European shares knocked back by banks and miners

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday, led down by a renewed drop in banks and miners, with Societe Generale and Rio Tinto (Other OTC: RTPPF - news) both under pressure after disappointing with their latest results.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 2.1 percent at 1,215.46 points by 0815 GMT. It rose 1.8 percent in the previous session, snapping a 7-day losing run.

Banks were down 3.4 percent, among the top sectoral fallers. The sector is down over eight percent so far this week as concerns over profitability in a low-growth, low-interest rate environment have knocked confidence in the sector.

The biggest faller in the bank sector on Thursday was Societe Generale (Swiss: 519928.SW - news) , down 7.1 percent after it posted a lower than expected rise in fourth-quarter net income, hit by an additional 400 million euros ($450.4 million) which it set aside to cover litigation costs.

Rio Tinto dropped 7 percent after the miner posted an annual loss and scrapped its promise to maintain or lift its dividend annually for this year onward due to a tough outlook.

The basic resources sector was down 4.6 percent. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)