Europe Earnings: Inditex, Sainsbury, Kabel, Severn Trent, Volkswagen

Nigel Thomas
12 Jun, 2013
New York City

Inditex first quarter sales jumped 5% and net rose 2% to

[R]3:20 PM Frankfurt – Inditex first quarter sales jumped 5% and net rose 2% to €438 million. Sainsbury reported total sales for first quarter jumped 3.6%. Vodafone and Deutschland Kabel discussed merger. Severn Trent rejected a conditional takeover offer.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% or 22.40 to 6,318 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slid 0.8% or 61.88 to 8,161.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.2% or 6.42 to 3,804.

Inditex SA jumped 4.7% to €102.45 after the Spain based apparel maker and retailer said net sales in the first quarter grew 5% to €3.59 billion from €3.42 billion. Net income for the quarter rose 2% to €438 million compared to €432 million.

The Inditex ended the quarter with a network of 6,058 stores in 86 markets.

J Sainsbury Plc gained 1.1% to 366.58 pence after the UK based grocery retailer reported total sales in first quarter jumped 3.6% and like-for-like sales rose 0.7%.

Sales of the ‘taste the difference’ climbed above 10% and reached to £1 billion and online grocery sales climbed 16%.

Kabel Deutschland Holding AG surged 9.9% to €82.10 after the Vodafone Group Plc confirmed that it in informal takeover bid with the cable network operator, but the company said price Vodafone suggested was too low.

Severn Trent Plc declined 9.3% to 1,756 pence after the UK based utility operator rejected a conditional £22 per share offer from LongRiver Partners and a consortium of investors.

Volkswagen AG dropped 2% to €156.30 after the Germany based auto maker sold €1.2 billion of convertible to preferred stock to finance and takeover of Man SE truck unit.

The new mandatory convertible notes issued with a coupon of 5.5% and maturity on November 2015 and were offered at an issue price of 105.64 percent of their principal amount.