Europe: Shares fall on poor company earnings, Pearson slumps

[LONDON] European shares fell on Wednesday, with British education publisher Pearson slumping after warning on its earnings and top Swedish banks dropping after missing third-quarter earnings expectations.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.4 per cent at 1,426.66 points by 0714 GMT after falling 0.5 per cent in the previous session.

Pearson shares were down nearly 10 per cent after the company said it expected earnings to be at the bottom end of its range due to lower enrolments at some colleges in the United States and lower school text book purchases in some parts of South Africa.

Shares in Nordea, Handelsbanken and SEB fell 1.4 to 4.9 per cent after the banks suffered falls in operating earnings in an environment where interest rates have fallen ever deeper into negative territory while China's slowdown has riled financial markets.

Credit Suisse fell 2.8 per cent as the Swiss bank announced plans for two capital increases to raise just over 6 billion Swiss francs (S$8.76 billion) after posting third quarter net profit of 779 million Swiss francs, compared with a predicted 921 million francs in a Reuters poll.

REUTERS