Europe Movers: BHP Billiton, Credit Agricole, France Telecom

Nigel Thomas
20 Feb, 2013
New York City

BHP Billiton net plunged 58% and Credit Agricole loss widened to

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – BHP Billiton net plunged 58% and Credit Agricole loss widened to €3.98 billion. France Telecom net tumbled 79% to €820 million and targeted operating cash flow of €7 billion for 2013.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.4% or 25.7 to 6,405 and in Frankfurt, the DAX index up 0.1% or 11 to 7,763. In Paris, CAC 40 index slid 0.2% or 8.1 to 3,728.

BHP Billiton plc dropped 2.8% to 2,173.50 pence after the global resource company reported revenue in the half year ending in December dropped 14% to $32.20 billion compared to $37.48 billion in the same period of last year.

Net income plunged 57.8% to $4.24 billion from $10.04 billion from a year ago and diluted earnings per share declined to $79.4 compared to $187.9 from a year ago period.

Credit Agricole SA climbed 3.6% to €7.59 and France based banking group reported revenue in the fourth quarter ending in December declined 23% to €3.37 billion and net loss for the quarter climbed 29.8% to €3.98 billion from the same period of a year ago.

Revenue for the year dropped 15.8% to €16.32 billion and net income slipped 4% to €6.47 billion from a year ago.

Gross operating income for the quarter plunged 77.4% to 206 million and in insurance segment premium income was €6.6 billion and 23.2 billion in full year 2012.

The group increased financial strength with a Basel 2.5 Core Tier 1 ratio of 11.8% at end fiscal 2012 and aggregate deposits increased by 4.4%. The bank registered growth of 1.4% in the loan book and 2.2% in home loans. The loan-to-deposit ratio improved, contracting from 129% to 126%.

Credit Agricole skipped dividend for second year after net loss for the year 2012 jumped to a record €6.47.

France Telecom SA slipped 1.9% to €7.57 after the France based mobile operator reported revenue for the year ending in December slumped 4% to €43.52 billion compared to €45.28 billion in the same period of last year.

Net income tumbled 79% to €820 million from €3.90 billion from a year ago and diluted earnings per share declined to €0.31 compared to €1.46 from a year ago period.

In the fourth quarter, market share held steady at 37.3% in the mobile market with more than 27 million customers. France Telecom-Orange had 230.7 million customers at December 2012 and in Africa and the Middle East segment jumped 9.4% to 81.6 million mobile customers.

France Telecom-Orange maintained its operating cash flow target of more than €7 billion for 2013.