Europe Movers: Santander, Shell, Siemens, Unilever

Arthi Gupta
26 Jul, 2012
New York City

Banco Santander quarterly net plunged 93% and PUMA earnings fell 29%. BASF confirmed its outlook for growth in fiscal 2012. Unilever first-half revenues increased 11.5%.

[R]3:10 PM Frankfurt – Banco Santander quarterly net plunged 93% and PUMA earnings fell 29%. BASF confirmed its outlook for growth in fiscal 2012. Unilever first-half revenues increased 11.5%.[/R]

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. plunged 7.4% to €0.81 after the French telecom equipment maker said second quarter revenues dropped 7.1% to €3.55 billion. Net loss, group share was €254 million or 11 cents per share compared with a profit of €43 million or 2 cents per share a year ago.

AstraZeneca plc declined 0.7% to $45.45 after the drug maker reported second quarter revenue fell 21% to $6.66 billion. Pre-tax profit plunged 38% to $1.76 billion from $2.86 billion last year.

BASF SE dipped 0.9% to €55.64 after the chemical maker reported second quarter sales improved 6% to €19.5 billion and income from operations before special items increased by €253 million to €2.5 billion.

BG Group Plc slid 1% to 1,207.50 pence after the natural gas company said second quarter group revenue climbed 8.8% to $5.57 billion from $5.12 billion last year. Profit attributable to shareholders plunged 77% to $283 million from $1.243 billion in the prior year.

Banco Santander SA surged 7.2% to €4.37 after the lender said second quarter net profit plunged almost 93% to €100 million compared with €1.39 billion a year earlier.

British Sky Broadcasting Group plc climbed 1.2% to 693 pence after the pay-TV broadcaster said full year revenues rose 3% to £6.79 billion. Net profit for the year rose 12% to £906 million or 52.2 pence per share from £810 million or 45.9 pence per share in the previous year.

France Telecom SA fell 0.2% to $12.41 after the mobile operator reported first half revenue fell 1.9% to €21.843 billion. Consolidated net income declined 8.8% to €1.91 billion from €2.095 billion in the first half of 2011.

Puma AG soared 3.4% to €220.40 after the sporting equipment manufacturer said second quarter consolidated sales grew 11.8% in euro terms to €752.9 million. Net earnings decreased 29.2% to €26.7 million from €37.6 million a year before.

Earnings per share fell to €1.78 from €2.51 in the earlier year quarter.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc slumped 3.8% to 2,103.50 pence after the oil and gas explorer reported second quarter revenue declined 3.5% to $117.07 billion from $121.26 billion last year and income attributable to shareholders slumped 53% to $4.06 billion.

Siemens AG fell 3.2% to €65.14 after the German industrial conglomerate said third quarter revenue rose 10% annually to €19.542 billion. Net income attributable to the company''s shareholders increased to €823 million from €462 million in the prior year. Earnings per share advanced to 93 cents from 52 cents.

Unilever plc surged 4.3% to 2,232 pence after the packaged food maker said first-half revenues increased 11.5% to €25.4 billion. Profit attributable to shareholders'' equity rose 2.7% to €2.18 billion or 75 cents per share compared to €2.24 billion or 77 cents per share in the prior-year period.