Akzo, Nokia Gain; Portugal Raises

Arthi Gupta
21 Apr, 2011
New York City

The European indexes gained after Akzo Nobel net surged 58%. Portugal raised

[R]12:30 PM Frankfurt – The European indexes gained after Akzo Nobel net surged 58%. Portugal raised €1 billion after successful sale of 3-month and 6-month Treasury bills. Fiat raised stake in Chrysler to 46%. Nokia sales rose 9%.[/R]

Portugal sold €1 billion of 3-month and 6-month Treasury bills at higher yields. The Portuguese government debt agency IGCP managed the sale of €320 million of 6-month debt, demand for which was 3.7 times more than the offered amount, up from 2.3 times previously.

The agency sold €680 million of 3-month bills and the demand was twice the amount on offer.

The 6-month T-bill yield was 5.529%, higher than the previous auction''s yield of 5.117% on April 6. The yield on the 3-month paper rose to 4.046% from 3.686% in January.

German business sentiment index dropped to 110.4 in April from 111.1 in March, according to a monthly survey report from the Ifo institute released today. However, the current conditions index rose to 116.3 in April from 115.8 in March.

In Paris CAC-40 Index gained 19.31 or 0.48% to 4,023.93 and in Frankfurt DAX index edged higher 50.84 or 0.70% to 7,300.03.

Fiat Raises Stake in Chrysler

Fiat S.p.A said it will raise its stake in Chrysler Group LLC to 46%, after it agreed with company to exercise its Incremental Equity Call Option. Fiat will increase its interest in Chrysler 16% by paying an aggregate price of $1.27 billion.

Nokia Partners with Microsoft

Nokia Corp. and Microsoft Corp. said that they signed a partnership agreement utilizing the very complementary assets of both companies.

Microsoft has failed to gain significant market traction for its Windows system based mobile phones and Nokia has faltered in the last five years to develop advanced phones that run on 3G and 4G standards.

KPN Slashes Jobs

KPN NV, the Dutch telecom company said it would cut its Dutch workforce by around 20% to 25%. The company intends to slash up to 5,000 jobs for the 2011 to 2015 period, citing weak trends in its home market.

Gainers & Losers

Accor SA fell 2.72% to €30.59 after the French hotel group reported first quarter revenue grew 5.8% to €1.35 billion from €1.28 billion in the same quarter last year. Comparable revenue improved 5.5% from last year.

Akzo Nobel NV surged 4.26% to €52.60 after the Dutch paint maker said first quarter revenue increased 16% to €3.76 billion from €3.25 billion generated last year, driven by stronger volumes and pricing. Profit in the quarter surged 58% to €128 million or 0.54 euros per share from €81 million or 0.35 euros per share last year.

Fuchs Petrolub AG rose 2.01% to €99.85 after the company engaged in the development, production and supply of lubricants said first quarter net profit rose 16% to €47.1 million from €40.5 million in the same quarter last year.

Nokia Corp. increased 2.27% to €6.07 after the maker of mobile phones reported first quarter net sales rose 9.2% to €10.4 billion from €9.52 billion in the prior year. Profit for the quarter declined 1.4% to €344 million versus €349 million last year. Earnings per share for the quarter stood flat at 0.09 euros.

Remy Cointreau SA dropped 1.50% to €53.88 after the French alcohol manufacturer stated turnover rose 12.4% to €908.1 million for the 2010/11 financial year from last year''s €807.8 million.

Schneider Electric S.A. climbed 1.66% to €116.15 after the energy management company said first quarter sales rose 0.3% to €4.94 billion from €3.91 billion in the first quarter of last year, helped by strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The company also confirmed its sales and profitability targets for the full year.

Sodexo SA decreased 2.82% to €51.37 after the French caterer reported first-half revenues grew 10.4% to €8.27 billion from €7.49 billion in the prior year, mainly driven by 5.7% positive currency impacts.

Net income in the period increased 11% to €252 million from prior year''s €227 million, helped by strong revenue growth mainly from emerging markets.

Weatherford International Ltd. dipped 0.09% to $21.13 after the Swiss-based oilfield service company reported first quarter net sales grew 23% to $2.86 billion from $2.33 billion in the previous year. Net income in the quarter was $59.20 million or $0.08 per share compared to a loss of $68.36 million or $0.09 per share in the prior year.