Europe Earnings: Burberry Marks & Spencer, Royal Mail, Vodafone

Nigel Thomas
21 May, 2013
New York City

Burberry profit for the year slipped 2.2% and Marks & Spencer profit declined 6.5% to

[R]3:00 PM Frankfurt – Burberry profit for the year slipped 2.2% and Marks & Spencer profit declined 6.5% to £458 million. Royal Mail profit surged nearly three-fold to £570 million. United Internet profit pre-tax soared 41% and Vodafone profit tumbled 90% to £673 million.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% or 5.8 to 6,729 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.3% or 24.6 to 8,423.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 1.1 to 4,002.

Burberry Group Plc climbed 4.9% to 1,536 pence after the UK based luxury apparel and accessory retailer said revenue soared 8% to £2 billion. Profit for the year slipped 2.2% to £259.2 million compared to £265.1 million and earnings per share declined 4% to 57.0 pence from 59.3 pence.

For the year, adjusted profit before tax surged 14% to £428 million and reported profit before tax slipped 4% to £351 million.

Retail revenue in the year climbed 12% and wholesale revenue fell 1%. Men’s accessories sales jumped above 30% and revenue from China advanced nearly 20%.

Marks and Spencer Group Plc surged 6.4% to 468.10 pence after the UK based retailer reported group sales for the year ending in March jumped 1.3% to £10 billion. Profit for the year declined 6.5% to £458 million compared to £489.6 million and 29 pence from 32.2 pence.

The retailer said total UK sales for the year rose 0.9% and food sales increased 3.9% while sales in general merchandise dropped to 2.4%.

International sales climbed 4.5% and multi-channel sales for the year surged 16.6%.

Like-for-like UK sales in the year slipped 1% and sales in food rose 1.7% and general merchandise declined 4.1%.

Royal Mail Holdings plc, the postal service provider stated group revenue for the year ending in March jumped £9.28 billion Profit for the year surged nearly three-fold to £570 million compared to £150 million and 29 pence from 32.2 pence.

Parcel revenue increased to £4.48 billion and group operating profit climbed to £440 million. U.K. government is looking to private the postal service.

United Internet AG declined 8.4% to €21.31 after the Germany based Internet service provider said consolidated sales for the first quarter ending in March increased 9% to €629.7 million. Profit before interest and taxes soared 41.4% to €68.3 million compared to €48.3 million and earnings per share jumped €0.23 from €0.15 in last year.

The group reaffirms for fiscal 2013 and expects sales growth of approx to 10% and profit per share expected to increase in the range of €1 to €1.10.

Vodafone Group Plc rose 0.4% to 198.48 pence after the UK based mobile service operator reported group revenue declined 4.2% to £44.45 billion Profit for the year tumbled 90.4% to £673 million compared to £7 billion and 29 pence from 32.2 pence.

Group operating profit tumbled 57.7% to £4.73 billion compared to £11.19 billion and gross profit dropped 6.3% to £13.94 billion from £14.87 billion a year ago. Impairment loss widened to £7.70 billion compared to £4.05 billion a year earlier.

The mobile service operator said total spectrum investment made of £7.9 billion in the last four years. Verizon Wireless service revenue jumped 8.1% and share of profits soared 30.5% to £6.4 billion.

Vodafone expects adjusted operating profit for the fiscal 2014 in the range of £12 billion to £12.8 billion. Free cash flow is estimated at nearly of £7 billion, including £2.1 billion dividend to be received from Verizon Wireless in June 20.