Carrefour, Renault, Veolia, Vivendi: French Equity Preview

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies whose stocks may have unusual price changes in Paris. Symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

France’s CAC 40 Index advanced 24.54, or 0.7 percent, to 3,809.16 in Paris. The SBF 120 Index gained 0.6 percent.

Bouygues SA (EN FP): Orascom Telecom Holding SAE would be interested in buying Bouygues’ telecommunications unit if it were for sale, Chairman Naguib Sawiris told French daily La Tribune in an interview. Bouygues slid 0.7 percent to 34.50 euros.

Carrefour SA (CA FP): Europe’s biggest retailer hired Jose Carlos Gonzalez-Hurtado as chief commercial officer from Procter & Gamble Co. The shares rose 0.2 percent to 32.58 euros.

Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA (SGO FP): Europe’s biggest supplier of building materials was downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The shares rose 1.1 percent to 38.265 euros.

Electricite de France SA (EDF FP): Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio ruled out any investment in Areva SA (CEI FP) in an interview with French daily Le Figaro. EDF shares rose 1 percent to 39.49 euros.

LDC SA (LOUP FP): Europe’s largest publicly traded poultry processor said first-half net income fell to 16.5 million euros from 25.5 million euros a year earlier. The shares lost 0.6 percent to 77.50 euros.

Renault SA (RNO FP): France’s second-biggest carmaker may gain 350 million euros in Nissan Motor Co. dividends, Credit Suisse equity derivatives strategist Raymond Hing said. He recommended investors buy calls giving the right to buy Renault’s shares for 36 euros through March. The shares declined 0.3 percent to 33.185 euros.

Veolia Environnement SA (VIE FP): The world’s biggest water company may shelve the sale of a 49 percent stake in its British water division after bids fell short of its expectations, two people familiar with the process said.

Separately, the company named Antoine Frerot as chief executive officer, replacing Henri Proglio who is taking the top job at EDF. The shares added 0.3 percent to 23.165 euros.

Vivendi SA (VIV FP): General Electric Co. may be closer to selling control of NBC Universal to Comcast Corp. after Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt met with NBC’s minority owner Vivendi, two people with knowledge of the situation said.

Separately, Vivendi has asked a Paris court to block French investors from participating in a shareholder class action in New York, saying they were looking to find a more lucrative verdict. The shares rose 4.3 percent to 19.71 euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse at aerothman@bloomberg.net; Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Merritt at dmerritt1@bloomberg.net.