Europe Earnings: Barclays, Glencore, L

Nigel Thomas
11 Feb, 2014
New York City

Barclays profit surged

[R]3:40 PM Frankfurt – Barclays profit surged £1.30 billion and revenue declined 11%. Glencore said copper and coal output climbed 32%. L’Oreal agreed to buy 8% stake from Nestle for €6 billion. Thomas Cook reported flat revenues and gross profit.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.5% or 33.45 to 6,625 and in Frankfurt the DAX index jumped 1.05% or 97.29 to 9,387.15.

In Paris, CAC 40 index increased 0.3% or 11.52 to 4,248.65.

Barclays Plc plunged 5% to 261.35 pence after the U.K.-based financial services provider reported total revenue in the year ending in December declined 10.9% to £28.4 billion from £25.6 billion a year ago.

Profit in the year surged £1.30 billion compared to £181 million and diluted earnings per share swung to a 3.7 pence from a loss of 4.8 pence a year earlier.

The lender said it will eliminate 12,000 jobs this year.

Glencore Xstrata Plc gained 1.2% to 330.04 pence after the U.K.-based diversified natural resource company reported copper and coal output climbed 32% but zinc production dropped last year.

The miner said production of copper in 2013 jumped 26% to 1.5 million metric tons and in African copper production soared 43% to 398,600 tons from a year ago.

Zinc output, in the year dropped 9% to 1.4 million tons from a year earlier. Output of coal in the year, jumped 4% from a year ago period to 138.1 million tons. Iron ore mineral resources surged 21% to 4.6 billion tons.

Production of own sourced gold soared 14% to 1,023,000 ounces driven by strong growth at Kazzinc and Antapaccay mines.

L''Oreal SA declined 4% to €123.80 after the France-based cosmetics maker agreed to buy back 8% of its own shares from Nestle SA for €6 billion.

Today, the cosmetic maker said sales for the year ending in December grew 2.3% to €22.98 billion from €22.46 billion and net profit rose 3.2% to €2.96 billion compared to €2.87 billion and diluted earnings per share grew to €4.87 from €4.74 a year earlier.

Thomas Cook Group Plc slipped 1.5% to 182.60 pence after the U.K.-based leisure and tour operator said revenue in the first-quarter ending in December were flat at £1.66 billion a year earlier.

Gross profit was flat at £365 million and loss before tax widened to £161 million from £123 million a year ago.