European Report: Vivendi Universal was among the biggest fallers in the media sector ahead of second-quarter figures tomorrow.
A press report yesterday suggested that the ailing company could make several billion euros worth of writedowns following the appointment of Jean-Rene Fourtou as chief executive. But analysts played down the article, saying that they put more importance on operating profit and strategy than non-cash asset depreciations.Vivendi shares fell 5.3 per cent to €16.10.
Meanwhile, French advertising group Publicis fell 1.3 per cent to €20.80 ahead of the release of second-quarter sales figures after the close of trading.
Several other companies in the sector are scheduled to announce results this week, including Wolters Kluwer, down 1.5 per cent at €13.94, although VNU rose 2.3 per cent to €18.25.
Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms equipment group, rose 1.7 per cent to SKr6.10 inspite of repeating its gloomy outlook for the industry. In the final prospectus for its $3.1 billion rights issue, the company said it saw no turnaround in the weak demand for its main product, wireless networks. Ericsson said that debt-ridden telecommunications operators had reduced investment.
Dutch computer services group Getronics tumbled 17 per cent to €0.88 ahead of its first-half earnings on Thursday. The stock has been under pressure from several analysts' downgrades as worries about the company's debt levels intensify.
The telecoms sector was broadly lower. France Telecom led the way with a drop of 5.4 per cent to €14.15, while Telefónica shed 3.7 per cent to €9.18 and Deutsche Telekom eased 2.6 per cent to €11.25.
Zurich Financial, Europe's third-largest insurer, was hit hard after revealing it made a capital loss of $100 million on investments in the bankrupt US telecoms giant WorldCom. The shares fell 5.4 per cent to SFr140.75. - (Financial Times Service)
