Europe shares flat; banks fall as drugmakers rise

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.01 percent
                                
 * Banks lower after Societe Generale results
                                
 * Daimler slumps as scraps dividend after 2009 loss
                                
 
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - European shares were flat in
morning trade on Thursday, with a fall in bank stocks after
disappointing Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> results offsetting
gains in industrial engineers and drugmakers.
                                
 By 0943 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3>
index was up 0.01 percent at 1,015.19 points, after rising for
three consecutive days. The index which lost around 26 percent
in 2009 is down 3 percent this year.
                                
 "There has been some mixed earnings this morning," said
Bernard McAlinden, market strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
                                
 "But the euro is also down at near a nine-month low against
the dollar suggesting worries about the peripheral economies are
still there."
                                
 Banks took the most points off the index. French bank
Societe Generale fell 5.3 percent after traders expressed
disappointment at the fourth-quarter figures. [ID:nLDE61H055]
                                
 Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX> and Credit
Agricole <CAGR.PA> slipped 0.6 to 2.1 percent.
                                
 Carmakers were among the worst performers. Daimler
<DAIGn.DE> dropped 8.2 percent after it said it would skip a
dividend for 2009 results after it posted a 1.51 billion euro
($2.05 billion) loss before interest and tax. [ID:nLDE61G0LL]
                                
 BMW <BMWG.DE>, Fiat <FIA.MI> and Peugeot <PEUP.PA> slipped
1.8 to 2.8 percent.
                                
 
                                
 AKZONOBEL SLUMPS AFTER Q4
                                
 Chemical makers were on the downside. Dutch chemical group
AkzoNobel <AKZO.AS> slumped 8.2 percent after it reported a
worse-than-expected 4 percent rise in fourth-quarter operating
profit. [ID:nLDE61G1GR]
                                
 Miners were lower after metal prices retreated, with copper
<MCU3=LX> down 1.3 percent as the dollar strengthened.
                                
 Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> lost 0.6 to 1.6
percent.
                                
 But industrial engineers were in demand. Swiss engineering
group ABB <ABBN.VX> rose 4.5 percent after fourth-quarter
results as it said it was looking to slash costs by an extra $1
billion. [ID:nLDE61G110]
                                
 Drugmakers were in favour as investors stuck with defensive
stocks. Novartis <NOVN.VX>, Roche <ROG.VX> and Sanofi Aventis
<SASY.PA> gained 0.4 to 0.9 percent.
                                
 French electric equipment company Schneider Electric
<SCHN.PA> was 2.3 percent higher after it vowed to improve its
profitability in 2010 and expected single-digit sales growth
after a sales slump in 2009 and a margin drop. [ID:nLDE61G1XL]
                                
 Swiss Re <RUKN.VX> was up 2.1 percent after it swung to a
2009 net profit and strengthened its capital position.
[ID:nLDE61E1A3]
                                
 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was up 0.2
percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> slipped 0.04 percent and
France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> was 0.01 percent lower.
                                
 (Editing by Erica Billingham)