Europe Earnings: ARM Holdings, AB Foods, Drax, Ericsson, Vopak

Nigel Thomas
23 Apr, 2014
New York City

ARM Holdings net climbed 20% to

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – ARM Holdings net climbed 20% to £62 million. AB Foods profit jumped 9% to £334 million and will open Primark stores in the U.S. Drax tumbled and the company plans a legal action against the UK government. Ericsson net soared 75%. Vopak profit declined 17% to €68 million.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.2% or 11.22 to 6,670.54 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.4% or 33.30 to 9,566.79.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slipped 0.5% or 24.27 to 4,459.94.

ARM Holdings Plc dropped 3.4% to 950 pence after the U.K.-based computer-chip maker said revenue in the first-quarter ending in March jumped 16% to £186.7 million from £170.3 million a year ago.

Profit for the quarter climbed 20% to £62.3 million compared to £51.9 million and diluted earnings per share increased to 4.4 pence from 3.7 pence a year ago period.

Associated British Foods Plc surged 8.9% to 2,965 pence after the U.K.-based food processing company reported group revenue in the first-half ending in March fell 1.9% to £6.21 billion from £6.33 billion a year ago.

Profit for the period jumped 9.1% to £334 million compared to £306 million and diluted earnings per share rose to 43.2 pence from 38.5 pence a year earlier.

The company added its Primark clothing-retail business reported operating profit of £298 million from a year ago.

Separately, AB Foods said that its Primark will open the stores in Northeastern region of the USA and leased a 70,000 square feet of selling space in Boston, Massachusetts. The company added U.S. stores will be supported by warehousing in the region.

Drax Group Plc plummeted 12.3% to 655.50 pence after the U.K.-based electricity provider said it will commenced legal proceedings against the UK government after it received legal notice that the second unit conversion is not eligible for an investment contract.

Ericsson AB declined 5.5% to 81.50 kronor after the Sweden-based mobile-network equipment maker reported revenue in the first-quarter ending in March slumped 9% to 47.51 billion kronor or $7.2 billion from 52.03 billion kronor a year earlier.

Net profit in the quarter soared 75.2% to 2.12 billion kronor compared to 1.21 billion kronor and diluted earnings per share jumped to 0.65 kronor from 0.37 kronor a year ago period.

Operating income climbed 25% to 2.63 billion kronor from a year ago.

Ericsson said revenues in the first quarter from the North America plummeted 23% and sales from North East Asia declined 19% compared to the same period a year ago.

Koninklijke Vopak N.V plunged 6.8% to €39 after the Netherlands-based storage and handling of oil products provider said revenue in the first-quarter ending in March fell 1% to €318 million from a year ago.

Net profit in the quarter declined 17% to €68.2 million compared to €82.2 million and Ebitda dropped 6% to €179.6 million from €191.2 million a year earlier.

The company said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the year is expected to decline between 5% and 10%.