Netherlands Lowers ABN Amro stake, H & M Sales Jumps

Sarla Buch
15 Sep, 2017
New York City

The Dutch government reduced its stake to 56% in ABN AMRO after

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – The Dutch government reduced its stake to 56% in ABN AMRO after €1.5 billion offering. Hennes & Mauritz sales jumped driven a surge in summer sale. JD Wetherspoon profit jumped. Angry Birds maker Rovio set the initial public offering price range.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index declined 80.43 or 1.1% to 7,215.32 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 22.65 or 0.2% to 12,517.12.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slumped 15.55 or 0.3% to 5,209.99.

For the week, FTSE 100 index plummeted 2.2%, the DAX index jumped 1.8% and the CAC 40 index advanced 1.9%.

ABN AMRO Group NV slipped 0.5% to €23.82 after the Netherlands government reduced its stake in the financial and banking services provider to 56% from 63% and sold €1.53 billion or £1.35 billion in a secondary offering.

NL Financial Investments on behalf of the government agreed to sell 65 million depositary receipts at €23.50 or $28 per share but the bank will not receive any of the proceeds.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB advanced 2.5% to 218.80 Swedish kronor after Sweden-based apparel and accessories retailer reported sales in the third-quarter to jump 5% from a year ago to 59.4 billion kronor or $7.4 billion, driven by significantly larger summer sale.

The retailer scheduled to report its nine-month results on September 28.

J.D. Wetherspoon Plc surged 12% to 1,167 pence after the U.K.-based pubs operate reported total revenues in the year ending in July jumped 3.8% from a year ago to £1.7 billion.

Net profit in the year soared 9.6% to £56.1 million from £51.2 million in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share rose to 50.4 pence from 43.4 pence.

The pubs operator said growth in profits and sales was driven by “very strong” summer holiday season.

“We currently anticipate a trading outcome for the current financial year in line with our expectations,” said chairman of the board Timothy Randall Martin.

Nestle SA fell 0.9% to 80.45 Swiss francs after the Switzerland-based nutrition, health and wellness products maker announced that it had acquired a majority stake of 68% in the U.S.- based Blue Bottle Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster for about $425 million.

Rovio Entertainment Oy, Finland-based privately held mobile game Angry Birds and other online game publisher expects to be worth about €800 million when it is lists on the Helsinki Nasdaq stock market in October 3.

The Angry Birds game developer set the initial public offering price range that would value the business at between €802 million and €896 million.

""The mobile gaming market is expected to grow fast and Rovio has grown faster than the market in recent years,"" said chief executive officer Kati Levoranta.