Europe Earnings: Dufry, Lafarge, Repsol, Tesco, Volkswagen

Nigel Thomas
04 Jun, 2014
New York City

Dufry agreed to acquire Nuance Group for 1.55 billion Swiss francs. Lafarge will merge its South Africa unit with Lafarge Wapco. Pemex sold its 7.9% stake in Repsol worth

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Dufry agreed to acquire Nuance Group for 1.55 billion Swiss francs. Lafarge will merge its South Africa unit with Lafarge Wapco. Pemex sold its 7.9% stake in Repsol worth €2.1 billion. Tesco sales slipped 1.2%. Volkswagen raised €2 billion to acquire Scania AB.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 0.3% or 21.43 to 6,814.87 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slid 0.06% or 6.34 to 9,913.40.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.1% or 6 to 4,497.69.

Dufry AG surged 7.2% to 156.10 francs after the Switzerland-based travel retailer agreed to acquire its rival The Nuance Group for 1.55 billion francs or $1.7 billion on a debt- and cash-free basis.

Lafarge S.A climbed3.2% to €65 after the France-based cement producer said it will merge its South Africa unit with publicly traded Nigerian unit Lafarge Wapco that will be listed on Nigerian Stock Exchange or La Bourse de Lagos.

The company will receive $200 million in cash and 1.4 billion new shares in Lafarge Wapco for the merger worth $1.35 billion.

Repsol SA dropped 3.7% to €20.09 after the Spain-based oil and gas explorer said Mexico''s state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos sold its stake in the company.

In a regulatory filing with the Madrid stock exchange Deutsche Bank said that it had sold 7.9% of Repsol stake for €2.1 billion or $2.9 billion in a private placement on behalf of Pemex.

Tesco Plc slipped 1.5% to 292.90 pence after the U.K.-based food retailer today said group sales in the first-quarter ending on May 25 slipped 1.2% and international sales gained 0.5%.

The retailer said sales in Asia region jumped 1.5% while sales from Europe fell 0.7%. Sales from Tesco Bank climbed 3.6%.

The company completed the formation of partnerships with CRE in China and Trent Hypermarket controlled by Tata Group in India.

Volkswagen AG declined 2.5% to €189.80 after the Germany-based automobile manufacturer issued 10.47 million new preference shares at a price of €191 or $260 per share to raise €2 billion or $2.7 billion to fund for the long-planned takeover of Swedish truck-maker Scania AB.