European Movers: Credit Agricole, Finmeccanica, Corporate Express

Plus more European stocks making headlines in Tuesday's market

by S&P MarketScope Europe Staff

UK

ALLIANCE & LEICESTER Down GBP0.55 to GBP4.56... Profit in first 4M takes GBP192m hit - Says during first 4M of 2008, a GBP53m reduction in the fair value of certain treasury assets and a GBP139m impairment loss charge relating to certain treasury assets were recognised. Adds core operating profit excluding Treasury in first 4M of 2008 was flat y/y. Says core tier 1 capital ratio was 6.4% and a total capital ratio of 11.7% at end of March. Expects the margin to average around 1% for FY08. Anticipates Retail Banking impairment charge in 1H08 to be slightly lower than the GBP50m in 1H07. Adds net interest margin is on track to average around 1% during 2008.

TUI TRAVEL Down GBP0.07 to GBP2.52... 1H loss before tax narrows to GBP294m - Reports 1H loss before tax GBP294m, -13%; revenue GBP5.163bn, +9%. Plans second interim DPS of 2.8p. Says Summer trading remains strong, with UK Mainstream sales up 8%, while 21% less product is left to sell and strong pricing achieved over the last six weeks. Adds trading for Winter 2008/09 has started strongly with sales up 15% in the UK. Says discussions are ongoing with Lufthansa regarding a potential merger of Germanwings and TUIfly. Confident will meet expectations for year ended 30 September 2008. Is well hedged on fuel and fx exposures for all open seasons and is well placed to recover incremental costs in 2008 and 2009.

ENTERPRISE INNS Down GBP0.07 to GBP4.80... 1H PTP down 11%, trading tough - Posts 1H PTP pre-ex of GBP132m, -11%; adjusted EPS 19.3p, +5%; interim DPS 5.8p, +12%. Says the trading environment remains tough, with many costs rising and consumer leisure spending likely to remain under pressure for some time.

G4S Down GBP0.15 to GBP2.25... Confident outlook but placing weighs - Co. is placing up to 127m new shares, equivalent to approx 9.9% of Co.'s issued capital before the placing. Says YTD underlying performance is slightly ahead of overall management expectations, aided in part by a small benefit from recent euro strength. Adds overall organic growth improved strongly to 11% with around 9% in developed markets and around 17% in New Markets. Remains very confident in the performance of the group for 2008.

FRANCE

CREDIT AGRICOLE Down EUR 1.17 to EUR 19.56... 1Q net profit -66.4% y/y / EUR 5.9bn cap hike - Co. issues a statement in response to press reports confirming the board will tomorrow discuss a EUR 5.9bn capital increase project and sign off on the 1Q accounts, to be released on Thursday, at its scheduled meeting. Co. says 1Q net profit should come in at EUR 892m, down 66.4% y/y and well below consensus of EUR 1.301bn. Plans a restructuring of CIB following the EUR 1.205bn subprime related impact at Calyon. Les Echos had reported this morning that Marc Litzler will leave his post as head of Calyon, with current head of specialised financial services Patrick Valroff. Co.'s statement does not mention Mr Litzler. Ahead of 1Q results on 15 May, a Reuters poll looks for revenues of EUR 4.399bn, down 12% y/y; operating profit of EUR 1.27bn, down 38% y/y; and net profit of EUR 1.301bn, down 51% y/y. In broker news, Dresdner Kleinwort downgrades to reduce from hold. FranceSocGen ups target to EUR 20.20 from EUR 19.90, keeps hold.

CARREFOUR Up EUR 1.15 to EUR 46.25... Arnault wins board seat, Halley quits as Chairman - Co. announced lat night that Robert Halley will step down as Chairman to become an honorary president of Co. Amaury de Seze becomes the new Chairman. Co. has also appointed Bernard Arnault to the supervisory board. Arnault and Colony Capital (as Blue Capital) hold 10.7% of Co. Blue Capital now has four board members. Ahead of 1Q07 sales after the close, Deutsche Bank expects a soft performance from French Hypermarkets and good LFL sales growth elsewhere. For the quarter expects Group' sales growth of 7.5% to EUR 22.8bn. Keeps buy with EUR 61 target.

SOC GEN Down EUR 0.60 to EUR 70.90... 1Q earnings beat ests, but costs also higher Reports 1Q net att. profit of EUR 1.096bn; op profit EUR 1.774bn, -24.4%; op. income EUR 1.176bn, -45.