One of the worst performers among European blue-chips was French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel. Its shares fell 6.9 per cent to #31.95 as investors continued to worry about its possible takeover of Lucent.
Another sharp faller was UPC, the pan-European cable group, which said it could not yet give details of the deal with its US parent UnitedGlobalCom in which UPC will receive #1 billion. On May 15th UPC had said it would make an announcement in five to 10 days.
Analysts have expressed concern the #1 billion may not now come in the form of support for a UPC rights issue, but might instead dilute minority shareholder stakes. UPC shares fell 8.7 per cent to #6.39.
Speculation about Nordic telecoms mergers returned to the markets. TeleDanmark rose almost 10 per cent to DKr355 on hopes that Sweden's Telia might take over SBC Communication's stake in TeleDanmark, now that Telenor's similar plans have been dropped. Telia shares were unchanged at SKr60 but the smaller Swedish operator Tele1 Europe rose 1.6 per cent to SKr36.
Sulzer Medica remained on a slippery slope at the end of a dismal week, with no end in sight to concerns over its potential exposure to the costs of recalling faulty hip implants. The shares lost 10.2 per cent to SFr199.75, taking losses over the week to almost 40 per cent. Sulzer, which owns 74 per cent of Medica, fell 7 per cent to a 28 month low of SFr732, extending its losses since Monday morning to 26 per cent.
Among financials, Credit Lyonnais fell 1.8 per cent to #40.55 as the market awaited further downgrades on the stock. On Wednesday, the company reported a 14 per cent drop in first-quarter net attributable profit while gross operating profit slumped 24.6 per cent.
Commerzbank lost 1.3 per cent to #31.44 as the group avoided a clash at its annual shareholders' meeting with its maverick shareholder group CoBRa.
