STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Reed down 3 pct as CEO quits

Shares in publisher Reed Elsevier (REL.L) fall 3.1 percent at 469.3 pence in London after it announces the resignation of Chief Executive Ian Smith, after just eight months in the job.

The group also delivers a trading update, saying the weak revenue environment and the combined investment needed in certain markets would likely lead to a modest reduction in adjusted operating margin in 2010. "The departure of the new CEO Ian Smith likely will be received as good news by the market since feedback of investors on his start (unexpected, wrongly timed equity placing; profit warning; extra investments) was quite negative," Petercam Institutional Research says in a note.

"Meanwhile the company is being hurt by the difficult, late cyclical, U.S. Legal market where for the first time in years the number of lawyers has strongly declined year-on-year. The company now clearly warns for a modestly lower operating margin in 2010 versus 2009."

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