Balfour Beatty Drops on Profit Alert, Barry Callebaut Sales Soar 22%

Nigel Thomas
03 Jul, 2014
New York City

Balfour Beatty dropped after another profit warning. Barry Callebaut quarterly revenue soared 22% to 4.32 billion Swiss francs. Greene King profit increased to

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Balfour Beatty dropped after another profit warning. Barry Callebaut quarterly revenue soared 22% to 4.32 billion Swiss francs. Greene King profit increased to £96 million. Ingenico is in talks to acquire online payment-service provider GlobalCollect for €820 million.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index advanced 0.6% or 40.42 to 6,856.79 and in Frankfurt the DAX index climbed 1% or 102.33 to 10,013.60.

In Paris, CAC 40 index jumped 0.9% or 39.73 to 4,484.45.

Balfour Beatty Plc declined 4.6% to 222.34 pence after the U.K.-based infrastructure developer said 2014 pre-tax profit is expected remain unchanged in the range of £145 million to £160 million but warned additional shortfall of £35 million in its mechanical and electrical engineering services unit.

The stock recovered from its early plunge of 17% after the company issued its fourth profit warning in two years. The company also confirmed its plan to sell its design consultant business Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The company said average net debt for the first-half was slightly higher than expectations at £420 million.

Barry Callebaut AG slumped 2.4% to 1,199 francs after the Switzerland-based cocoa, chocolate and confectionery products maker reported revenue in the third-quarter ending in May soared 22% to 4.32 billion francs from 3.54 billion francs a year ago.

The company said revenue from the European region climbed 10% to 1.92 billion francs and from the Americas jumped 7.4% to 927.3 million francs. Revenue from the Asia-Pacific region increased 11.3% from a year ago to 187.7 million francs.

Greene King Plc dropped 4.2% to 811 pence after the U.K.-based restaurants and pubs operator said total revenue in the year ending in May climbed 8.9% to £1.30 billion from £1.19 billion a year ago.

Profit in the year rose 0.7% to £96.1 million compared to £95.4 million and diluted earnings per share edged up to 44 pence from 43.9 pence a year earlier.

Ingenico SA surged 8.9% to €71.11 after the France-based financial transaction systems provider is in talks to acquire online payment-service provider GlobalCollect for €820 million or $1.12 billion.

K S AG jumped 2.4% to €24.66 after the chief executive officer Norbert Steiner of Germany-based fertilizer chemicals maker said the company will increase ratio of sales from higher-margin fertilizers containing magnesium and sulfur content.