* AB InBev shares slump as it cuts growth outlook
* Latest Brexit delay weighs
* Kering, Gucci top STOXX 600 gainers
* Banks Sabadell and Barclays up on Q3 beats
(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Agamoni Ghosh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
Oct 25 (Reuters) - European shares fell for the first time
this week on Friday, as a 10% slide in shares of brewing giant
Anheuser-Busch InBev sent a shiver through investors worried
about the outlook for growth and the prospect of months more
wrangling over Brexit.
The pan-European STOXX 600 dipped 0.2%, but was
still on track to end a busy week of corporate earnings higher
after a handful of industry heavyweights topped low market
expectations.
The food and beverage sector led losses on Friday,
however, after Anheuser-Busch InBev came in below
analysts' forecasts for quarterly profit and cut its forecasts
for improvement in its bottom line this year.
Shares of German telecoms operator 1&1 Drillisch
and its parent company United Internet also tanked
after the former's request to review prices under an agreement
with rival Telefonica Deutschland was rejected.
"Today's moves seem to have trimmed some of the progress we
have seen on the week," said Ken Odeluga, an analyst with City
Index in London.
"You have a mechanical effect from that 10% decline in AB
InBev but you can't really generalize. We may not see a stellar
earnings season but with expectations so low there will be more
beats for sure."
On the bright side, France's CAC 40 outperformed as
Gucci owner Kering jumped 8%, while Italian jacket
maker Moncler rose 7%. The companies joined other
luxury labels in easing fears of a major third quarter sales hit
from the protests in Hong Kong.
Limiting those gains was a 20% fall in shares of
entertainment company Ubisoft, which lost roughly a
quarter of its value after cutting its 2020 earnings guidance.
Among banks, Spain's Banco Sabadell and Britain's
Barclays both rose after reporting better-than-expected
third-quarter earnings.
BREXIT PANGS
London's FTSE 100, Dublin stocks and the
pound all edged lower, as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
conceded for the first time on Thursday that he could not meet
his Oct. 31 Brexit deadline.
British housebuilders, which are considered
among sectors most exposed to the domestic economy, dipped
0.3%in their fifth straight session of losses.
Investors now await the European Union's response to a
British request to delay Brexit again and a summit in Chile
where U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to finalise a partial
trade deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
(Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Agamoni Ghosh; Editing
by Shounak Dasgupta and Patrick Graham)
Barclays (BARC)
