Lisbon shares lower midmorning led by EDP, PT; Sonaecom, Sonae buck trend

Lisbon shares lower midmorning led by EDP, PT; Sonaecom, Sonae buck trend

	Published : Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:45 By : Agencies Print this Story

LISBON (AFX) - Share prices were lower in midmorning trade with EDP and Portugal Telecom leading the decliners as Sonaecom and parent company Sonae bucked the trend, dealers said.

At 11.12 am, the PSI 20 index was down 27.41 points or 0.24 pct at 11,323.62.

Equities opened lower, tracking major European markets as hefty losses in Asia added to a weaker Wall Street close, and remained under pressure all morning.

EDP was down 0.02 eur at 3.85 after yesterday's gains. Yesterday, EDP was supported by an UBS note saying that an acceptable price target ranges from 3.30 to 4 eur.

Heavyweight Portugal Telecom fell 0.05 to 9.99.

Would be predator Sonaecom soared 0.42 or 7.85 pct to 5.77 after news that securities watchdog CMVM will not block the group's associated bid for PT's cable unit PT Multimedia.

The news are presents one more step towards the possible success of Sonaecom's offer over PT,' BPI said in a note.

Analysts also highlighted the results of a Marktest survey that Sonecom's Novis fixed line unit has been winning 80 pct of clients which churn from other operators.

Sonaecom's parent company Sonae rose 0.02 or 1.28 pct to 1.58 on the market's top turnover of nearly 20 mln shares. Analysts said that Sonae's sale of non-core assets in the health sector is positive as it shows the company's commitment to focus on key businesses. BPI has a 1.80 eur per share price target on Sonae.

Industrial holding company Altri was up 0.03 at 4.45 after being hit by profit taking yesterday following a surge on positive production and regulatory newsflow.

Galp was down 0.06 or 0.93, extending yesterday's losses on weaker oil prices.

In the banking sector, heavyweight BCP was flat at 2.81, while BCP's takeover target BPI shed 0.01 to 5.99.

BCP has submitted fresh remedies to the Competition Authority's proposed concerns about the bank's 4.33 bln eur takeover offer for BPI, press reports said. The regulator is now likely to release a preliminary outline evaluation next week rather than this week, according to the reports.

Jeronimo Martins was down 0.03 at 17.95. The retailer gained yesterday after Lisbon Brokers raised its target price for the stock to 18.20 eur per share from 16.50 ahead of full year sales, which are due out on Jan 16.

The media sector was also lower, with Impresa down 0.01 at 4.73 and Cofina off 0.01 at 1.84.

Outside the PSI 20, Soares da Costa was flat at 0.71. Regulator CMVM said it will take no action on a document filed yesterday by an analysts and investors' association containing criticism of the terms of Investifino's bid for the builder. Investifino is offering 0.70 eur each for ordinary shares and 1.40 eur per preference share. The subscription period began Monday.

Finibanco was up 0.07 at 3.75. The bank said yesterday it plans to offer shareholders 1 new share for every 6.6 they already hold at 2 eur per new share. The rights issue initially runs to March 30.

jonathan.gleave@afxnews.com

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