Brussels shares close higher; Nationale a Portefeuille leads gainers UPDATE

Brussels shares close higher; Nationale a Portefeuille leads gainers UPDATE

	Published : Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:10 By : Agencies Print this Story

(Updates with full report)

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Shares closed higher, with holding company Nationale a Portefeuille leading the blue-chips.

At the close, the Bel 20 was up 57.25 points or 1.32 pct at 4,393.69.

Nationale a Portedeuille was up 2.10 eur or 4.43 pct at 49.46 eur and mobile telecoms group Mobistar was up 1.42 eur or 2.31 pct at 62.93 eur.

Suez was up 0.92 eur or 2.11 pct at 44.54 eur. The utility confirmed it plans to hire 132,000 people between 2008 and 2013, including 60,000 in France. Separately, Suez and Gaz de France are set to learn the details of the disposals they will have to make to comply with EU rules for their merger in the coming days, Les Echos reported.

Brewer InBev rose 1.31 eur or 2.06 pct to 65.05 eur.

For the heavyweight financials, Fortis was up 0.33 eur or 1.52 pct at 21.97 eur, Dexia rose 0.20 eur or 0.93 pct to 21.66 eur and KBC Group was up 0.45 eur or 0.49 pct at 92.71 eur. On KBC, analysts described yesterday's losses as 'excessive'.

Delhaize was up 0.96 eur or 1.48 pct at 65.71 eur. Pierre-Olivier Beckers, chief executive of the supermarket group, said he is 'not opposed on principle' to the long-rumoured potential merger with Dutch peer Ahold.

Cofinimmo was up 1.03 eur or 0.82 pct at 126.59 eur. The real estate group is expected to post nine-month results tomorrow after the market closes which show a modest rise in EBIT and rental income, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial News.

Solvay was up 0.80 eur or 0.77 pct at 104.98 eur. The chemical and pharmaceutical group is expected to post its third-quarter results tomorrow before the market opens which show a rise in sales, with the group's pharmaceuticals division sales seen weaker due to currency effects.

For the fallers, imaging technology group Agfa-Gevaert was down 0.38 eur or 3.99 pct at 9.15 eur as analysts said investors were becoming increasingly cautious about the stock and negative news about the company continued to pile up.

Outside the Bel 20, Option sank 2.44 eur or 28.18 pct to 6.22 eur on weak third-quarter results.

CMB was up 2.66 eur or 4.50 pct at 61.76 eur. After the market close, the shipping group said its nine-month net profit rose to 193.0 mln eur from 120.1 mln for the same period last year. Sales fell to 277.2 mln eur from 305.3 mln.

Peer Exmar was down 0.10 eur or 0.45 pct at 22.00 eur. After the market close, the shipping group said its nine-month net profit fell to 22.0 mln usd from 74.4 mln last year. The group's sales fell to 361.5 mln usd from 382.1 mln

Cumerio was down 0.11 eur or 0.38 pct at 28.78 eur as the copper group's third-quarter trading update failed to excite investors.

Melexis was down 0.49 eur or 4.11 pct at 11.42 eur after the semiconductors manufacturer was cut to 'hold' from 'buy' and its target price lowered to 12.50 eur from 14.50 at ING, which cited the company's 'cautious' 2008 outlook.

Barco was up 0.75 eur or 1.28 pct at 59.25 eur as analysts welcomed the imaging technology group's optimistic forecasts for 2008.

simon.zekaria@thomson.com

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