STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-AMEC leads FTSE 100 fallers after results

Shares in AMEC (Other OTC: AMCBF - news) drop 5.6 percent, top fallers on Britain's FTSE 100 (FTSE: ^FTSE - news) index by some margin, after the engineer accompanies in-line full-year earnings with an outlook analysts say is not as strong as hoped for.

Trading volume in AMEC is robust, at about 40 percent of the 90-day daily average after just under an hour's trade against the UK benchmark on around 8 percent of its average.

"Results in-line with our expectations, marginally ahead of consensus. The fairly lacklustre guidance for 2013 might lead us to lower earnings estimates for the current year," Oriel Securities says in a note.

AMEC, which serves customers across the mining, oil and gas, nuclear power and renewable energy industries, posts earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) of 331 million pounds ($514 million), 11 percent higher than in 2011.

"Margin guidance looks disappointing so forecasts will come back a little. This, and the apparent halt of the buyback programme, could be unhelpful but we expect to retain our neutral view on the shares," Liberum Capital says in a note.

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Reuters messaging rm://tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net