Europe Movers: Aurubis, BP, Beiersdorf, Infineon, Nokia, UBS

Inga Muller
06 Feb, 2024
Frankfurt

BP hiked its quarterly dividend and announced a stock repurchase plan. Beiersdorf increased its dividend and said it plans to launch its stock buyback plan in May. Aurubis reiterated its annual outlook.

Benchmark indexes across Europe traded around the flatline after eurozone retail sales contracted for the 15th month in a row.

The DAX index decreased 0.03% to 16,899.54, the CAC-40 index rose 0.3% to 7,608.93, and the FTSE 100 index inched higher by 0.4% to 7,639.81.

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged up to 2.31%; French bonds inched higher to 2.81%; the UK gilts edged higher to 4.01%; and Italian bonds inched lower to 3.87%.

UBS Group declined 2.5% to CHF 25.07 after the Swiss bank reported its second consecutive quarterly loss in a row.

Nokia Oyj fell 1% to €3.32, and the Finnish telecom equipment maker signed a cross-licensing arrangement with China-based telecom company Vivo.

BP plc gained 5.5% to 478.01 pence after the energy explorer and distributor announced a stock repurchase plan of $1.75 billion and the company reported its second highest annual profit in a decade.

Revenue declined to $213 billion from $248.9 billion, earnings swung to a profit of $15.2 billion from a loss of $2.5 billion, and diluted earnings per share were 85.8 cents compared to a loss of 13.10 a year ago.

The oil company increased its fourth-quarter dividend by 10% from a year ago to 7.27 cents per share.

Beiersdorf AG inched up 0.3% to €140.80 after the German personal care products maker hiked its dividend and announced a stock repurchase plan.

The company announced plans to increase its dividend by 30 cents to €1.0 per share and a €500 million stock repurchase plan starting in May and completed by the end of 2024.

Infineon Technologies declined 3% to €33.63 after the semiconductor company lowered its fiscal year 2024 outlook.

Aurubis AG increased 0.8% to €65.0, and the non-ferrous metal recycler confirmed its financial year outlook.

The company confirmed its pre-tax annual earnings to range between 380 million and 480 million.

Revenue in the latest quarter declined 5% to €3.9 billion from €4.1 billion, and consolidated net income dropped 10% to €89 million from €99 million a year ago, respectively.