Bouygues, Orange, Peugeot Net Jump; Barclays, Centrica Net Swing to Profit

Sarla Buch
23 Feb, 2017
New York City

Barclays net swung to profit and Barclays Africa agreed to separate. Bouygues net surged 82% and added one million net new mobile customers. Centrica net swung to profit and utility operator said net debt dropped 27%. Orange net jumped 11%, first increase since 2008. Peugeot net surged.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Barclays net swung to profit and Barclays Africa agreed to separate. Bouygues net surged 82% and added one million net new mobile customers. Centrica net swung to profit and utility operator said net debt dropped 27%. Orange net jumped 11%, first increase since 2008. Peugeot net surged.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index edged up 0.43 to 7,302.68 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 12.92 to 11,984.98.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 9.41 or 0.2% to 4,905.29.

Barclays Plc slumped 1.8% to 231 pence after the U.K.-based banking and financial services provider said total revenues in the year ending in December dropped 2.2% from a year ago to £21.5 billion.

Net in the year swung to profit from a year ago to £2.1 billion compared to a loss of £49 million and diluted earnings per share swung to 10.3 pence from a diluted loss per share of 1.9 pence.

Barclays reported pre-tax profit in the year jumped to £3.2 billion from £1.1 billion in 2015 and said that the bank made """"strong progress"""" after restructuring.

Separately today, Barclays Africa Group announced that it agreed on operational separation with the U.K. parent Barclays Plc.

Bouygues SA jumped 4.8% to €36.25 after France-based conglomerate reported sales in the year ending in December fell 2% from a year ago to €31.8 billion.

Net income in the year surged 82% from a year ago to €732 million compared to €403 million and diluted earnings per share slumped to €1.29 from €3.43.

Bouygues said operating profit in the year soared 19% to €1.1 billion and operating margin rose 0.6 percentage point to 3.5% and the telecom operator added one million new mobile phone customers in 2016.

As of December 2016, net debt declined €695 million to €1.9 billion after the communication segment returned to profit and strong performance reported by its construction businesses.

Centrica Plc dropped 3.3% to 226.10 pence after the U.K.-based energy services provider stated revenues in the year ending in December slumped 3% from a year ago to £27.1 billion.

Net in the year swung to profit from a year ago to £1.7 billion compared to a loss of £747 million and diluted earnings per share swung to 31.2 pence from a diluted loss per share of 14.9 pence.

The utility provider said group net debt in the year dropped 27% to £3.5 billion after reshaping power portfolio and improved nuclear power generation volumes and exited from the wind power generation. Gas-fired generation volumes jumped 65% from 2015.

Orange SA increased 1% to €14.69 after France-based telecom services provider reported revenues in the year ending in December rose 1.7% from a year ago to €40.9 billion.

Net income in the year jumped 10.9% from a year ago to €2.94 billion compared to €2.65 million and diluted earnings per share slumped to €1.04 from €0.92.

“The first increase in earnings since 2008,” chief financial officer Ramon Fernandez said.

Peugeot SA slipped 1.9% to €18.39 after France-based passenger cars and trucks maker said revenues in the year fell 1.3% from a year ago to €54.03 billion.

Net income in the year surged 75% from a year ago to €2.1 billion compared to €1.2 billion and diluted earnings per share slumped to €1.29 from €3.43.

The automakers said group operating income in the year soared 18.5% to €3.2 billion and free cash flow in the year was about €2.7 billion and the company lifted automotive margin goal to an average 4.5% in 2018.

Peugeot forecasted revenues to jump more than 10% by 2018 and sales are expected to growth 5% in China in 2017 while remain stable in the Europe, Latin America and Russia.