EUROPEAN: bourses reversed their previous week's downturn, witnessing one of the strongest recoveries ever seen in the reporting week to November 3, with those followed seeing sharp double-digit rises, and a 39% leap for FRANKFURT. There, one of the big factors was activity in carmaker Volkswagen, which accounts for about 10% of the Xetra Dax. Of the drug majors, Bayer was up 14.4%, helped by its confirmation of full-year 2008 earnings forecasts, despite third-quarter figures missing analysts' expectations (Marketletter November 3). Stada Arzneimittel, which leapt 29.1%, was the star of the sector, boosted by an upgrade from UBS from neutral to buy, on the view that the firm is largely insulated from a weakening economy, reports the Bloomberg news service. Roche and Novartis undershot on the ZURICH exchange, with respective rises of 8% and 9%. The former benefited from news of US approval for its hepatitis C diagnostic product. Sanofi-Aventis was another underperformer, with a 13.1% upturn compared with the CAC 40's 15% rise. Analysts say the stock is one of the cheapest among European drug majors, because of its poor R&D pipeline, which is not helped by the demise of rimonabant (see also page 28).
LONDON: saw a stellar 13.7% rise from AstraZeneca, after the drug major posted solid quarterly figures and raised its 2008 outlook (page 4). GlaxoSmithKline gained 5.5%, lifted partly by the weakness of sterling against the dollar. Shire, up 15.3%, pleased analysts with its results (page 4) and the fact that it forecast full-year revenue growth of at least 20%. Sinclair Pharma retreated 19.4% after its recent strength and despite news that it had put in place facilities to meet peak funding needs.
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Stock Commentary - Europe - week to Nov 3, 2008
EUROPEAN: bourses reversed their previous week's downturn, witnessing one of the strongest recoveries ever seen in the reporting week to November 3, with those followed seeing sharp double-digit rises, and a 39% leap for FRANKFURT. There, one of the big factors was activity in carmaker Volkswagen, which accounts for about 10% of the Xetra Dax. Of the drug majors, Bayer was up 14.4%, helped by its confirmation of full-year 2008 earnings forecasts, despite third-quarter figures missing analysts' expectations (Marketletter November 3). Stada Arzneimittel, which leapt 29.1%, was the star of the sector, boosted by an upgrade from UBS from neutral to buy, on the view that the firm is largely insulated from a weakening economy, reports the Bloomberg news service. Roche and Novartis undershot on the ZURICH exchange, with respective rises of 8% and 9%. The former benefited from news of US approval for its hepatitis C diagnostic product. Sanofi-Aventis was another underperformer, with a 13.1% upturn compared with the CAC 40's 15% rise. Analysts say the stock is one of the cheapest among European drug majors, because of its poor R&D pipeline, which is not helped by the demise of rimonabant (see also page 28).
LONDON: saw a stellar 13.7% rise from AstraZeneca, after the drug major posted solid quarterly figures and raised its 2008 outlook (page 4). GlaxoSmithKline gained 5.5%, lifted partly by the weakness of sterling against the dollar. Shire, up 15.3%, pleased analysts with its results (page 4) and the fact that it forecast full-year revenue growth of at least 20%. Sinclair Pharma retreated 19.4% after its recent strength and despite news that it had put in place facilities to meet peak funding needs.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
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