CMB Rated 'Market Performer'

Bank Degroof has upgraded its rating on Belgian shipping company CMB to "market performer," and raised the company's earnings forecast for both 1999 and 2000. A Degroof spokesperson said the company raised CMB's earnings outlook for 1999 to a profit of 0.15 euro per share from a loss of 0.57 euro previously. It raised its 2000 forecast to a profit of 3.40 euros a share from 2.35 euros previously. "Market conditions have improved spectacularly in recent weeks," the spokesperson said, pointing to the rise in the Baltic freight index, a proxy for the evolution of shipping rates. "It seems as if our forecasts for this and next year will prove too conservative so we revise them upwards," it said.