Fugro fell hard on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Monday. Investors were shocked by the revelation by KRO-NCRV’s Pointer journalistic platform. Pointer reported, based on a confidential police report, that the soil surveyor was involved in the 2019 dam collapse in Brazil, which killed 270 people.
Fugro saw its market value evaporate by 19 percent. On the day of the dam breach, the Dutch multinational was carrying out drilling work in the dam in question, on behalf of the Brazilian mining company Vale. According to the police report, these activities were the reason for the collapse of the unstable dam. In a response to Pointer, Fugro stated that it was cooperating fully with the investigation by the Brazilian authorities and was unable to comment further in the meantime.
The European stock markets recovered somewhat after last week’s heavy price losses, which followed the interest rate hikes of the major central banks. The AEX was up 0.7 percent in morning trading at 704.73 points. On Friday, the main index fell below 700 points for the first time since November 10. The MidCap fell 0.1 percent to 923.49 points due to the price drop of Fugro. The stock markets in Frankfurt, London and Paris gained up to 0.8 percent.
The strongest riser in the AEX was oil and gas group Shell with a profit of more than 2 percent. Newcomer Exor climbed 1 percent. The investment vehicle, which also owns football club Juventus, took the place of meal delivery company Just Eat Takeaway on Monday, which was relegated to the MidKap. Insurer NN Group won 0.5 percent despite a reduction in advice by Berenberg. The information providers RELX and Wolters Kluwer closed the row with minuses to 0.4 percent.
Investors also kept an eye on the negotiations in Brussels. The European energy ministers are again discussing a price cap for gas. The 27 governments have been bickering for weeks about the need for a maximum gas price to keep energy bills affordable for businesses and households.
The euro was worth $1.0631 against $1.0602 on Friday. A barrel of US oil cost 0.2 percent more at $ 74.43. Brent oil also became 0.2 percent more expensive, at $ 79.19 per barrel.
