STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Getinge shares slump after profit warning

Shares in Swedish medical technology group Getinge plunge more than15 percent in heavy volume after it warns of lower first quarter earnings due toan adverse mix of higher costs for consultants, lower invoicing, productionproblems and currency headwinds.

The stock is also heading toward its biggest one-day fall since March 2009,with trading volumes coming in at more than four times its daily average in thelast 90 days after just over an hour of trade.

Getinge said in a statement that its quarterly pre-tax profit was seen atabout 160 million Swedish crowns ($24.98 million), down from 252 million in theyear-ago period.

Richard Koch, an analyst with Cheuvreux Nordic, says the bearish outlook andfurther headwinds from rising costs are hitting the stock.

Getinge shares are down by 15.6 percent at 196.50 Swedish crowns in earlymorning trade, making the stock the worst-performer in percentage terms on thepan-European blue-chip FTSEurofirst 300 index.

($1 = 6.4053 Swedish crowns)

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Reuters messaging rm://bjorn.rundstrom.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net