LVMH to Buy Belmond, Balfour Beatty Says Profit May Beat Expectations

Sarla Buch
14 Dec, 2018
New York City

Balfour Beatty forecasted profits is likely to be ahead of expectations. LVMH agreed to acquire luxury hotels operator Belmond for $3.2 billion. SThree forecasted gross profit to jump 12%.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Balfour Beatty forecasted profits is likely to be ahead of expectations. LVMH agreed to acquire luxury hotels operator Belmond for $3.2 billion. SThree forecasted gross profit to jump 12%.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 15.92 or 0.2% to 6,860.46 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slipped 30.60 or 0.3% to 10,894.10.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 28.47 or 0.6% to 4,866.43.

Balfour Beatty Plc jumped 4.6% to 257.40 pence after the U.K.-based infrastructure developer forecasted group revenues in the second-half is likely to be flat compared to first-half and profits may beat expectations.

The construction services provider said as of December 13, total new orders received were about £12 billion compared to £11.4 billion in the same period a year ago.

GVC Holdings Plc surged 11.1% to 735 pence ahead of the U.K. parliamentary vote on fixed-odds betting terminals in the next week.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE dropped 1.8% to €251.80 after France-based luxury goods conglomerate agreed to buy London-based luxury hotels operator Belmond Limited including Venice''s landmark Cipriani for $25 per share or about $3.2 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in the first-half of 2019.

Scout24 AG soared 10.4% to €39.84 after Reuter said Germany-based online advertisement services provider is in exploratory talks to take the company private and the U.S.-based technology buyout firm Silver Lake is also among the bidders.

SThree Plc advanced 5% to 273.06 pence after the U.K.-based specialist staffing provider forecasted fiscal 2018 gross profit to jump 12% to £320.9 million.

SThree forecasted fiscal 2018 gross profit in Europe to soar 20% to £183.3 million, in the U.S. to advance 8% to £66.6 million and in the Asia and Middle East region to surge 11% to £18 million.