Europe Earnings: Afren, easyJet, Enterprise Inns, ITV, Intertek, TUI Travel

Nigel Thomas
19 Nov, 2013
New York City

Afren climbed on encouraging test oil drilling results. easyJet profit surged 56% as revenue climbed 11%. Enterprise Inns net swung to a loss. ITV said total revenue jumped 6%. Intertek agreed to acquire Architectural Testing for

[R]3:10 PM Frankfurt – Afren climbed on encouraging test oil drilling results. easyJet profit surged 56% as revenue climbed 11%. Enterprise Inns net swung to a loss. ITV said total revenue jumped 6%. Intertek agreed to acquire Architectural Testing for £59 million. TUI Travel sold its stake in NATS Holdings.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 0.4% or 29.05 to 6,694 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.2% or 18.66 to 9,207.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 0.9% or 38.75 to 4,282.

Afren Plc surged 8.5% to 161.50 pence after the U.K.-based oil and gas explorer and partner Lekoil Ltd. said drilling results at the OPL310 site offshore Nigeria are almost four-times higher than the earlier estimate. Afren holds 22.86% participating interest and 40% economic interest of this site.

easyJet plc soared 8.3% to 1,360.42 pence after the U.K.-based discount airline reported total revenue in the year ending in September climbed 10.5% to £4.26 billion from £3.85 billion a year ago.

Profit for the year surged 56% to £398 million compared to £255 million and diluted earnings per share jumped to 100 pence from 61.7 pence a year ago period.

The airliner said seats flown grew 3.3% to 68 million and cost per seat excluding fuel increased 3.9%. Profit-before-tax for the year surged 50.9% to £478 million.

Enterprise Inns Plc climbed 7.3% to 148 pence after the U.K.-based pubs, bars and night clubs operator stated revenue in the year ending in September slipped 7.6% to £639 million from £692 million a year ago.

Net in the year swung to a loss £4 million compared to a profit of £44 million and diluted loss per share swung to 8 pence from earnings of 8.8 pence a year ago earlier.

ITV Plc slipped 1.9% to 183.20 pence after the U.K.-based television network service provider said total revenues in the nine-month period ending in September jumped 6% to £1.66 billion from £1.57 billion a year ago. Broadcast & online revenues rose 3% and ITV Studios revenues soared 11%.

Intertek Group Plc dropped 3.2% to 3,078 pence after the U.K.-based quality and safety solution provider reported total revenue in the July-to-October period climbed 7.6% and no changes in to the group''s financial position since the reported balance sheet of June 30.

In a separate news, the company today agreed to acquire the U.S.-based Architectural Testing, Inc building products testing and certification company in North America for total cash consideration of £59 million or $95 million and the acquisition is expected to occur in fourth quarter of this year.

Paddy Power Plc declined 7.6% to €57.78 after the Ireland-based gambling company said online (ex Australia) sports turnover climbed 15% and eGaming/B2B net revenue jumped 17%. In Australia, online turnover surged to 26%.

TUI Travel Plc rose 0.3% to 388.40 pence after the U.K.-based tour operator agreed to sell the majority stake in The Airline Group, a shareholder NATS Holdings, for cash of about £38 million.