Europe Earnings: SKF, Cello Group, Lloyds, Munich Re, Next

Nigel Thomas
20 Mar, 2014
New York City

SKF agreed to pay

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – SKF agreed to pay €95 million to settle an EU automotive-parts cartel allegation. Cello Group net swung to profit. Lloyds agreed to sell European commercial real estate loans portfolio for €280 million. Munich Re intends to buy back shares worth €1 billion. Next profit soared 9%.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index dropped 0.7% or 47.79 to 6,525.34 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slipped 0.5% or 49.25 to 9,227.80.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.3% or 11.19 to 4,296.87.

AB SKF slipped 1.5% to 166.60 kronor after the Sweden-based ball bearings maker was among five suppliers that agreed to pay a combined €953.3 million or $1.3 billion to settle a European Union automotive-parts cartel allegation.

Cello Group Plc dropped 3.1% to 84.25 pence after the U.K.-based advertising and market research company said revenue in the in the year ending in December climbed 18.1% to £159.67 million from £135.14 million a year earlier.

Net in the year swung to profit of £3.63 million compared to a loss of £386,000 a year ago.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc slid 0.7% to 78.47 and the bank agreed to sell a portfolio of European commercial real estate loans for around €280 million in cash.

Munich Re gained 1.6% to €153 after the Germany-based re-insurer expects a profit in the fiscal year 2014 of €3 billion, decrease from €3.3 billion. Gross premiums written in the year was around €50 billion.

The insurer intends to buy back up to 13 million shares for a maximum purchase price of €1 billion.

Next Plc jumped 1.7% to 6,695 pence after the U.K.-based retailer reported revenue in the year ending in December jumped 5% to £3.74 billion from £3.56 billion a year ago.

Profit in the year soared 8.7% to £553.2 million compared to £508.7 million and earnings per share surged to 355.6 pence from 311.7 pence a year earlier.