Europe Earnings: AB Volvo, easyJet, Edenred, J D Wetherspoon, Renishaw

Nigel Thomas
24 Jul, 2013
New York City

AB Volvo second quarter sales and income plunged. easyJet total revenue climbed 10.5% to

[R]3:20 PM Frankfurt – AB Volvo second quarter sales and income plunged. easyJet total revenue climbed 10.5% to £1.14 billion. Edenred net profit declined 11%. J D Wetherspoon total sales increased 6.2%. Renishaw said profit for the year was nearly flat.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.7% or 44.36 to 6,642 and in Frankfurt the DAX index increased 0.9% or 80 to 8,394.

In Paris, CAC 40 index jumped 1.2% or 46.22 to 3,969.

AB Volvo climbed 4.6% to 97.85 kronor after the Sweden based and China controlled auto maker reported net sales in the second quarter declined 12% to 72.8 billion kronor from a year ago quarter but compared to first quarter soared 25%. Operating income for the quarter plunged 57.7% to 3.26 billion kronor from 7.71 billion kronor.

The British Land Company Plc fell 1.2% to 609.50 pence after the UK based property investment firm said first interim dividend payment for the quarter ending in June will be 6.75 pence per share a 2.3% increase from a year ago.

easyJet Plc soared 6.9% to 1,428 pence after the UK based airline carrier reported total revenue in the third quarter climbed 10.5% to £1.14 billion, driven by a 3.6% increase the capacity and revenue per seat jumped 6.7% to £61.44. Passenger count in the quarter rose 2.6% to 16.4 million.

The company reached an agreement to acquire 25 slots at Gatwick of Flybe from summer 2014 for £20 million.

easyJet expects profit-before-tax for the year between £450 million and £480 million.

Edenred SA jumped 7.5% to 24.43 after the France based prepaid service voucher provider said revenue in the first-half climbed 6.2% to €525 million and net profit for the group declined 10.7% to €89 million compared to €100 million and diluted earnings per share dropped €0.39 from €0.44.

The company expects full-year EBIT would be between €370 million and €390 million from €367 million of a year earlier.

J D Wetherspoon Plc surged 8.5% to 725 pence after the UK based pub chain said total sales increased 6.2% and like-for-like sales jumped 3.5%. The operating margin was 9.5% and total sales in the year to date increased 9.2%.

Renishaw plc dropped 2.6% to 1,525.60 pence after the UK based equipment maker reported revenue in the year ending in June jumped 4.5% to £346.9 million from £331.9 million. Profit for the year was nearly flat at £69.4 million and diluted earnings per share were flat at 95.4 pence from a year ago.

Revenue from metrology segment increased 4% to £317.9 million and healthcare segment revenue climbed 11% to £29 million.

Gross profit for the year grew 3% to £182.2 million and operating profit slipped 1.4% to £82 million.