Continental to Buys Konrad Hornschuch, H&M September Sales Rises 1%

Sarla Buch
17 Oct, 2016
New York City

Continental agreed to buy Konrad Hornschuch for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Continental agreed to buy Konrad Hornschuch for €400 million. H & M said September rose only 1% after warm weather impacted demand. Pearson said September sales declined 7%. SSE agreed to sell its 16.7% stake in local gas distribution business to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 31.21 or 0.4% to 6,984.34 and in Frankfurt the DAX index decreased 44.53 or 0.4% to 10,535.91.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slid 9.82 or 0.2% to 4,460.84.

Continental AG edged up 0.09% to €175.35 after Germany-based tire manufacturer agreed to acquire its smaller domestic rival Konrad Hornschuch AG for about €400 million or $438.8 million.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB slipped 1.3% to 255.20 Swedish kronor after Sweden-based clothing retailer said unseasonably warm weather impacted negatively and group sales in September rose barely 1%. Total number of stores increased to 4,204.

Ladbrokes Plc dropped 1.3% to 137.30 pence after the U.K.-based betting and gaming and privately held Gala Coral Group Limited, the casinos, and sports betting operator agreed to sell a total of 359 licensed betting offices to Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited and StanJames (Abingdon) Limited for £55.5 million in cash.

Pearson Plc plunged 9.6% to 752.50 pence after the U.K.-based international education and media group said sales for the nine-month ending in September declined 7% mainly due to expected drop in assessment revenues in the U.S. and U.K.

Despite the lacklustre demand for vocational exams in the U.K., Pearson reaffirmed 2016 operating profit between £580 million and £620 million and earnings per share in the range of 50 pence to 55 pence.

In 2018, the education group forecasted operating profit of about £800 million.

SSE Plc slipped 0.9% to 1,533 pence after the U.K.-based electricity and gas supplier agreed to sell its 16.7% stake in local gas distribution business of Scotia Gas Networks Ltd to wholly owned subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for about £621 million or $772.2 million.

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