Shell in

Nigel Thomas
08 Apr, 2015
New York City

easyJet said passenger traffic in March climbed 7.5% to 5.49 million. Royal Dutch Shell agreed to acquire BG Group for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – easyJet said passenger traffic in March climbed 7.5% to 5.49 million. Royal Dutch Shell agreed to acquire BG Group for £47 billion. Robert Walters profit in the first-quarter surged 12% to £54 million. Wirecard net climbed 31% to €108 million.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.2% or 14.59 to 6,976.36 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.3% or 31.68 to 12,091.84.

In Paris, CAC 40 index edged up 3.71 to 5,154.90.

easyJet plc rose 0.5% to 1,855 pence after the U.K.-based discount airline said number of passengers in March climbed 7.5% to 5.49 million from 5.11 million and load factor in the month increased 1.1 percentage point to 92.6% compared to 91.5% in a year ago month.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc declined 3.3% to 2,025 pence after the U.K.-based energy giant agreed to acquire oil and gas explorer BG Group Plc in a cash and stock deal valued at about £47 billion or $69.78 billion.

Shell confirmed that it will pay dividends of $1.88 per share in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 and expects to commence a share buyback program in fiscal 2017 ending in fiscal 2020 and acquire as much as $25 billion.

The deal is expected to close in early 2016.

Shares of BG Group Plc surged 32.7% to 1,208.50 pence.

Under the terms, shareholders of BG Group will receive 383 pence cash per share and 0.4454 B shares of Shell.

BG confirmed the takeover talk with Shell.

Robert Walters Plc climbed 5.9% to 380 pence after the U.K.-based recruitment company said gross profit in the first-quarter ending in March surged 12% to £53.9 million compared to £48.1 million in a year ago period.

The company added gross profit from Asia Pacific jumped 8% to £21.2 million, in the U.K. soared 22% to £18.6 million, in Europe increased 1% to £11.1 million and in other international markets surged 53% to £3.1 million.

Wirecard AG dropped 2.3% to €39.07 after the Germany-based electronic payment services provider said revenue in the year ending in January soared 24.8% to €601.0 million from €481.7 million in a year ago period.

Net earnings in the year climbed 30.5% from a year ago to €107.9 million compared to €82.7 million and diluted earnings per share jumped to €0.89 from €0.74.