Daimler Cautious on 2018; Unilever Profit Jumps, Vodafone Sales Fall

Sarla Buch
01 Feb, 2018
New York City

Daimler profit surged 24% but issued cautious outlook. Dassault Systemes forecasted strong annual revenues growth. Vodafone plunged on disappointing results. Nokia loss widened. Novo Nordisk reported disappointing earnings results. Unilever profit surged. Vodafone revenue fell.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Daimler profit surged 24% but issued cautious outlook. Dassault Systemes forecasted strong annual revenues growth. Vodafone plunged on disappointing results. Nokia loss widened. Novo Nordisk reported disappointing earnings results. Unilever profit surged. Vodafone revenue fell.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 18.07 or 0.2% to 7,515.39 and in Frankfurt the DAX index declined 147.58 or 1.1% to 13,044.27.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slipped 26.58 or 0.5% to 5,456.36.

Daimler AG declined 3.1% to €71.47 after German-based auto-maker reported revenues in the year ending in December jumped 7% from a year ago to €164.3 billion.

Net profit in the year surged 24% to €10.9 billion from €8.8 billion in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share advanced to €9.84 from €7.97.

Daimler said operating profit in the year soared 14% to €14.7 billion and total vehicle sales set a new record of 3.3 million

Daimler forecasted fiscal 2018 profit may in the ""magnitude of the previous year"" and a slight increase in vehicle sales and revenue.

Dassault Systemes SE soared 8.9% to €101.15 after France-based software developer said revenues in the year ending in December advanced 3.2% from a year ago to €3.2 billion.

Net profit in the year soared 16.1% to €519.4 million from €447.2 million in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share increased to €2.01 from €1.74.

In fiscal 2018, Dassault Systemes forecasted “strong performance” and total revenue growth of about 8% to 9%.

Nokia Oyj surged 11% to €4.30 after the Finland-based telecom services provider reported net sales in the year ending in December fell 3% from a year ago to €23.1 billion.

Net loss in the year widened to €1.5 billion from €766 million in a year ago period and diluted loss per share rose to €0.26 from €0.13.

Novo Nordisk A/S declined 6.6% to 311.45 Danish krone after Denmark-based healthcare products maker reported revenue in the year ending in December was unchanged from a year ago to 111.7 billion krone.

Net profit in the year rose 0.5% to 38.1 billion krone from 37.9 billion krone in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share edged up to €15.39 from €14.96.

The insulin maker said sales in diabetes care and obesity segment jumped 4% to 92.9 billion krone and sales in Victoza business soared 16% to 23.2 billion krone.

Novo Nordisk forecasted fiscal 2018 sales growth in the range of 2% to 5% and operating profit growth between 1% and 5%.

Unilever Plc gained 1.2% to 4,049.50 pence after the U.K.-based consumer products reported revenues in the year ending in December rose 1.9% from a year ago to €53.7 billion.

Net profit in the year surged 17.3% to €6.1 billion from €5.2 billion in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share jumped to €2.15 from €1.82.

Unilever said as of December 30, net debt jumped to €20.3 billion from €12.6 billion in the same period a year ago.

Vodafone Group Plc plunged 4.5% to 214.45 pence after the U.K.-based mobile operator said revenues in the third-quarter ending in December dropped 3.6% from a year ago to £11.8 billion.