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Europe: Swiss Re and UBS lower

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Date: Tuesday 06 May 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - European shares were in the red midday as investors were disappointed with quarterly figures from UBS and Swiss Re.

UBS reported a first-quarter net loss of 11.54bn Swiss francs and said it expects tough business conditions to continue. The bank also announced plans to cut 5,500 jobs by mid-2009.

Swiss Re saw quarterly net profits drop by 53% to 624m Swiss francs following write-downs of 819m Swiss franc.

Shares in Veolia Environnement also fell after the group's first-quarter operating profit failed to meet expectations.

Hypo Real Estate was lower after first-quarter pre-tax profit declined to €190m from a pro forma €304m last year.

The German Dax fell 37 points to 7,014, the French CAC is down 28 points to 5,034, while the Swiss market lost 110 to 7,548.

Euro zone producer prices rose 0.7% in March from February and 5.7% year on year, according to statistics agency Eurostat.