STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Wolseley down ahead of trading update
STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary
Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS] Real-time Equity News [E] [WEU/EQUITY]
12:52GMT 17Nov2008-Wolseley falls ahead of trading update
---------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Wolseley (WOS.L) drop 7.6 percent ahead of the firm's annual meeting and a trading update on Tuesday.
Traders say that poor performance in the UK housing sector is contributing to worries about the British construction firm's earnings outlook.
Home construction companies are trading lower, with UK property website Rightmove reporting a 2.9 percent month-on-month decline in asking prices for homes in November.
Taylor Wimpey (TW.L) is, however, up 7.6 percent on a newspaper report on Sunday that U.S. private equity groups may bid for the British housebuilder. A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey declined to comment. [ID:nLG340628]
Reuters messaging rm://nicholas.vinocur.reuters@reuters.net
12:43GMT 17Nov2008-UTV up as Organo further raises stake
--------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media Plc (UTV.L) (UTV.I) up 13.9 percent, extending recent gains on further stakebuilding by second-largest investor Organo Investments.
Organo, headed by Racing Post owners Peter Crawley and Neill Hughes, bought 1.8 million shares on Friday, taking its stake to 11.4 percent.
The purchase narrows the gap with UTV's leading shareholder, Irish investment holding company TVC Holdings Plc (TVCH.I), which raised its stake to 15 percent last week.
For more, click on [UTV.L]
Reuters messaging rm://paul.sandle.reuters.com@reuters.net
12:33GMT 17Nov2008-FTSE Small Cap Index down 0.6 pct midday
------------------------------------------------------------
The FTSE Small Cap Index .FTSC falls 0.6 percent in mid-session trade, tracking the trend of the wider UK markets, with the FTSE 100 Index .FTSE down 2.0 percent and FTSE 250 index .FTMC off 1.6 percent.
Avis Europe (AVE.L) plunges 23.1 percent after warning the used car market and the economic environment are weaker than it expected and that underlying pretax profit for the year will be slightly below last year outcome.
Melorio (MLO.L) jumps 14.7 percent as it says it conditionally agees to buy IT training companies Zeno Ltd and Zenos Learning, which broker Singer believes will be just over 10 percent accretive to full year 2010 EPS estimates.
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
12:10GMT 17Nov2008-BHP Billiton down on Iron Ore deferrals
----------------------------------------------------------
Shares in BHP Billiton (BLT.L) down 1.7 percent as the company says it has received deferral requests from its customers for up to 5 percent of iron ore output, leading Evolution Securities to repeat its "sell" rating and 760 pence target price on the miner.
The news comes on the back of Rio Tinto's (RIO.L) announcement last week of a 10 percent cut in Iron Ore shipments amid issues in China of slowing industrial production and steelmakers struggling to make contracted purchases and raise letters of credit.
Evolution says it had been forecasting a 13 percent increase in iron ore output from BHP in full year 2009, however it has observed that growth in iron ore shipments from Port Hedland, BHP's main port for iron ore exports, have been declining suggesting that the slowdown in iron ore demand has been occurring for some time.
Nonetheless, the broker says the possible deferrals in iron ore shipments will significantly add to group inventories and consume working capital.
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
1130 17Nov2008 - Banco Popolare falls on broker downgrades
----------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Italy's Banco Popolare (BAPO.MI) fall 4.7 percent after broker downgrades following nine-month results last week that fell short of consensus.
"Results are 18 percent below consensus at the operating profit level pre provisions due to weaker than expected revenues. Costs are slightly above consensus. Bad debt provisons are also higher than expected," Citigroup says in a research note.
Cheuvreux, Exane BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse downgrade the shares, but Natixis upgrads the stock to "add" from "reduce".
Reuters messaging rm://nigel.tutt.reuters.com@reuters.net
12:09GMT 17Nov2008-Bank of Ireland slides on weak sentiment
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I) fall over 18 percent to under 1 euro as investor concern over Irish financial stocks mounts.
Bank of Ireland last trades 16 percent down at 91 cents, underperforming the DJ Stoxx European bank sector index .SX7P which is 4.2 percent weaker.
Shares in Anglo Irish Bank ANGL.I are down nearly 11 percent, Allied Irish Banks (ALBK.I) drops nearly 5 percent, while Irish Life & Permanent (IPM.I) is 2.7 percent weaker.
Dresdner Kleinwort says in a research note it expects Ireland to announce bank recapitalisation plans shortly.
"The Irish probably need large public stakes," it says.
Standard & Poor's said on Friday it had put Bank of Ireland on its credit watch with "negative implications".
"Sentiment is weighing on the stock," says a Dublin-based trader. "There is no appetite to prop it up at the moment."
A report in the Sunday Business Post newspaper said the Irish government had received approaches from a number of international investors prepared to invest funds in Irish banks as part of a recapitalisation move.
Reuters Messaging rm://jonathan.saul.reuters.com@reuters.net
