Consors Shares Decline as E*Trade Plans to Enter German Market
10/18/99 2:47:00 AM
Source: Bloomberg News
Frankfurt, Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Consors Discount Broker AG shares fell as much as 6.4 percent on concern E*Trade Inc.'s plans to start an online trading venture in Germany will increase competition in the Internet brokerage market.
The stock fell as much as 3.4 euros to 50 euros ($54). The shares have halved from a high of 101 euros on May 3. Berlin- based broker Berliner Effektengesellschaft AG said it's forming an online venture with E*Trade, the No. 2 U.S. online broker.
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``Clearly it's a more risky investment than Commerzbank AG, for example,' said Michael Kunz, an analyst at BNP in Frankfurt, who rates Consors ``outperform.' ``But we don't think there'll be a price war.'
Banks and financial services companies are rushing to exploit the growth they expect in Internet-based services. Some 27 million people, or a third of the German population, will use the Internet by 2002, according to the country's telecommunications regulator.
Citibank Privatkunden AG, the German unit of New York-based Citigroup Inc., and Deutsche Postbank AG, Germany's biggest savings bank, are planning online brokerages. They join a number of established rivals, including Consors, Commerzbank AG unit Comdirect and HypoVereinsbank AG unit Direkt Anlage Bank AG.
The latest arrival is Berliner Effektengesellschaft, which said today it's formed a venture with E*Trade to offer an Internet securities trading service for private customers. |
