Europe Earnings: HSBC Net Soars, Bunzl Net Rises 7%

Nigel Thomas
24 Feb, 2014
New York City

Bunzl net climbed 7% to

[R]3:40 PM Frankfurt – Bunzl net climbed 7% to £206.8 million and the outsourcing company acquired two businesses in Germany and the Czech Republic. Dixons is in merger talk with Carphone Warehouse. HSBC profit surged 16% to $15.6 billion and loan impairment charges dropped.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.2% or 12.16 to 6,825.90 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.1% or 13.01 to 9,643.91.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.1% or 5.83 to 4,386.89.

Bunzl Plc soared 6.4% to 1,578 pence after the U.K.-based outsourcing service provider said revenue in the year ending in December jumped 14% to £6.10 billion from £5.36 billion a year ago.

Profit for the year climbed 7% to £206.8 million compared to £191.3 million and diluted earnings per share soared to 62.7 pence from 58.3 pence a year earlier.

Today, the company said it acquired Bäumer Betriebshygiene Vertriebsgesellschaft and its related company Protemo GmbH in Germany and also purchased Oskar Plast sro based in Prague, Czech Republic.

Dixons Retail Plc surged 7.9% to 50.90 pence after the U.K.-based electronics retailer today confirm that the company and Carphone Warehouse are in preliminary merger discussions.

The electronics retailer added that discussions are in a preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that a transaction will be completed.

Shares of Carphone Warehouse at London Stock Exchange climbed 4.9% to 321.20 pence.

HSBC Holdings Plc declined 3.4% to 631.60 pence after the U.K and China based financial service provider reported revenue in the year ending in December declined 5% to $64.64 billion from $68.33 billion a year ago.

Profit in the year surged 16% to $15.6 billion compared to $13.4 billion and diluted earnings per share jumped to 84 cents from 74 cents a year earlier.

The bank said pretax profit for the year climbed 9% to $22.6 billion from $20.7 billion a year ago.

HSBC added costs declined to $38.6 billion from $42.9 billion while return on equity climbed to 9.2% from 8.4%. The bank said loan impairment charges dropped to $5.85 billion from $8.31 billion on lower bad debts in North America and Europe.

Vodafone Group plc climbed 5.1% to 248.60 pence after the U.K.-based wireless carrier completed the disposal of its stake in Verizon Wireless.

The mobile company said it will redeem all of the notes for approximately $5.65 billion on March 26, in accordance with the optional redemption.

Vodafone said issued and listed share capital will consist of 28,811,864,298 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 20 20/21 U.S. cents each with voting rights of which 2,373,727,362 ordinary shares will be held in Treasury.