European Stocks Lower As FlyBe Loss Widens, Barclays Delays Settlement

European stocks fell Wednesday as a string of disappointing earnings weighed on low-cast carrier Flybe Group plc and other corporates. FlyBe shares declined after the airline said posted a loss for the six months through Sept. 30 and announced plans to sell its its 60% stake in its loss-making joint venture with Finland’s Finnair Oyj to Finnair for a symbolic €1. Barclays plc also fell in London after the bank delayed reaching a settlement with regulators probing a global currency-rigging investigation that resulted in $2.3 billion in fines against a handful of lenders. But SBM Offshore NV soared in Amsterdam after the Dutch supplier of floating production platforms to the offshore energy industry said it will settle a case with Dutch prosecutors related to with payments to sales agents in Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Brazil from 2007 to 2011.