Europe Earnings: Danone, Essilor, Hiscox, Publicis, Ryanair, Unilever

Nigel Thomas
29 Jul, 2013
New York City

Danone said underlying net income for the period slid 1%. Essilor agreed to acquire its stake in Transitions Optical venture from PPG. Hiscox profit for the period surged 27% to

[R]3:20 PM Frankfurt – Danone said underlying net income for the period slid 1%. Essilor agreed to acquire its stake in Transitions Optical venture from PPG. Hiscox profit for the period surged 27% to £180.7 million. Publicis agreed to merge with Omnicom Group.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index up 0.2% or 15.56 to 6,570 and in Frankfurt the DAX index rose 0.2% or 22.95 to 8,268.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 0.4% or 17.23 to 3,986.

Danone SA, climbed 3.6% to €59.55 after the France based milk and food processing company reported sales in the first-half jumped 6% to €11.06 billion from €10.47 billion a year ago. Underlying net income for the period slid 1.3% to €873 million compared to €911 million. Underlying diluted earnings per share was flat at €1.48.

Essilor International SA soared 6.6% to €85.98 after the France based contact lenses maker agreed to acquire complete control of its Transitions Optical venture from PPG Industries Inc. for $1.73 billion. PPG divest its stake of 51% in Transitions Optical.

Hiscox Ltd climbed 6.6% to 651 pence after the Bermuda beaded insurance company said gross premiums written in the first-half climbed 12.3% to £1.02 billion from £906.4 million. Profit for the period surged 26.6% to £180.7 million compared to £125.8 million and diluted earnings per share jumped 40.7 pence from 30.8 pence a year ago.

Hiscox said pre-tax profit for the period soared £180.7 million compared to £125.8 million.

ITV Public Company Limited gained 1.1% to 158.34 pence after the UK based broadcasting company agreed to acquire 100% stake of Big Talk Productions and associated companies.

ITV will make initial payment and further capped payments contingent on Big Talk’s future performance.

Publicis Groupe SA, the France based communication group merged with the U.S. based Omnicom Group Inc. and the merged company in 2012 would have had $22.7 billion or €17.7 billion in revenues.

Publicis Omnicom Group will have a combined equity market capitalization of nearly $35.1 billion or €26.5 billion with. The merged group will have more than 130,000 employees.

Publicis Groupe shareholders will receive one new share of the new entity for each share held and a special dividend of €1 a share.

Omnicom shareholders will receive 0.813 new issued ordinary shares of new company for each share of Omnicom and a special dividend of $2 a share.

Ryanair Holdings Plc declined 2.5% to €6.99 after the Ireland based low-cost airline reported revenue in the first quarter ending in June jumped 5% from €1.34 billion to €1.28 billion. Profit-after-tax in the quarter plummeted 21% to €99 million, as unit costs increased 4% on 6% increase in fuel costs.

The company reaffirmed full-year profit-after-tax between €570 million to €600 million.

Unilever Plc rose 0.7% to 2,639 pence after the UK based consumer goods producer issued first euro-denominated bonds worth €750 million with maturity date of August 5, 2020.