spirits, owner of the Blavod Black Vodka
brand, gain 6.2 percent after a trading update which Brewin Dolphin describes as
"broadly positive".
The company says volume sales in its third quarter increased 32 percent over
the previous year, with UK sales "particularly strong", though the export
business proved weaker.
"We are making no change to our forecasts and maintain a positive stance,"
says Brewin Dolphin in a note.
The broker has a "buy" recommendation on the stock.
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09:57GMT 13Jan2009-Catlin falls after CS downgrades to "underperform"
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Shares in Catlin shed 6.5 percent to 398.75 pence after Credit
Suisse downgrades the UK insurer to "underperform" from "neutral" with a revised
target price of 483 pence from 410 pence.
"We are lowering our 2008 estimate of net profit for common shareholders
from -$8 million to -$144 million, with the decrease due to investment income
and foreign exchange losses," Credit Suisse says in a note.
Credit Suisse says Catlin's capital position looks vulnerable and that the
insurer's tangible equity has fallen by $360 million during the second half of
the year, or 90 pence per share.
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09:45GMT 13Jan2009-Game Group down; Altium "sell" on outlook
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Shares in Game Group fall 10.0 percent following the company's
Christmas trading update, which prompts Altium Securities to repeat its core
"sell" recommendation, in view of its cautious outlook.
David O'Brien, Altium analyst, says: "The group is erring on the side of
caution on the outlook for full year 2010 estimates, particularly in terms of
revenue growth."
Game says trading in the six weeks to January was strong, and while Altium
admits its 2009 forecasts are too low, Game's management says that economic
conditions are likely to deteriorate and revenue growth will be challenging,
while store openings will slow to 70 in 2009 from about 200 in 2010.
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09:33GMT 13Jan2009-Postbank up, Deutsche Bank says will stick to stock buy
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Shares in Deutsche Postbank rise 1.6 percent, making them the top
gainers among German largecaps, after Deutsche Bank says it
is sticking to plans to buy a stake of just under 30 percent in the Deutsche
Post banking unit.
"In light of problems in the financial sector, investors had feared that the
deal might fall apart at the last minute," says a Frankfurt-based trader.
Deutsche Bank says it is sticking to plans to complete the purchase by the
end of the first quarter.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reports, citing financial sources, that
Deutsche Bank is trying to renegotiate terms of a deal to acquire Postbank due
to a sharp decline in the German retail bank's share price.
Both Post and Deutsche Bank decline to comment on whether there are
negotiations to lower the purchase price.
Shares in Deutsche Bank are 0.3 percent higher, while Deutsche Post shares
are 4.2 percent lower.
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09:35GMT 13Jan2009-Jacques Vert down on margin squeeze
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Shares in Jacques Vert drop 8.3 percent as the womenswear retailer
says like-for-like sales in the last 11 weeks fell by 5.4 percent and
discounting reduced its gross margin over the period.
The company also reports a 63 percent fall in pretax profit for the 26 weeks
to Oct. 25 to 1.1 million pounds on a 6.8 percent drop in like-for-like sales.
Freddie George at Seymour Pierce says: "Following these figures, we are
downgrading our 2008/9 pretax profit forecasts from 3.0 million pounds to 2.0
million, taking EPS down from 1.48p to 0.99p."
To see Jacques Vert's statement please click on
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09:31GMT 13Jan2009-EDF retreats; Exane cuts to "neutral"
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Shares in French utility EDF drop 6.5 percent, featuring among the
biggest losers on the CAC 40 and underperforming the DJ Stoxx utilities
index, which is down 1.8 percent, as traders cite a rating downgrade by
Exane BNP Paribas.
"We believe EDF is likely to disappoint at its FY08 results presentation on
12February. We have cut our earnings by more than 10 percent to factor in a
decline in the volume of sales on wholesale markets due to nuclear plants
unavailabilities (maintenance) and high demand from regulated customers," Exane
analysts write in a note.
"As the debate on regulated tariffs is set to become more refined, a more
realistic and less beneficial path toward convergence sheds a new, less
risk-rewarding light on the stock. Shorter term, downward consensus earnings
momentum is likely to cap the performance of the stock."
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09:28GMT 13Jan2009-Continental lower, loses out on electric car contract
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Shares in Continental are 5.7 percent lower, making them one of
the sharpest decliner among German midcaps, after LG Chem Ltd has been selected
instead of the German auto parts to build
lithium-ion batteries for General Motors Corp's all-electric Chevy Volt.
The loss of the contract "is negative for Continental shares, as contract
was one of the biggest supplier contracts that is currently available," says a
Frankfurt-based trader.
"We believed that Conti had a good chances of gaining the contract after it
received the order for the hybrid version of the Mercedes S-class, the first
serial produced lithium-ion hybrid," says analyst Daniel Schwarz from
Commerzbank.
Schwarz adds that the industry had been closely following the deal as the
Volt may likely be the first mass-produced electric car.
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09:27GMT 13Jan2009-Computacenter rises on strong year-end
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Shares in Computacenter rise 15.8 percent as the IT hardware and
services company says it will beat market consensus forecasts of 38.1 million
pounds for full-year adjusted pretax profit.
"Computacenter has clearly had a strong end of year," says Piper Jaffray
analyst Rajeev Bahl, who forecasts 39.7 million pounds for 2008 profit and has a
"buy" recommendation on the stock.
"Cash flow looks solid, they point to good services contract wins, they are
taking costs out of the business and they have outperformed in Germany," Bahl
adds
For more, click on, company statement
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09:04GMT 13JAN2009-FTSE small caps fall 0.6 percent early
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The FTSE Small Cap Index falls 0.6 percent in early trade,
outperforming the wider UK market, which reels on the back of disappointing
results from the British Retail Consortium survey, which highlights the grim
trading conditions on the high street.
The FTSE 100 sheds 1.2 percent and the FTSE mid caps index
falls 2 percent.
European publisher Mecom surges 37.5 percent after it says it has
agreed to sell its German operations to the Cologne-based publisher M. DuMont
Schauberg for 152 million euros in cash to repay debt.
Taylor Wimpey, the British housebuilder, tumbles 23 percent as it
says it buildt a third fewer homes in 2008 compared with 2007, adding it had
1.55 billion pounds of debt at the end of last year and would continue to try to
cut costs.
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