Air Berlin, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, E.ON: German Equity Preview

By Joseph Mapother and Henrietta Rumberger

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Germany. Stock symbols are in parentheses. Share prices are from the previous close.

DAX futures expiring in September decreased 10.50, or 0.2 percent, to 6,417 as of 8:12 a.m. in Frankfurt. Germany's benchmark DAX index fell 83.10, or 1.3 percent, to 6,396.46.

Air Berlin Plc (AB1 GY): Europe's third-biggest discount airline's cost-cutting program will help save at least 35 million euros ($55 million) this year, Chief Executive Officer Joachim Hunold said in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The plan has the potential to produce as much as 150 million euros in savings over 12 months and the airline may increase ticket prices this year, he said. The stock rose 3 cents, or 0.9 percent, to 3.46 euros.

A.S. Creation (ACW GY): Germany's biggest wallpaper manufacturer is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings. Profit last quarter gained 30 percent as retail prices rose and the company's tax bill decreased. The stock rose 22 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 33.70 euros.

Colonia Real Estate AG (KBU GY): The property company said Christoph Wittkop will leave his position on the board of management in charge of asset management. The stock lost 16 cents, or 2.2 percent, to 7.05 euros.

Daimler AG (DAI GY): Stock of the world's second-largest maker of luxury cars is being bought by a foreign hedge fund making use of the lower share price to build a large stake, news magazine Focus reported, citing an unidentified supervisory board member at the automaker. Daimler shares dropped 69 cents, or 1.9 percent, to 36.64 euros.

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK GY): Merrill Lynch & Co. cut its 2008 adjusted earnings per share estimate for Germany's largest bank by 50 percent and said it now assumes a 2008 dividend of 3.5 euros, down from 4 euros.

``Having initially weathered the credit turmoil very well, Deutsche is finding the going tougher in 2008,'' Merrill analysts wrote in a research note dated today. ``We forecast a further 1.5 billion of markdowns for the second half on monolines and leveraged buyouts.''

E.ON AG (EOA GY): Germany's largest utility will treble the number of its shares as it implements a 3-for-1 split to lower the price and make the stock more attractive to private investors. Bearer shares will be converted into registered shares. The stock fell 1.15 euros, or 0.9 percent, to 121.30.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA GY): Europe's second-biggest airline may face strikes by as many as 5,000 pilots, Handelsblatt reported, citing a spokesman for the Vereinigung Cockpit union. The shares declined 6 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 14.71 euros.

Freenet AG (FNT GY): Chief Executive Officer Eckhard Spoerr has the majority he needs to block an effort to topple him at next Friday's annual shareholders meeting, Focus magazine said, without saying where it got the information. Freenet shares retreated 26 cents, or 2.2 percent, to 11.44 euros.

HVB Group (HVM GY): UniCredit SpA's German banking unit is scheduled to report second-quarter results. The bank reported a first-quarter pretax loss of 318 million euros ($495 million). The share price declined 17 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 40.66 euros.

Siemens AG (SIE GY): Europe's largest engineering company has been asked to disclose findings on its internal bribery investigation, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, known as OTE, has asked a Munich court to force Siemens to disclose the information so that it can assess whether to sue the German company for damages, the newspaper reported. The shares fell 1.68 euros, or 2.1 percent, to 77.08 euros.

Tipp24 AG (TIM GY): The Internet gambling company said second-quarter net income rose fourfold to 1.6 million euros and it will meet full-year forecasts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joseph Mapother in Frankfurt at jmapother1@bloomberg.net; Henrietta Rumberger in Frankfurt at hrumberger@bloomberg.net.