Pursuits
European Profit Estimates Cut Most Since 2009 as Danone Hit
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Analysts are cutting European profit forecasts at the fastest rate since 2009 as the region heads for a recession and growth in China slows for a sixth quarter.
Euro Stoxx 50 Index companies will earn 240 euros a share in 2012, 6.8 percent more than in 2011, according to more than 12,000 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a 19 percent gain predicted at the start of the year. The reduction is the biggest since 2009, when analysts trimmed by 42 percentage points. ASML Holding NV started the European earnings season with its results today as at least seven companies in the broader Stoxx Europe 600 disappointed.