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** EUROPEAN MARKETS **
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** HEADLINES **

- EU Leaders Set for Clash at Summit Over Protectionism in Energy Industry
- French Economic Growth Accelerating as Unemployment Declines, Insee Says
- Turkey’s Central Bank Likely to Leave Interest Rate on Hold, Survey Shows
- Crude Oil Rises on Concern Demand May Strain U.S. Supplies of Gasoline

** IN PLAY TODAY **

- Pernod Ricard reported a 51% hike in 1H net income to E488m (E401m expected),
including one time gain of E90m, helped by last year’s acquisition of rival
Allied Domecq. The company already unveiled 1H revenue of E3.27bln, representing
organic growth of 4.5%. The group forecasts its EPS growth to be at the top of
the 10%-15% range .

- Hermes International posted a rise in FY net income to E247m (E250m expected)
compared to E214.5m in 2004 on previously announced sales of E1.43bln against
E1.3bln last year, spurred by Japanese sales.

- Lufthansa posted a rise in FY net profit to E453m (E497.5m expected) from
E404m. 4Q net income fell 85% to E37m (E81.5m expected). The group raised its
dividend to E0.50 from E0.30.

- Enel reported a 48% rise in FY net income to E3.9bln (E3.84bln expected). The
group targets “improved” results for 2006 and an average return on capital
invested of 17% in 2007. In other news, a Suez takeover offer was not discussed
yesterday at a meeting, according to news agency Radiocor.

- Roche Holding and GlaxoSmithKline received a combined order for 6m influenza
treatments from the US to increase the national stockpile to 26m in preparation
of a possible pandemic.

- Swatch Group posted FY 2005 net income of CHF621m (CHF626m expected). The
group reported a FY operating margin of 17.1%, remains optimistic for its 2006
outlook.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 at 8:18 and is filed under Uncategorized.