Amsterdam shares higher midday; ABN soars on M&A news and early Q1 results

Amsterdam shares higher midday; ABN soars on M&A news and early Q1 results

	Published : Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:48 By : Agencies Print this Story

AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) - Shares in Amsterdam traded higher midday with ABN Amro soaring on the latest turns taken in regards to continued takeover talk, dealers said.

At 1.16 pm, the AEX was up 7.20 points or 1.37 pct at a high of 530.89, after opening at 528.53 and reaching a low of 527.32.

Government bonds were mostly up and the euro stood at 1.3556 usd versus 1.3494 usd late Friday.

ABN Amro led blue-chip gainers, up 6.51 pct at 35.84 eur on news the bidding war for the banking group has advanced with Fortis, SCH and RBoS expressing possible interest. 'In light of recent developments,' the bank also decided to release early first-quarter figures, showing an increase in net attributable profit of 1.31 bln eur versus 1.003 bln in the first quarter of last year. The bank said it is 'well on our way' to beating its 2007 EPS target.

Fortis, on the other hand, shed 1.47 to 34.29 eur. Analysts have questioned the group's non-friendly approach towards the takeover talk.

Among other financial gainers, ING put on 1.74 pct at 33.40 and Aegon added 0.19 pct to 15.60.

Philips gained 4.22 pct to 30.59 after it reported higher-than-expected first-quarter net profits and repeated its full-year targets.

DSM climbed 1.38 pct at 34.55 after the stock was upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' by Rabo Securities, which upped the target price to 40 eur from 36.

With oil remaining high, in part thanks to concerns about Nigerian elections, Shell rose 0.63 pct to 25.63 while SBM Offshore dropped 1.24 pct to 27.15.

Fugro, on the other hand, was up 2.14 pct at 39.57 and led midcap gainers after SNS Securities upgraded the oil services group to 'buy' from 'add' and increased its price target to 50 eur from 39.50.

Randstad put on 0.48 pct at 60.55 after the company said it has acquired an additional 23 pct in Chinese HR services provider Talent Shanghai, increasing its stake to 70 pct.

TomTom fell 1.29 pct to 29.10 eur mid news it will launch its new TomTom ONE XL range of products with an enlarged touch screen and new design next month, with a 399 eur price tag. Analysts said they expect the launch to weigh on TomTom's first-quarter results.

TNT shed 0.98 pct to 33.21 and Unilever fell 0.50 pct at 22.08 amid news it is extending the registration period for its shareholder compensation scheme.

Among midcap winners, SNS Reaal rose 1.69 pct at 18.05, Wereldhave was up 1.44 pct at 112.15, Getronics gained 1.60 pct to 6.97 and OCE rose 1.31 pct to 13.92.

Wessanen was 0.77 pct higher at 11.74 eur after SNS Securities raised its target price for the food products company to 13 eur from 11.

Univar ascended 0.33 pct at 42.86 amid news it has proposed appointing Shell executive Rein Willems to its supervisory board.

Van der Moolen led midcap decliners, dropping 1.05 pct to 3.77 while CSM shed 0.32 pct pct to 28.04.

Boskalis shed 0.13 pct to 79.50 after the share was downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' at ING.

ASMI lost 0.28 pct at 17.68.

Dave van Ginhoven, +31-6-14496797, dave.vanginhoven@thomson.com

dvg/jag

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