At ?1.2bn ($1.45bn), the offering was the largest in Europe so far this year and Germany's biggest since Postbank, the formerly state-owned bank, launched in 2004. The company, the Wacker family and Morgan Stanley sold 15m of a total 50m shares.

Home-electronics retailer Circuit City posted a 65% jump in fourth-quarter net income on Wednesday, helped by strong sales of flat-panel television sets, notebook computers and portable music devices.

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