FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A significantly better-than-feared quarterly operating result gave Covestro shares only a short-term boost on Friday. Profits quickly crumbled a good bit.

Shares in the plastics manufacturer last gained 0.8 percent to 36.15 euros in morning trading. At times, they had risen to 36.88 euros on the Dax. However, just above this, at around 37 euros, the moving 21-day line for the short-term trend lies like a lid on the share. It is currently a difficult resistance to overcome on the way up.

Covestro's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) clearly exceeded its own and the market's expectations, wrote Jefferies analyst Chris Counihan and others. In a difficult industry environment, Covestro suffered significant business losses in the first quarter, but its operating result (Ebitda) slumped far less than feared. This was mainly due to cost reductions, as CFO Thomas Toepfer said in a statement on Thursday evening.

As UBS analyst Geoff Haire pointed out positively, first-quarter sales slightly missed the average analyst estimate, but operating profit was well above it, he said. Given management's statement, however, he wondered, as did JPMorgan analyst Chetan Udeshi, how sustainable the lower costs would be looking ahead to the rest of the year.

At the same time, one trader was optimistic: "The much better-than-feared operating profit provides a good foundation for the full year." The consensus for full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is currently 1.25 billion euros and the implied forecast is 1.0 to 1.4 billion euros, he said./ck/mis