European Report: Vivendi Universal, the French media group, continued its downward path as two more investment banks issued negative reports on the stock.
Earlier this week, the company reported a huge second-quarter loss and said it faced €5.6 billion in refinancing requirements by the end of the year. That prompted Standard & Poors to lower its ratings on the stock to "junk".
Yesterday, Deutsche Bank cut its rating from "buy" to "market perform", stating that it could not maintain a "buy" stance on a company that is "capable of being declared insolvent within two months". UBS Warburg also downgraded the stock.
Vivendi's shares fell another 12.3 per cent to €9.30, compared with €17 at the end of last week.
Meanwhile, utility arm Vivendi Environnement fell 4 per cent to €19.97 as shareholders grew increasingly fractious about the terms of a €1.4 billion convertible bond issued by the company.
Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms equipment-maker, had another bad day as its shares dropped 3.6 per cent to €5.30.
The stock fell heavily on Thursday in largely technical trading as investors sold off their rights to take up the company's new share issue.
French rival Alcatel eased 3.6 per cent to €4.81 but Finland's Nokia added 4.9 per cent to €13.74.
Elsewhere among technology stocks, Philips Electronics closed 0.6 per cent higher at €21.22, despite ING Financial Markets lowering its earnings estimate for the company.
In the telecoms sector Deutsche Telekom rose 2.5 per cent to €10.90 after it repeated its pledge to cut costs to reduce its huge debts and report a positive operating result in the second quarter.
France Telecom also added 2.5 per cent to €14.04, Telecom Italia climbed 3.6 per cent to €8.11 and Telefonica gained 4.2 per cent at 9.28. - (Financial Times Service)
