STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-SAS shares dive on Q4 loss, new issue

Shares in airline group SAS (SAS.ST) plunge more than 20 percent in early trading as the airline's cost-cutting plans fail to gain traction and it says it needs another 5 billion Swedish crowns ($672 million) from shareholders.

The company posts a larger than expected fourth-quarter loss of 1.52 billion crowns -- though the spread of analysts' predictions was wide. SAS adds it expects to be fined as a result of an investigation into cartel activities by cargo airlines.

"This is quite disappointing news that concerns the operating results, which was significantly below the market expectations," says Alexandr Solovjov, analyst at Orion Securities.

"And of course, the share issue is pretty disappointing as well. That is somewhat offset by the new savings plan of 2 billion Swedish crowns, but overall, I think the market will be focused on the negative things today."

SAS shares are down 15.8 percent.

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