French and Benelux stocks - Factors to watch on June 25
PARIS, June 25 (Reuters) - Below is company-related news and leading stories from French and Benelux newspapers which could have an impact on the region's markets or individual stocks.
EDF (EDF.PA)
The subscription level for French state-controlled power group EDF's bond issue for retail investors, designed to raise broadly around 1 billion euros, has already surpassed 2 billion euros, Investir.fr website reported, citing banking sources. [EDF.PA]
AREVA (CEPFi.PA)
Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N) Chief Executive Jim Rogers sees Areva and Toshiba's (6502.T) Westinghouse emerging as front-runners in the design of reactors for a much-anticipated U.S. nuclear revival, he said in an interview. Duke is the third-largest U.S. nuclear power provider. [ID:nN24240307]
BOUYGUES (BOUY.PA)
French group Bouygues won a contract worth 335 million euros with the Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency for the design and construction of a second deep-water port complex in Tangier. The operation will be carried out by a consortium with Saipem, Besix, and Somagec.
Goldman Sachs analysts raised their rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral". [BOUY.PA]
TF1 (TFFP.PA)
France's first commercial channel, TF1, will not merge its 24-hour news channel, LCI, with rival i-Tele of Canal Plus, its chairman and chief executive, Nonce Paolini, said in Le Figaro newspaper. [TFFP.PA]
TOTAL (TOTF.PA)
French prosecutors called for a maximum penalty of 225,000 euros to be imposed on former Total unit Grande Paroisse over an explosion in 2001 at its AZF plant in Toulouse, southwestern France, that killed 31 people. [TOTF.PA]
WENDEL (MWDP.PA)
Wendel said it had successfully completed the debt restructuring of its Materis unit and that the liquidity of Materis had been secured until 2013. [MWDP.PA]
EUROTUNNEL (GETP.PA)
Franco-British group Eurotunnel (GETP.PA) had more than 300 million euros of cash as of May 31, Chairman and Chief Executive Jacques Gounon told French business newspaper La Tribune in its Thursday edition.
He added that car traffic was still slightly below 2008 levels and that truck traffic would halve this year versus 2008, after a fire that partially closed the Channel Tunnel from September to February. [GETP.PA]
MICHELIN (MICP.PA)
French tyre group Michelin could cut as many as 3,500 jobs by 2011, FCDT trade union representative Cyrille Poughon was quoted as saying in French newspaper Les Echos on Thursday.
The group said earlier this month that it would cut 1,093 jobs. [MICP.PA]
CAISSE D'EPARGNE/BANQUE POPULAIRE/NATIXIS (CNAT.PA)
The new French bank formed from the state-led merger of Banque Populaire and Groupe Caisse d'Epargne will be called BPCE and will be operational at the start of August, its head said on Wednesday. [ID:nLO872058]
GECIMED (GECM.PA)
Gecimed said it plans a capital increase of around 100 million euros, with 17 new shares for every 10 held. The subscription period will run from June 29 until July 10. [GECM.PA]
KLEPIERRE (LOIM.PA)
Property firm Klepierre said it could beat its target of divesting 1 billion euros worth of assets by mid-2010. [ID:nLO469315]
ACKERMANS & VAN HAAREN (ACKB.BR)
Belgian holding company Ackermans & Van Haaren said it reached a preliminary deal to take a minority stake in Alcofina SA in a first step into the Brazilian bioethanol market. [ACKB.BR]
COLRUYT (COLR.BR)
Belgian discount supermarket chain Colruyt reported a fall in its full-year operating profit margin due to higher staff costs and posted net profit and operating cash flow just shy of market expectations. [COLR.BR]
