EU Approves Essilor, Luxottica Merger; Carrefour Net Swing to Loss

Sarla Buch
01 Mar, 2018
New York City

Carrefour net swung to a loss on weak sales and nonrecurring charges. Essilor profit decline was driven by Luxottica merger costs. Groupe PSA net jumped 14% on 21% surge in revenues. WPP tumbled as online advertising crimp growth.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Carrefour net swung to a loss on weak sales and nonrecurring charges. Essilor profit decline was driven by Luxottica merger costs. Groupe PSA net jumped 14% on 21% surge in revenues. WPP tumbled as online advertising crimp growth.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index dropped 44.86 or 0.6% to 7,187.05 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slumped 169.36 or 1.4% to 12,266.49.

In Paris, CAC 40 index declined 55.20 or 1% to 5,265.29.

Carrefour SA plunged 5.9% to €17.83 after France-based hypermarkets and supermarkets operator said group sales in the year ending in December advanced 2.9% from a year ago to €88.2 billion.

Net in the year swung to a loss of €531 million from profit of €746 million in a year ago period.

The retailer said net loss was driven by nonrecurring charges but as of December 31, 2017, net debt dropped to €3.7 billion from €4.5 billion in a year ago period.

Essilor International SA soared 4.2% to €112.40 after France-based ophthalmic optics lenses maker reported revenues in the year ending in December jumped 5.6% from a year ago to €7.5 billion.

Net income in the year slid 0.2% to €878 million from €880 million in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share slumped to €3.57 from €3.71.

Essilor forecasted fiscal 2018 revenues growth of about 4% and contribution from operations more than or equal to 18.3% of revenue.

The optics lenses maker said fall in profit was driven by finalization of the proposed merger with Luxottica Group SpA planned in the first-half of 2018.

Yesterday, the European Commission approved €48 billion or $58 billion merger of Italy-based eyewear specialist Luxottica and Essilor without conditions.

Groupe PSA dropped 1.1% €19.60 after France-based automobiles and motorcycles maker said revenues in the year ending in December soared 20.7% from a year ago to €65.2 billion.

Net income in the year jumped 14.3% to €2.4 billion from €2.1 billion in a year ago period and diluted earnings per share advanced to €2.05 from €1.93.

The passenger cars and light commercial vehicles maker said revenues in its PCD Automotive division jumped 9.9% to €40.74 billion from a year ago.

Revenue in Opel Vauxhall Automotive segment revenues amounted to €7,238 M for the last 5 months of 2017 and operating loss of €179 million, as group revenue includes OV since August 1, 2017.

Group operating income in the year amounted to €3.99 billion and Opel Vauxhall is estimated to deliver group revenue growth of about 10% in 2018.

WPP Plc tumbled 13.1% to 1,211 pence after the U.K.-based advertising and public relations services provider reported revenues in the year ending in December jumped 6.1% from a year ago to £15.3 billion.

Net profit in the year surged 27.4% to £1.9 billion from £1.5 billion in a year ago period and diluted loss per share advanced to 142.4 pence from 108 pence.

WPP said operating profit in the year declined 7.5% to £1.9 billion from £2.1 billion while pretax profit soared 11.6% to £2.1 billion from £1.9 billion in a year ago period.

The advertising services provider said business in the current year started “above budget with slow start” and comparable revenue in January was flat and revenues dropped 1.2%.