Europe Movers: Accor, HSBC, Benckiser and TNT

Arthi Gupta
30 Jul, 2012
New York City

Air France-KLM second quarter loss widened and Reckitt Benckiser revenue dipped. Air Liquide first-half sales and profit rose. Ryanair first quarter slumped 29% on higher fuel costs.

[R]3:30 PM Frankfurt – Air France-KLM second quarter loss widened and Reckitt Benckiser revenue dipped. Air Liquide first-half sales and profit rose. Ryanair first quarter slumped 29% on higher fuel costs.[/R]

Accor SA rose 1.8% to €27.06 after the hotel operator announced the sale of two separate entities to A-HTRUST for a total amount of €110 million.

Air France-KLM SA soared 14% to €4.44 after the Franco-Dutch airline reported second quarter revenues grew 4.5% to €6.5 billion. Net loss, group share for the quarter widened significantly to €895 million or €3.02 per share from €197 million or 67 cents per share reported last year.

Air Liquide SA fell 1.3% to €90.51 after French industrial gas maker reported first-half revenue advanced nearly 5.9% to €7.53 billion. Net profit group share climbed 5.3% to €789.7 million from €750.3 million last year.

Aviva Plc climbed 2% to 292.20 pence after the British insurer received unsolicited bids from several financial and private equity groups for its U.S. life division, Aviva USA worth about £1 billion, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

GEA Group AG gained 0.4% to €22.81 after the German management holding company reported second quarter revenues advanced annually to €1.39 billion from €1.35 billion. Net profit in the quarter rose to €72.8 million from €51.6 million reported a year ago.

HSBC Holdings plc increased 1% to 536.60 pence after the financial services provider reported first-half pre-tax profit rose 11% to $12.74 billion from $11.47 billion last year. Net interest income declined 4% to $19.38 billion from $20.24 billion in the comparable period prior year.

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC fell 0.5% to 3,524 pence after the consumer goods maker said second quarter total net revenue fell 1% to £2.31 billion compared with £2.34 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Ryanair Holdings Plc advanced 0.2% to €3.91 after the low cost airline reported first quarter revenues increased 11% to €1.28 billion as traffic grew 6% and average fares rose 4%. Profit in the quarter fell 29% to €99 million from €139 million last year, driven by significantly higher fuel costs.

TNT Express N.V. edged higher 0.3% to €8.84 after the express delivery company said total revenues rose to €1.83 billion from €1.80 billion in the previous year. Profit attributable to equity holders of the parent for the quarter surged to €40 million from €4 million in the year-ago quarter.