Europe Earnings: Vivendi Profit Declines, Iliad Revenues Rise 15%

Nigel Thomas
15 Nov, 2013
New York City

Enquest plans to invest

[R]3:10 PM Frankfurt –Enquest plans to invest £4 billion in North Sea Kraken field. Iliad said revenue jumped 15% as net new subscribers increased. Safran fell after French government sold 3.6% stake. Vivendi profit declined 24%. Vedanta Resources net swung to a loss.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index increased 0.4% or 29.35 to 6,695 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.3% or 27.01 to 9,177.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.3% or 14.28 to 4,298.

British Sky Broadcasting Group plc rose 0.3% to 821.09 after the U.K.-based satellite broadcaster agreed to invest $8 million in Luminari Capital, a venture capital fund.

Enquest Plc fell 0.6% to 133.90 pence after the U.K.-based oil and gas explorer plans to invest £4 billion in North Sea Kraken field east of the Shetland Islands.

Enquest and a consortium of banks agreed for a new six year $1.7 billion credit facility with committed amount of $1.2 billion, with a further $500 million available through an accordion structure.

Iliad SA declined 5% to €165.70 after the France-based communications and internet service provider said revenue in the third-quarter ending in September jumped 15.3% to €944.2 million from €819 million a year ago period.

The company said mobile revenues surged 35% in the quarter while revenues from fixed-line services rose 7.2%. Total subscribers increased to 13 million including 7.4 million mobile subscribers and 5.6 million landline broadband subscribers.

In the quarter, Iliad added 640,000 net new customers and increased its French mobile market share to 11%. Total 62,000 new landline broad-band subscribers were added during the quarter.

Julius Baer Gruppe AG fell 1.1% to 42.03 francs after the Switzerland-based banking group said assets under management climbed 31% to 249 billion francs from 189 billion francs at the end of 2012. At the end of October, gross margin declined to 97 basis points compared to 102 in the first-half year of 2013.

Safran SA dropped 3.8% to €18.85 after the French government said it will sell 19.5 million shares, or 3.6% stake in aerospace supplier to raise around €720 million.

Vivendi SA jumped 3.4% to €18.85 after the France-based communications and entertainment service provider reported revenue in the third-quarter ending in September slid to 0.2% to €5.35 billion from €5.34 billion a year ago.

Profit in the quarter declined 23.7% to €376 million compared to €493 million and diluted earnings per share dropped 25.9% to 28 pence from 38 pence a year earlier.

Vivendi added it will spin-off its French phone carrier SFR in July 2014.

Vedanta Resources Plc plunged 6.3% to 959.50 pence after the U.K.-based diversified metals and mining company said its net in the first-half ending September dropped 17% to $6.2 billion from $7.45 billion a year earlier.

Net in the period swung to a loss of $217 million compared to a profit of $174 million in the same period a year earlier.

The group said net debt was reduced to $1.6 billion in last 18 months.

ValiRx Plc plunged 18.8% to 349 pence anti-cancer treatment developer raised £1 million through the sale of 307.7 million shares at 0.325 pence a share. The company plans to use proceeds to fund various research programs.