Delayed orders cause NEG Micon shares to fall 12%

EUROPE REPORT: NEG Micon, a Danish wind turbine maker, lost 12 per cent to DKr55.00, after warning that delayed orders had caused "significant uncertainty" around its 2003 earnings forecast.

The company said it would record a bigger-than-expected pre-tax loss of DKr350 million ($55 million) for the first half of the year.

NEG's financial discomfort may be good news for its main competitor Vestas, with whom it battles for Germany, the largest market for wind power in Europe. Yesterday shares in Vestas fell 3.9 per cent to DKr62.50, even though the company confirmed its 2003 earnings forecast and announced it had signed a crucial contract in the US that was worth 100 million.

In telecoms, lack of interest in Alcatel's €1 billion convertible bond issue forced the communications equipment firm to shorten its maturity by two years. The issue is part of a general restructuring of the French telecoms group. Alcatel shares lost 5.3 per cent to 7.66.

It was another difficult session for shares in Altadis, the tobacco group, which followed Monday's 5 per cent decline with a further 6 per cent fall yesterday, leaving the stock price struggling at €21.25.

The marked weakness was a reflection of the market's unease over the price paid by the French/Spanish tobacco company for an 80 per cent stake in Regie des Tabac Marocains, Morocco's tobacco monopoly. Altadis paid 1.3 billion for the stake, to be financed by loans and a bond issue.

The pharmaceuticals arena continued to respond to news emanating from the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago and numerous broker-inspired stock reratings.

Germany's Merck, a strong performer on Monday after the delivery of the expected good news regarding Erbitux, its colorectal cancer treatment, moved in the opposite direction yesterday. Merck's share price plummeted more than 7 per cent to 26.65 after Deutsche Bank analysts downgraded the stock to "sell" from "hold".