Europe Movers: BMW, Heidelberg Materials, Secunet Securities, X5 Retail

Inga Muller
22 Mar, 2024
Frankfurt

European stock market indexes rested near record highs as investors reviewed the latest monetary policy announcements from major central banks.

The DAX index decreased by 0.02% to 18,175.88, the CAC-40 index rose by 0.2% to 8,162.68, and the FTSE 100 index inched higher by 0.8% to 7,949.06.

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged down to 2.36%; French bonds inched lower to 2.83%; the UK gilts edged lower to 3.99%; and Italian bonds inched lower to 3.65%.

Heidelberg Materials increased 0.2% to €98.30, and the company proposed to increase its dividend by 15%, or 40 cents, to €3.0 per share. 

The company also has a €1.2 billion stock repurchase plan ending in 2026. 

X5 Retail Group traded at €6.40 after the Russia-based retailer announced its 2023 financial results. 

Revenue increased 20.8% to 3.2 billion rubles from 2.6 billion rubles, and net income increased 73% to 90.2 million rubles from 32.3 million rubles. 

Net selling space across all retail formats increased 12.1% to 10.2 million square meters from 9.1 million square meters. 

Secunet Securities Network decreased 3% to €158.60 after the cybersecurity company reported mixed financial results in 2023 and proposed a dividend of €2.36 per share. 

2023 revenue increased 13% to 393.7 million from 347.2 million, primarily driven by the sustained rise in contracts with government agencies. 

Earnings before interest and taxes declined to 43.0 million from 47.0 million a year ago, driven by a change in product mix that included a lower proportion of high-margin licenses. 

The company issued a cautious 2024 sales outlook, despite the high order backlog at the start of the year of 190.2 million compared to 197.6 million. 

2024 sales are likely to match the sales level in the previous year because of high uncertainty related to the German federal government's budget. 

BMW declined 0.9% to €103.86, and the luxury automaker reported strong vehicle sales and a rise in operating earnings last week. 

Global vehicle sales rose 6.4% to 2.55 million from 2.34 million, and battery-operated vehicle sales jumped 74.1% to 375,716 from 215,752 a year ago. 

In 2023, sales increased 9% to €155.5 million from €142.6 million, and operating earnings jumped 32% to €18.4 billion from €14.0 billion a year ago. 

The company lowered its proposed dividend to €6.02 per share compared to €8.50 a year ago, but it is still within the range of the payout ratio between 30% and 40%.