Europe Movers: Commerzbank, Inditex, Rentokil Initial, Ricardo, Rightmove, Santander Bank Polska, UniCredit

Inga Muller
11 Sep, 2024
Frankfurt

European markets lacked direction ahead of the release of monetary policy decisions and economic projections on Thursday. The UK's GDP stagnated for the second month in a row in July. 

The DAX index increased by 0.3% to 18,340.93; the CAC-40 index rose by 0.3% to 7,429.59; and the FTSE 100 index rose by 0.1% to 8,211.59. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged lower to 2.13%, French bonds inched lower to 2.83%, the UK gilts edged down to 3.78%, and Italian bonds increased to 3.49%.

Commerzbank soared 16.8% to €14.73, and the German government agreed to sell its 4.5% stake in the bank to Italian lender UniCredit. 

UniCredit said it plans to seek permission to acquire an additional stake in the German bank, according to sources in the German finance ministry. 

The Italian lender acquired the entire stake priced at €13.20 per share for €702 million, making UniCredit the largest shareholder in the German bank. 

Santander Bank Polska declined 7.9% to 463.0 zloty after parent company Banco Santander sold a 5.2% stake in the Polish bank. 

Rightmove Plc increased 0.3% to 673.0 pence after the UK-based property platform rejected an acquisition offer from the Australia-based REA Group. 

Ricardo plc declined 1.5% to 508.0 pence despite the renewable energy-focused company announcing improved financial results in fiscal year 2024. 

Rentokil Initial plc plunged 18.5% to 385.90 pence after the pest control company issued a profit warning. 

Inditex increased 4.4% to €48.30 after the Spanish apparel company reported strong first-half results. 

Sales in the first-half increased 7.2% to €18.1 billion and net income advanced 10.1% to €2.8 billion. 

The increase in sales were driven by the success of its Spring/Summer collections. 

Total sales, including store sales and online sales, between August 1 and September 8 rose 11% from a year ago, suggesting positive impact on its results in the third quarter.