Europe Movers: Bellway, Carl Zeiss, Ceconomy, Hermes, LOreal, Orange, Tesco, Ubisoft

Inga Muller
09 Feb, 2024
Frankfurt

European markets extended weekly gains in quiet trading on Friday after a busy week of earnings results.

The DAX index increased 0.05% to 16,973.47, the CAC-40 index fell 0.2% to 7,653.92, and the FTSE 100 index inched higher by 0.1% to 7,605.52.

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged up to 2.35%; French bonds inched higher to 2.86%; the UK gilts edged higher to 4.05%; and Italian bonds inched higher to 3.93%.

Tesco PLC rose 1% to 283.30 pence after the UK-based grocery retailer said it agreed to sell its banking and financial services operation to Barclays.

Hermes SCA jumped 4.4% to €2,166.50 after the luxury fashion accessories retailer reported fourth-quarter sales surged 17.5% and announced plans to raise prices.

L'Oreal decreased 5.7% to €427.05 after the French personal care product maker reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.

Orange SA declined 0.1% to €10.58 after the French wireless telecom carrier swung to a pre-tax loss of 2.2 million in 2023 from a profit of 81.6 million a year ago.

Bellway plc edged up 0.1% to 2,812.0 pence after the UK-based home builder reported weak revenue in the first half, reflecting lower home prices and fewer completions.

Total housing revenue in the period declined to £1.25 billion from £1,804.9 million a year ago.

Total housing completions fell to 4,092 homes from 5,695 at an average selling price of £309,300 compared to £316,929.

At the end of January, the company's order backlog of homes was 3,970 compared to 5,108, with a value of £1,012.5 million compared to £1,386.8 million a year ago, respectively.

The home builder estimated home completions of around 7,500 homes at the end of the financial year in July, lower than 10,945 homes a year ago.

"Affordability steadily improved throughout the period, driven by wage increases, the easing of consumer price inflation and a gradual reduction in mortgage interest rates," the company said in a statement to investors. 

Ubisoft Entertainment soared 18% to €23.53 after the French video game publisher reported fiscal third quarter sales ahead of its own target.

Carl Zeiss Meditec jumped 5.4% to €111.65, despite the German company reporting a decline in pre-tax operating earnings in the first quarter. 

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter increased 1% to €475.0 million from €470.3 million a year ago.

The order backlog normalized to around €315 million.

Earnings before interest and taxes declined to around €43.5 million from €60.3 million, and the EBIT margin eased to 9.2% from 12.8% a year ago.

Ceconomy declined 2.4% to €2.06 after the German electronics retailer reported that fiscal first quarter sales slightly declined to €7 billion.