Boss, Continental, HeidelbergCement, Infineon: German Preview

By Nadja Brandt and Stefanie Haxel

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in Germany. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close.

DAX Index futures expiring in March rose 91, or 2.1 percent, to 4,434 as of 8:14 a.m. in Frankfurt. The DAX fell 1.9 percent to 4,336.73.

Commerzbank AG (CBK GY): Germany’s second-largest bank is big enough to manage the costs of more than 18 billion euros ($24 billion) of German government aid, Reuters reported, citing Martin Blessing, the bank’s chief executive officer. The shares lost 41.5 cents, or 11 percent, to 3.44 euros.

Continental AG (CON GY): The German auto-parts supplier, has received approval from two-thirds of its banks to change terms of an 11 billion euro loan, Handelsblatt reported, citing Chief Financial Officer Alan Hippe. Continental will pay 135 to 145 basis points more if it retains an investment-grade rating and 200 basis points more if it falls below investment grade, the newspaper said, citing Hippe. The shares fell 5.01 euros, or 20 percent, to 19.60 euros.

Deutsche Postbank AG (DPB GY): Citigroup Inc. lowered its share-price estimate for the country’s biggest consumer bank by clients 27 cents to 11 euros. The shares declined 2.22 euros, or 19 percent, to 9.63.

Freenet AG (FNT GY): The mobile-phone and Internet service provider had its share-price projection cut 70 percent to 5 euros at Citigroup. The shares increased 10 cents, or 2.4 percent, to 4.36 euros.

GEA Group AG (G1A GY): UBS AG cut its share-price estimate for the engineer whose machines milk a third of the world’s dairy cows 26 percent to 12.50 euros. The shares sank 43 cents, or 4.3 percent, to 9.57 euros.

GfK AG (GFK GY): Citigroup reduced the price estimate on the market researcher’s stock 21 percent to 20 euros. GfK shares added 41 cents, or 2.3 percent, to 18.41 euros.

HeidelbergCement AG (HEI GY): Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has expressed interest in a stake of Germany’s biggest cement maker in a potential deal with U.S. firm TPG, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Shares of HeidelbergCement, an asset of deceased billionaire Adolf Merckle, gained 48 cents, or 1.7 percent, to 28.78 euros.

Hugo Boss AG (BOS3 GY): Germany’s largest clothing company said head of sales Andre Maeder will resign, adding to a list of executives who have left the company in the past year. The shares dropped 48 cents, or 4.4 percent, to 10.35 euros.

Hypo Real Estate Holding AG (HRX GY): The commercial- property lender bailed out by the government is facing a wave of legal action after a drop in its share price and probes by prosecutors of former board members, Boersen-Zeitung reported. The shares rose 8 cents, or 3.8 percent, to 2.17 euros.

Infineon Technologies AG (IFX GY): Shares of Intel Corp., the world’s biggest maker of semiconductors, rose in late U.S. trading as the company said profitability may improve after the first quarter as customers finish working through excess inventory. Shares of Infineon, Europe’s second-largest chipmaker, lost 5.5 cents, or 6.2 percent, to 84 cents.

Takkt AG (TTK GY): The business-to-business mail-order company said it expects to report “organic” sales growth for 2008 of 0.7 percent, below its own expectations. The shares were unchanged at 7.70 euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nadja Brandt in Los Angeles at nbrandt@bloomberg.net; Stefanie Haxel in Frankfurt at shaxel@bloomberg.net