Air France, PCAS, Rhodia, Sanofi, Sodexo: French Stock Preview

By Helene Fouquet and Francesca Cinelli

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies whose stocks may have unusual changes in Paris. Symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

France’s CAC 40 Index climbed 31, or 0.9 percent, to 3,450.69 in Paris. The SBF 120 Index also rose 0.9 percent.

Air France-KLM (AF FP): Europe’s biggest airline said it’s pulling out of the bidding for Ceske Aerolinie AS, the Czech Republic’s state-controlled carrier. The shares added 15.7 cents, or 1.6 percent, to 10.01 euros.

European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD FP): The A400M military-transport plane being built by EADS unit Airbus SAS has passed a key certification test and is set to fly by the end of 2009, Les Echos reported, citing an unidentified engineer. EADS lost 3.5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to 13.3 euros.

Carrefour SA (CA FP): Europe’s largest retailer opened three smaller Carrefour Express stores on highways around Sao Paulo in Brazil. The shares gained 13.5 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 30.76 euros.

Produits Chimiques Auxiliaires et de Synthese SA (PCA FP): The maker of pharmaceutical ingredients, known as PCAS, agreed to form a joint venture in California with Nanosyn. The shares dropped 6 cents, or 2.5 percent, to 2.30 euros.

Rhodia SA (RHA FP): Credit Suisse Group AG downgraded France’s largest maker of specialty chemicals to “underperform” from “neutral.” The shares added 10.9 cents, or 1.4 percent, to 7.98 euros.

Sanofi-Aventis SA (SAN FP): The company’s patent on the blood-thinner Plavix will be reconsidered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine if it should have been issued. The patent, issued in 1989, prevents Canadian drugmaker Apotex Inc. from selling a copy of the drug until November 2011. The shares lost 17 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 44.89 euros.

Sodexo (SW FP): The world’s second-biggest catering company said it has bought Comfort Keepers, a supplier of non-medical in-home services in North America. The shares rose 30 cents, or 0.8 percent, to 37.1 euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at Hfouquet1@bloomberg.net; Francesca Cinelli in Milan at fcinelli@bloomberg.net.