Shares in Paris closed little changed, but the big news was the massive fall in communications network company Equant. It waited until after close of trading in New York on Wednesday night to reveal a widening first-quarter loss of $24.6 million (€27.5 million) from $7.1m a year earlier.
The news triggered a flood of downgrades from brokers and the shares fell 25 per cent before rallying a little to close 21.3 per cent lower at €53.50. They have now fallen 60 per cent since their peak of €137 in February.
Pay television company Canal Plus was the second-worst performer of the top 40 stocks. It lost 8.7 per cent to €205 on disappointment over future revenues from its stake in multi-access portal Vizzavi that Vivendi and Vodafone AirTouch unveiled this week.
Frankfurt reversed mid-session gains to close lower. Deutsche Telekom stayed out of favour. Bruised lately by negative broker comment and stock overhang concerns ahead of next month's equity offering, the shares fell a further €1.64 to €60.56.
The roadshow for the further tranche of state shares earmarked for the market gets under way on May 31st and pricing takes place on June 18th. Telekom is 42 per cent below its March peaks.
MAN rose €2.14 or 5.9 per cent to €38.19 amid a resurgence of truck sector consolidation rumours. Elsewhere in motors, BMW shed €1.03 at €30.75.
Amsterdam saw steep gains at KLM and wild swings at cable group UPC. The AEX index was barely changed at 668.22, up 0.05. Boosted by a broker earnings upgrades following Wednesday's solid results statement, KLM shot ahead by €9.2 per cent, rising €1.90 to a high of €22.60.
Milan closed higher after a rollercoaster session dominated by telecoms. The Mibtel index finished 181 ahead at 31,791.
Telecom Italia Mobile put on 1.6 per cent to €10.80 on confirmation of a commercial accord with Yahoo Europe involving the supply of WAP services for its WAP mobile phone platform.
Much of the remainder of the sector was under pressure. Yellow page publisher and Internet portal Seat Pagine Gialle eased 0.6 per cent to €4.29.
