Amsterdam shares higher midday, Aegon in the lead after Q4 beats expectations

Amsterdam shares higher midday, Aegon in the lead after Q4 beats expectations

	Published : Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:40 By : Agencies Print this Story

AMSTERDAM (AFX) - Amsterdam shares traded higher at midday as the AEX index continued its rally undeterred by Wall Street's decline yesterday and with a boost for financials Aegon and Fortis, analysts said.

At 12.46 pm, the AEX index was up 5.26 points or 1.09 pct at 487.13, after opening at 486.03 and off an early low of 484.77.

Government bonds traded lower and the euro stood at 1.3152 usd as opposed to 1.3139 late yesterday.

Aegon outperformed, rising 3.58 pct at 15.03 eur after the insurer reported a strong rise in fourth-quarter pretax operating results and a better-than-expected rise in the value of new business and announced a dividend increase that SNS analysts said 'comes as a pleasant surprise.'

Fortis also received a boost, up 1.96 pct at 32.73 eur as the Belgo-Dutch bancassurer's stronger guidance and a higher-than-expected dividend hike outweighed slightly disappointing fourth-quarter figures.

Fellow financial ABN Amro saw a 0.74 pct increase at 27.33 eur while ING advanced 0.24 pct to 31.74.

Other AEX risers included TomTom, which climbed 1.47 pct to 31.05 eur, Hagemeyer, up 2.32 pct at 3.53, and Arcelor Mittal, advancing 2.25 pct to 40.02 as it was named top pick with an 'overweight' recommendation by Morgan Stanley in a note on the European steel sector.

Oil sector issues were up amid rising crude prices, with Royal Dutch Shell 0.85 pct higher at 24.79 eur, and SBM Offshore climbing 0.56 pct to 26.80.

Univar led midcap gainers, rising 2.18 pct to 38.02 eur amid an upbeat outlook that counterbalanced mixed response to full-year earnings. Petercam analysts lowered their recommendation for Univar to 'hold' from 'add', saying the results were 'clearly below our (and consensus) expectations.'

TomTom supplier Tele Atlas stepped up 1.90 pct to 16.07 eur and ASMI saw a 1.60 pct increase at 17.15 ahead of its earnings presentation after market close today, in which lower fourth-quarter results are expected.

Local market listed TKH ascended 2.41 pct at 65.75 after reporting 2006 results that beat the company's own guidance as well as analyst estimates, and giving an upbeat outlook for this year.

Among the handful of decliners, Unilever eased 0.36 pct to 19.39 eur, Numico fell 0.29 pct to 37.80, and Wolters Kluwer dropped 1.0 pct to 21.87 in an extension of recent losses.

dave.vanginhoven@thomson.com

dvg/tw

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