Hennes & Mauritz Net Surges, Johnson Matthey Sales Jumps

Nigel Thomas
28 Jan, 2015
New York City

Antofagasta production of gold and copper in fourth-quarter climbed. Hennes & Mauritz net surged 12%. Johnson Matthey sales jumped 5% to

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Antofagasta production of gold and copper in fourth-quarter climbed. Hennes & Mauritz net surged 12%. Johnson Matthey sales jumped 5% to £745 million. STMicroelectronics net swung to profit.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 2.93 to 6,808.68 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.8% or 83.12 to 10,711.70.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.06% or 2.75 to 4,621.46.

Antofagasta Plc fell 1.9% to 680.33 pence after the Chile-based resource miner reported copper production in the fourth-quarter climbed 10.8% to 187,500 tons compared to third-quarter and for the year declined 2.3% to 704,800 tons.

The company added production of gold in the quarter surged 27.2% to 82,300 ounces from last quarter and for the year dropped to 270,900 ounces from 293,800 ounces in fiscal 2013, mainly due to ore lower grades at Centinela mine location.

The miner forecasted copper production in 2015 of about 710,000 tons, 250,000 ounces of gold and 8,000 tons of molybdenum.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB slipped 0.9% to 335.50 kronor after the Sweden-based branded apparel maker reported net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in December climbed 16.8% to 42.64 billion kronor from 36.50 billion kronor a year ago period.

Net profit in the quarter surged 12.1% from a year ago to 6.22 billion kronor compared to 5.55 billion kronor and earnings per share jumped to 3.76 kronor from 3.35 kronor.

Johnson Matthey Plc declined 3.1% to 3,388 pence after the specialty chemical maker reported sales in the third-quarter ending in December jumped 5% to £745 million from £708 million but underlying profit dropped 1% to £105.7 million compared to £107.1 million a year ago period.

STMicroelectronics NV dropped 2.6% to €7.16 after the Switzerland-based semiconductor product maker said revenue in the fourth quarter ending in December declined 9.4% to $1.83 billion.

Net in the quarter swung to profit from a year go to $43 million compared to a loss of $36 million and diluted loss per share swung to a 5 cents from diluted earnings per share of 4 cents.

The company forecasted gross profit margin for the first-quarter to decline about 33.2% from 33.8% in the fourth-quarter.