Europe Earnings: BSkyB, Glaxo, Swiss Re, ThyssenKrupp, Telecom plus, UK Mail

Nigel Thomas
20 Nov, 2013
New York City

Glaxo sold its stake in Aspen Pharma for

[R]3:10 PM Frankfurt – Glaxo sold its stake in Aspen Pharma for £425 million. Swiss Re agreed to acquire 11.1% stake in Sul América from ING. ThyssenKrupp is in talks to sell its U.S. steel plant. Telecom plus profit jumped and agreed to buy 777,000 customers for £218 million from npower.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 0.1% or 9.91 to 6,688 and in Frankfurt the DAX index lowered 0.04% or 3.33 to 9,190.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slid 0.3% or 10.91 to 4,261.

British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc gained 1.4% to 836.35 pence after the U.K.-based pay television service provider’s chief executive officer Jeremy Darroch said “the company is interested in signing a mutual wholesale deal with BT Group Plc so both groups can offer their customers the full range of live sports.”

GlaxoSmithKline Plc rose 0.7% to 1,640 pence after the U.K.-based pharmaceutical company agreed to sell 28.2 million shares in South African company Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. for 7.06 billion rand or £425 million.

Swiss Re AG slid 0.5% to 82.10 francs after the Switzerland-based reinsurer agreed to acquire 11.1% stake in Sul América S.A. from ING Group N.V. and a 3.8% stake from members of the Larragoiti family for a total amount of approximately $334 million.

ThyssenKrupp AG dropped 1.9% to €19 after the Germany-based technology company is in talks to sell its U.S. steel plant in Alabama to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, the joint bidders.

Today the steelmaker and engineering company reached an agreement with German railway operator Deutsche Bahn to settle the claims related to rail cartel.

The company postponed to release its earnings from November 21 to December 2.

Telecom plus Plc climbed 15.9% to 1,747.24 pence after the U.K.-based range of services provider reported sales the first-half ending in September soared 17% to £245.8 million from £210 million a year ago.

Profit for the period jumped 6.4% to £10 million from £9.40 million and diluted earnings per share rose to 14 pence from 13.2 pence a year earlier.

The utility warehouse added total services supplied in the period rose 165,714 for the period to 1,767,774 and customer numbers increased 33,908 for the period to 494,940.

The company increased its interim dividend by 23% to 16 pence from 13 pence the previous year.

Seperately, today the Telecom plus said it has agree to buy existing 777,000 customers in a cash consideration of £218 million from npower.

UK Mail Group Plc surged 6.1% to 620.50 U.K.-based mails and parcel delivery group said revenues in the first-half climbed 7.9% to £243.4 million from £225.7 million a year ago.

Profit for the period surged 69.1% to £9.3 million from £5.5 million and diluted earnings per share rose to 16.9 pence from 10.1 pence a year earlier.