* STOXX 600 up 0.2 pct
* Aryzta, BT slump after results
* easyJet also weaker
* Generali jumps on deal chatter (Adds quote and detail, updates prices)
By Kit Rees
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - European earnings season got offto a rocky start on Tuesday with profit warnings from BT Group and Aryzta sending their shares sharply lower,with weakness offset by gains in Italian financials and miningstocks.
Overall, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up0.2 percent.
While basic resources were the biggest sectoralrisers, gaining on the back of a weaker dollar, shares inGenerali were the biggest gainers, up 9 percent onspeculation that Intesa Sanpaolo's could make a bid forthe Italian insurer.
Italy's index was the standout performer, up 1percent as Generali's biggest shareholder Mediobanca also rallied 7.4 percent.
Intesa declined to comment on a possible share swap offer onGenerali.
BT fell as much as 19 percent after the telecoms firmcut forecasts for 2017 and 2018 after finding that inappropriateaccounting behaviour in its Italian business went far deeperthan previously thought. Tuesday's losses were poised to wipeout more than $8 billion off BT's market value.
"I think companies have been punished ... over the last yearfor misleading statements, for false accounting," Jonathan Roy,advisory investment manager at Charles Hanover Investments,said.
"The worries are, is there anything else that isn't beingmanaged as it should be?" Charles Hanover Investments' Royadded.
Swiss bakery firm Aryzta was the biggest faller,set to lost almost a third of its market value after issuing aprofit warning. Budget airline easyJet was another topfaller, down 7.7 percent after reporting its first quarterearnings.
"While Q1 could be viewed as a positive start to the year weexpect the fuel/currency impact (which is beyond the company'scontrol) will weigh into the shares negatively (especially giventhe recent strong performance)," analysts at UBS said in a note.
A miss in fourth quarter earnings also weighed on Philips, which dropped 2.6 percent. The medical equipment makeralso disclosed a conflict with the U.S. government overdefibrillators it sold in 2015 and before.
Britain's blue chip FTSE 100 index turned slightlyhigher, up 0.3 percent after the UK Supreme Court ruled thatPrime Minister Theresa May needed parliament's approval beforetriggering Britain's formal exit from the European Union.
(Editing by Vikram Subhedar and Raissa Kasolowsky)
easyJet (EZJ)