Nestle Agrees to Sell German Unit, Balfour Beatty Plunges 19%

Nigel Thomas
29 Sep, 2014
New York City

Balfour Beatty again lowered profit forecast by

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Balfour Beatty again lowered profit forecast by £75 million, third time revised lower in five-months. MJ Gleeson profit jumped 50% to €17 million. Nestle agreed to sell its baby food brands in Germany. Globo net surged 38% to €17 million.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 0.5% or 31.21 to 6,618.18 and in Frankfurt the DAX index declined 1.1% or 101.69 to 9,388.86.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 1.2% or 53.70 to 4,341.05.

Balfour Beatty Plc plunged 18.9% to 182.15 pence after the U.K.-based construction company lowered profit forecast by £75 million or $122 million. The company has lowered profit outlook for the fifth time in two-years and also suffered from rising costs, project delays and skill shortages.

The company also said net debt to increase to £580 million at the end of second-half from £420 million at the end of first-half.

The infrastructure company signed a contract in a joint venture with AMEC and Jacobs to provide a new nuclear waste processing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, UK with an estimated cost between £240 million and £336 million.

Balfour Beatty also won project worth £34 million to decommission a nuclear power plant.

MJ Gleeson Group Plc gained 0.8% to 390 pence after the U.K.-based home builder reported revenue in the year ending in June climbed 34.1% to €81.4 million from €60.7 million a year ago period.

Profit in the period jumped 50% from a year ago to €17.4 million compared to €11.6 million and diluted earnings per share soared to 32.36 pence from 21.46 pence.

Nestle SA slid 0.2% to 69.45 francs after the Switzerland-based food and beverage maker agreed to sell its Alete and Milasan baby food business in Germany to an investor consortium for an undisclosed sum.

Globo Plc declined 3.7% to 45.50 pence after the U.K.-based mobile software developer said revenue in the first-half ending in June soared 45% to €46.5 million from €32 million a year ago period.

Profit in the period surged 37.9% from a year ago to €17.2 million compared to €12.5 million and diluted earnings per share edged up to 4.3 euro cents from 4.1 euro cents.