Europe Earnings: Credit Suisse, Ericsson Profit Jump; Unilever Sales Drop

Nigel Thomas
24 Oct, 2013
New York City

Credit Suisse profit surged 79%. Celesio soared after takeover offer of

[R]4:25 PM Frankfurt – Credit Suisse profit surged 79%. Celesio soared after takeover offer of €6.1 billion. Debenhams profit dropped 3%. Ericsson third quarter net soared 38% to 3 billion kronor. Shire net climbed 26%. SEB net surged 33% to 3.8 billion kronor. Unilever revenue dropped 7% to €12.5 billion.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index increased 0.6% or 40.04 to 6,715 and in Frankfurt the DAX index jumped 0.6% or 53.53 to 8,973.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 0.3% or 11.85 to 4,273.

Credit Suisse Group AG dropped 2.8% to 29.01 francs after the Switzerland-based financial service provider said net revenue in the third-quarter ending in September slid 1% to 5.69 billion francs from 5.78 billion francs a year ago.

Net profit surged 78.7% to 454 million francs from 254 million francs and diluted earnings per share jumped 4.3% 0.26 francs from 0.16 francs in the same period a year earlier.

The bank reported core pre-tax income in the quarter surged 97% 685 million francs.

Celesio AG soared 5.5% to €22.92 after the Germany-based pharmaceutical distribution company received takeover offer from U.S.-based McKesson Corporation of entire holding of Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, currently represents 50.01% stake in Celesio AG. Total transaction valued at €6.1 billion or $8.3 billion.

The offer price of €23 per share represents a 39% premium over the market speculation that began on October 8.

The combined group is expected to have annual revenues in excess of €111 billion or $150 billion with 81,500 employees worldwide.

McKesson will launch parallel tender offers for Celesio’s publicly-traded shares at €23 a share and its outstanding convertible bonds at a price of €23 per share offer price.

Debenhams Plc plunged 7.6% to 102.33 pence after the U.K.-based department store retailer reported group revenue in the year ending in August grew 2.5% to £2.78 billion from £2.71 billion a year ago. Comparable sales in the year rose 2%.

Group profit-before-tax in the year dropped 2.7% to £154 million compared to £158.3 million and basic earnings per share increased 4.1% to 10.2 pence from 9.8 pence a year earlier.

The retailer said online sales in the quarter jumped 46.2% to £366.3 million and mobile penetration now stands at 25% of online sales. International sales increased 3.7% to £522 million.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB declined 5.7% to 79.45 kronor after the Sweden-based wireless-network equipment provider reported revenue dropped 3% to 53 billion kronor from 54.6 billion kronor a year ago.

Net profit in the quarter soared 38% to 3 billion kronor compared to 2.92 billion kronor a year ago.

Operating profit in the quarter increased to 4.23 billion kronor from 3.10 billion kronor a year ago earlier.

Shire Plc climbed 6.9% to 2,700 pence after the Ireland-based biopharmaceutical company said total revenue in the year ending in September jumped 12% to $1.24 billion from $1.10 billion a year ago.

Net income in the quarter climbed 25.8% to $285.8 million compared to $227.2 million and basic earnings per share climbed to 146.4 pence from 118.8 pence a year earlier.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB rose 1.9% to 76.75 kronor after the Sweden-based bank said third-quarter total revenue ending in September jumped 7% to 10.3 billion kronor from 9.68 billion kronor a year ago.

Net income in the quarter surged 33% to 3.75 billion kronor compared to 2.83 billion kronor and diluted earnings per share jumped 1.70 kronor from 1.36 kronor a year ago period.

Unilever Plc rose 0.3% to 2,503 pence after the U.K.-based consumer goods supplier reported revenue in the third-quarter dropped 6.5% to €12.49 billion from €13.36 billion a year ago. The company added underlying sales for the quarter grew 3.2% and sales in emerging markets jumped 5.9%.