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STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Ukraine, Russia-focused firms hit as tensions rise

Reuters - UK Focus

Shares in European companies with a big exposure to Ukraine and Russia are hit hard on fears the threat of war between the two countries and potential international sanctions against Russia could hit sales in a range of sectors from retail to banking.

French bank Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) , which owns Russian lender Rosbank (MCX: ROSB.ME - news) and which has heavily invested in the country, tumbles 6.1 percent to be the biggest loser among the STOXX Europe 600 Banking index.

Among peers to fall as result of their close ties to Ukraine are Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, down 8 percent to lead fallers across the FTSEurofirst 300 in volume twice its three-month daily average, and Italian peer UniCredit (Berlin: CRIH.BE - news) , down 3.5 percent.

Shares in French carmaker Renault (TLO: RENA-U.TI - news) - which counts Russia as its third biggest market - drop 4.6 percent, while shares in German retailer Metro (Berlin: MEO.BE - news) fall 5.2 percent as doubts mount over its plan to list a stake in its Russian wholesale business in the coming weeks.

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Denmark-listed global brewer Carlsberg (Other OTC: CABGY - news) , the market leader in Russia with a 39 percent market share, and no.2 brewer in Ukraine with a market share of 27 percent, also features among the top losers, down 5.4 percent.

London-listed Ukrainian iron ore miner Ferrexpo (Other OTC: FEEXF - news) , meanwhile, falls 8 percent, hurt by concerns over its chief executive Kostyantin Zhevago's political ties to West-leaning former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose ally is now head of the new Ukrainian government.

In the Nordics, shares in tyre maker Nokian Renkaat (Other OTC: NKRKY - news) , department store chain Stockmann and builder YIT (Other OTC: YITYF - news) all fall more than 5 percent due to their strong exposure to Russia. Nokian Renkaat, the Russian market leader in winter tyres, has its main factory near St.Petersburg and exports half out of the country.

Among the worst hit stocks in absolute terms are mid-cap stocks such as German generic drugmaker Stada, down 6.9 percent to the bottom of the MDAX, and UK-listed exhibition organiser ITE, down 12.4 percent to lead fallers on the FTSE mid-cap index.

Russia is Stada's biggest market after Germany, while ITE earns most of its revenue from Russia.

Bucking the generally weak trend, however, is Norwegian fertilizer firm Yara , which rises 4.5 percent as traders bet any disruption in gas trade between the two nations could hamper Ukraine's vast fertiliser industry. Banking on cheap Russian gas, Ukraine's urea production was expected to ramp up sharply over the coming year, putting downward pressure on global prices.

Reuters Messaging: blaise.robinson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

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