Beiersdorf, LSE, Societe Generale Net Soar; Stan Chart, UniCredit Net Fall

Nigel Thomas
05 Aug, 2015
New York City

Beiersdorf profit soared 14%. ING net swung to profit to

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Beiersdorf profit soared 14%. ING net swung to profit to €3.1 billion. London Stock Exchange profit climbed 27%. Societe Generale profit surged 78% to €2.2 billion. Standard Chartered net tumbled 36% to $1.5 billion. UniCredit profit declined 7% €1.03 billion.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 47.57 or 0.7% to 6,734.48 and in Frankfurt the DAX index increased 160.76 or 1.4% to 11,616.31.

In Paris, CAC 40 index jumped 80.35 or 1.6% to 5,192.

N.V, Nationale Borg-Maatschappij, the Netherlands-based privately held insurance company along with its affiliates agreed to be acquired by the U.S.-based AmTrust Financial Services, Inc, property and casualty insurance company for about €154 million in cash from Egeria and HAL Investments.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.

Beiersdorf AG jumped 3.1% to €82.50 after the Germany-based personal and cosmetic products maker reported total revenues in the first-half ending in June climbed 7.3% to €3.40 billion or €3.17 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period soared 13.6% from a year ago to €351 million compared to €309 billion.

The Nivea skin care products maker said sales in Eastern Europe region jumped 6.4% but sales in Western Europe dropped 1.4%.

Beiersdorf forecasted sales for the year in the consumer business segment to increase between 3% and 5%.

ING Groep NV, the Netherlands-based financial services provider said revenues in the first-half ending in June soared 11.9% to €8.51 billion or €7.60 billion in a year ago period.

Net in the period swung to profit from a year ago to €3.13 billion compared to a loss of €851 million and diluted earnings per share swung to €0.81 from diluted loss per share of €0.22.

During the first-half, the bank added 600,000 new individual customers and total customer deposits in the quarter climbed €9.3 billion and consumer lending jumped by €1 billion to €5 billion in less than two-years.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc edged up 0.08% to 2,580 pence after the U.K.-based trading exchange operator said revenues in the first-half ending in June surged 90% to£1.17 billion from £611.5 million in a year ago period.

Profit in the period climbed 26.5% from a year ago to £150.3 million compared to £118.8 million and diluted earnings per share jumped to 42.8 pence from 39.8 pence.

Societe Generale SA surged 8.9% to €48.63 after the France-based bank reported interest income in the first-half ending in June jumped 4.1% to €12.52 billion or €12.03 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period surged 77.6% from a year ago to €2.22 billion compared to €1.25 billion and diluted earnings per share jumped to €2.54 from €1.37.

Standard Chartered Plc increased 1.7% to 969.22 pence after the U.K.-based bank reported revenues in the first-half ending in June declined 10.8% to $7.67 billion from $8.60 billion in a year ago period.

Profit in the period tumbled 36.3% from a year ago to $1.53 billion compared to $2.40 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to 58.3 cents from 94 cents.

The bank said impairment losses on loans and advances in the period widened to $1.65 billion compared to $846 million a year ago period.

UniCredit SpA soared 6.4% to €24.29 after the Italy-based financial services provider reported total group revenues in the first-half ending in June gained 0.9% to €11.48 billion or €11.39 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period declined 7.3% from a year ago to €1.03 billion compared to €1.12 billion.

The bank set aside €913 million to cover loans losses, less than from €1 billion in a year ago period and improved assets performance after creating a division to reduce the non-core assets.