French HSBC cuts stake in Cimpor

French financial group HSBC Financial Products has reduced its stake in the share capital of Portuguese cement company Cimpor to 1.06 per cent, Cimpor announced in a report to Portugal’s national securities regulator CMVM on November 15, 2005. HSBC’s previous stake in Cimpor’s share capital stood at 2.55 per cent. HSBC controlled a total 17.1 million Cimpor shares, corresponding to 2.56 per cent of the voting rights.

According to latest available data, Cimpor’s first half 2005 profit fell to Euro 120.4m from Euro 129.2m in the same period of 2004, Portuguese News Digest reported on September 6, 2005. However, the company’s turnover rose 9.2 per cent year-on-year to Euro 741.1m in the said period.