Europe Stocks Fluctuate; Credit Suisse Gains, Akzo Nobel Falls

By Sarah Jones

April 23 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fluctuated as better-than-estimated earnings from Credit Suisse Group AG and a rally in oil shares offset unexpected losses at Akzo Nobel NV and Logitech International SA.

Credit Suisse climbed 8.3 percent after the biggest Swiss bank by market value reported profit that was twice the median estimate of analysts. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA advanced on higher crude prices. Akzo Nobel, the world’s largest maker of paints, declined 3.1 percent after posting a first- quarter loss on sliding demand in Asia. Logitech, the biggest maker of computer mice, sank 5 percent.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose less than 0.1 percent to 192.49 as of 3:31 p.m. in London, having swung between gains and losses at least 17 times. The gauge has rebounded 22 percent since March 9 as investors speculated that U.S. government’s plan to finance the purchase of as much as $1 trillion in illiquid assets from banks will help to pull the global economy out of its first recession since World War II.

“What we have been seeing on the earnings situation for financials is quite different from other industries,” said Wolfgang Matejka, who oversees about $3 billion as chief investment officer at Meinl Bank in Vienna. “Positive developments in banks are not being mirrored” elsewhere, he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

An index based on a survey of purchasing managers by Markit Economics today showed Europe’s manufacturing and service industries contracted at the slowest pace in six months in April, signaling the worst of the recession may be over.

National Indexes

National benchmark indexes rose in 11 of the 17 western European markets open today. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.4 percent. France’s CAC 40 increased 0.2 percent as Essilor International SA rallied. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.7 percent, led higher by Lonmin Plc.

Credit Suisse jumped 8.3 percent to 43 Swiss francs after the bank reported first-quarter profit of 2 billion francs ($1.7 billion), compared with a 2.15 billion-franc loss in the year- earlier period, helped by a recovery in trading revenue.

Earnings beat the 1 billion-franc median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan said he’s “optimistic” about the bank’s prospects.

Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, added 1.8 percent to 1,498 pence in London. Total increased 3 percent to 36.89 euros. Crude oil rose for a third day in New York as the dollar dropped against the euro, bolstering the appeal of commodities as a currency hedge.

Akzo, Logitech

Akzo Nobel slipped 3.1 percent to 32.64 euros. The company reported a first-quarter loss of 7 million euros ($9.1 million), compared with a profit in the year-earlier period. Analysts predicted profit of 49.3 million euros.

Logitech slumped 5 percent to 12.95 francs after posting a fourth-quarter net loss of $35 million as sales slumped and job cuts raised costs. Analysts had estimated a profit of $4.9 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

Essilor soared 6.4 percent to 31.99 euros as the largest maker of eyeglass lenses said sales may increase this quarter.

Lonmin climbed 9.4 percent to 1,355 pence. The third- biggest platinum producer said it refinanced $575 million of debt and fiscal second-quarter output of refined metal rose 45 percent after a furnace was shut the previous year.

ABB Ltd. dropped 4.5 percent to 17.19 francs. The world’s largest builder of electricity grids reported a 16 percent decline in first-quarter orders to $9.15 billion as a credit squeeze crimped spending for substations, transformers and motors. Analysts in a survey predicted $8.51 billion.

Volkswagen, Porsche

Swedbank AB declined 9.4 percent to 42.60 kronor after the biggest bank in the Baltic states posted a first-quarter loss of 3.36 billion kronor ($400 million) as loan losses and provisions rose. Analysts had estimated net income of 1.12 billion kronor.

Volkswagen AG slipped 2.8 percent to 231.72 euros. The Porsche and Piech families plan to sell their main car assets to Volkswagen under a plan that would tighten Porsche SE’s grip on Europe’s biggest automaker, according to two people familiar with the matter. Porsche climbed 7.4 percent to 52.65 euros.

Frank Gaube, a spokesman for Porsche, and Michael Brendel, a VW spokesman, declined to comment.

Union Fenosa SA plummeted 31 percent to 9.40 euros, the steepest drop in the Stoxx 600 today. Gas Natural SDG SA, Spain’s largest gas utility, said it will acquire the rest of Fenosa at a discount with a stock offer of three for every five shares it doesn’t own.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.