European Indexes Higher, Polish Jobless Rate 13.2%; Areva, Hermes Net Surge

Arthi Gupta
04 Mar, 2011
New York City

The European indexes rose after better-than-estimated U.S. jobs data. The ECB President Trichet hinted on a possibility of a rate hike. Spain and Estonia''s industrial production increased in January. KBC Group agreed to sell Centea unit to Cr

[R]3:30 PM Frankfurt – The European indexes rose after better-than-estimated U.S. jobs data. The ECB President Trichet hinted on a possibility of a rate hike. Spain and Estonia''s industrial production increased in January. KBC Group agreed to sell Centea unit to Crédit Agricole for €527 million.[/R]

U.S. and Asian climbed after the U.S. non-farm payroll employment rose 192,000 and the unemployment rate declined to 8.9%.

The ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet hinted inflationary pressures make a rate hike possible, though not certain, in April. The central banker noted surging energy and food prices have kept policy makers to stand guard against inflation.

The exiting European Central Bank policy maker Axel Weber reportedly told central bankers on Friday that global imbalances could worsen again and currencies in many emerging markets are undervalued.

He noted that the G20 is the only group that has the legitimacy to own the process of managing imbalances and drive it forward.

In Paris CAC 40 Index declined 10.33 or 0.25% to close at 4,050.43 and in Frankfurt DAX Index edged higher 21.20 or 0.29% to close at 7,247.16. For the week, the CAC 40 Index fell 0.56%.

Spain Industrial Production Rebounds

Spanish industrial production grew by a calendar adjusted 3.8% in January from the previous year, following a 0.1% drop in December, the statistics office INE said on Friday.

Estonia''s Industrial Output Rises

Estonia''s industrial production increased 29% annually in January after adjusting for working days, the Statistics Estonia said today.

Compared to December, seasonally adjusted industrial output climbed 4.2%.

Hungarian Trade Surplus Declines

Hungary''s trade surplus declined to €429.8 million in December from €676 million recorded in November, the statistics office said on Friday.

For the full year 2010, the country recorded a trade surplus of €5.52 billion compared to €3.74 billion in the previous year.

Iceland Trade Surplus Increases

Iceland''s trade surplus increased to ISK 7.77 billion in January from ISK 5.22 billion in the same period of 2010, final data from Statistics Iceland showed. The initial estimate showed a surplus of around ISK 8.5 billion for January.

The value of exported goods from Iceland totaled ISK 42.32 billion in January, up 21.8% from the same period of previous year. And imports climbed 17% annually to ISK 34.54 billion.

Greek Economic Sentiment Improves

Greek economic climate index rose to 79.4 in February from 76.1 in January, survey results from the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research showed.

Polish Jobless Rate Rises

Poland''s unemployment increased by 0.2 percentage points on a monthly basis to 13.2% in February, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy said on Friday. The number of jobless persons increased 2.2% monthly or by 46,000 persons to 2.15 million in February.

KBC Group Sells Centea Unit to Crédit Agricole

KBC Group NV, the Belgian multi-channel bank agreed to sell its Belgian banking unit Centea to Credit Agricole of Belgium for €527 million or about $736 million.

The sale is a significant step in KBC''s strategic refocus plan to concentrate on its core activity as a bancassurer in Belgium and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as on reducing its risk profile.

Dresser-Rand Acquires Grupo Guascor

U.S.-based Dresser-Rand Group Inc., a maker of equipment for the oil and gas industry, said that it agreed to acquire Spanish diesel engine supplier Grupo Guascor S.L. for an enterprise value of €500 million or $690 million in cash and stock.

Gainers & Losers

Areva SA surged 5.38% to €35.35 after the French state-controlled nuclear engineering group reported full-year 2010 revenue grew 6.7% to €9.10 billion from €8.53 billion in the prior year. Net income for the year surged 60% to €883 million or €2.49 per share from €552 million or €1.56 per share last year.

Galapagos NV edged higher 0.93% to €11.93 after the biotechnology company reported fiscal year 2010 total revenues gained 29% to €136.56 million compared to €106.04 million a year earlier. Net profit for the year climbed 45.2% to €4.37 million or 0.18 euros per share versus €3.01 million or 0.14 euros per share a year ago.

Groupe Eurotunnel SA fell 0.93% to €7.25 after the company managing and operating the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France reported fiscal year 2010 total turnover increased 13% to €737 million from €653 million last year. Loss for the year was €57 million compared to restated profit of €7 million prior year, due to the absence of insurance indemnities and a charge of €4.5 million linked to the reconditioning of a Shuttle.

Hannover Rueckversicherung AG soared 3.59% to €41.81 after the German reinsurance company said it expects a net loss burden of around €150 million for the earthquake in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22.

Hermes International SCA climbed 1.42% to €153.50 after the luxury handbag and silk scarf maker aid fiscal year 2010 net income surged 46% to €422 million from €289 million in 2009. Revenue for the year was €2.4 billion on the back of strong sales in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

SBM Offshore N.V. surged 5.08% to €19.25 after the Dutch offshore energy systems company reported fiscal year 2010 revenue rose 3.4% to $3.06 billion from $2.96 billion in the previous year, mainly driven by higher turnkey systems revenues.

Net profit for the year rose 8.6% to $240 million compared with $221 million a year ago. However, earnings per share declined to $1.44 from $1.47 in 2009, due to the larger portion of net profit attributable to minority interests and higher average number of shares.

Veolia Environnement Ve SA declined 1.74% to €22.60 after the French utility reported fiscal year 2010 consolidated revenue increased 2.5% to €34.79 billion from €33.95 billion a year earlier. Net income for the year declined 0.5% to €581.1 million or 1.21 euros per share from €584.1 million or 1.24 euros per share in the prior year.