Europe Earnings: Airbus, Balfour Beatty, EADS, HSBC, Kentz, VTB

Nigel Thomas
09 Dec, 2013
New York City

Kuwait Airways agreed to acquire 25 Airbus planes. Balfour Beatty secured

[R]3:40 PM Frankfurt – Kuwait Airways agreed to acquire 25 Airbus planes. Balfour Beatty secured £121 million joint venture contract with Kier. EADS plans to cut 5,000 jobs and sell its Paris headquarters. HSBC plans to spin-off its bank business in U.K.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.1% or 4.55 to 6,547 and in Frankfurt the DAX index rose 0.3% or 29.58 to 9,202.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.1% or 3.25 to 4,126.

Airbus S.A.S., the France-based commercial jet maker said Kuwait Airways Co has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus to buy 25 planes with an option for 10 more and to lease 12 planes. The order is part of Kuwait Airways’ fleet renewal strategy.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA jumped 4.2% to 17 euro cents after the Italy-based bank’s top shareholder Fondazione Monte dei Paschi needs time regarding its decision to sell 33.5% stake to pay back approximately €350 million of debt and said it would vote against any share sale before May 12.

Balfour Beatty Plc rose 0.2% to 267.39 pence after the U.K.-based infrastructure developer secured £121 million joint venture contract with Kier to construct the new Defence College of Technical Training at airbase in Wiltshire.

EADS NV slid 0.7% to €49.75 after the Netherlands-based aerospace and defense contractor plans to reduce its workforce by 4% or between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs.

The company also plan to sell of its Paris-based headquarters as part of large scale restructuring program that is expected to be completed in the second half of 2014.

HSBC Holdings Plc slid 0.5% to 655.90 pence after the U.K.-based financial service provider plans to spin-off its U.K. banking division. A float could be market valued of about £20 billion.

Kentz Corporation Limited surged 10% to 640 pence after the U.K.-based engineering and construction service provider proposed acquisition of the Valerus field solutions business for $435 million in cash.

Sky Deutschland AG climbed 5.8% to €8.17 after the Germany-based pay-television service provider acquired the broadcast rights in Germany for Europe''s UEFA Champions League until the end of the 2017-2018 seasons. However, financial details were not disclosed.

Bank VTB OAO rose 0.9% to 0.0464 rubles after the Russia-based commercial bank said net interest income in the third quarter ending in September climbed 34% to 82.9 billion rubles and net profit in the quarter tumbled 24% 17.9 billion rubles.

WPP Plc, the U.K.-based advertising company said that 24/7 Media, WPP Digital''s marketing technology company, has acquired the entire issued share capital of London-based Crystal Semantics Limited.