Rosneft Sells 20% Stake to Glencore, Qatar Funds; UniCredit Sells Polish Stake

Sarla Buch
08 Dec, 2016
New York City

Capita tumbled after fiscal outlook. Glencore and Qatar sovereign fund agreed to buy 19.5% stake in Rosneft for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Capita tumbled after fiscal outlook. Glencore and Qatar sovereign fund agreed to buy 19.5% stake in Rosneft for €10 billion. National Grid agreed to sell 61% stake in gas distribution business to a consortium of investors. UniCredit agreed to sell 32.8% stake in Polish bank.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 9.65 to 6,925.32 and in Frankfurt the DAX index jumped 190.54 or 1.8% to 11,178.14.

In Paris, CAC 40 index increased 36.74 or 0.8% to 4,731.70.

Capita Plc tumbled 12.8% to 491.70 pence after the U.K.-based outsource services provider forecasted revenue in the fiscal 2016 of about £4.8 billion and operating profit of at least £515 million.

Glencore Plc jumped 3.1% to 305.95 after Russian government agreed to sell 19.5% stake in oil producer Rosneft to the U.K.-based commodities trader and Qatar state-owned holding company Qatar sovereign fund for €10.2 billion or £8.69 billion or $11 Billion.

The deal was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin''s press secretary on December 7, as the president congratulated ""very good result"" to the chief executive officer of Rosneft Igor Sechin.

National Grid Plc gained 0.4% to 913.50 pence after the U.K.-based electricity and gas utility provider agreed to sell a 61% stake in its gas distribution business to a consortium of global investors valued of about £13.8 billion.

After completion of the deal, National Grid will receive around £3.6 billion and plans to return £4 billion to shareholders through share buy-backs and special dividend in the second-quarter of 2017.

However, electricity and gas utility provider will retain its 39% stake in a new holding company and will also receive £1.8 billion from additional debt financing.

Sports Direct International Plc plunged 8.4% to 288.60 pence after the U.K.-based sporting goods retailer reported group revenues in the first-half ending on October 23 soared 14.2% from a year ago to £1.6 billion.

Net income in the period plummeted 36.4% from a year ago to £92.5 million compared to the £145.4 million and diluted earnings per share dropped to 15.2 pence from 23.1 pence.

“We are changing our retail channels for customers in the UK, and we will be changing our approach to our customers in Europe, which will take time,” chief executive officer Mike Ashley said.

UniCredit SpA soared 6.4% to €2.65 after Italy-based banking and financial services provider agreed to sell 32.8% stake in Poland-based Bank Pekao S.A. to Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen S.A. and Polish Development Fund S.A. for about 10.6 billion zloty or €2.4 billion or $2.6 billion.

The price per for the sale it 123 zloty per share.