Europe Movers: ABB, ATOSS, Glencore, Hexagon AB, Novartis, SKF, Symrise, Stolt-Nielsen

Inga Muller
31 Jan, 2025
Frankfurt

Benchmark indexes in Germany and the UK hovered near record highs, and investors reviewed the latest batch of corporate updates. 

France's consumer inflation in January accelerated for the fourth month in a row, Germany's jobless rate in January jumped to a multi-month high, and Spain's retail sales in December advanced by an annual pace of 4%.  

The DAX index moved higher by 0.06% to 21,739.32; the CAC-40 index climbed 0.4% to 7,972.21; and the FTSE 100 index advanced by 0.4% to 8,682.65. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds inched higher to 2.48%, French bonds declined to 3.23%, the UK gilts moved down to 4.54%, and Italian bonds edged lower to 3.57%.

ABB Ltd plunged 2% to 606.60 krona although the Swedish engineering company reported higher sales, earnings and orders in the fourth quarter 2024.

Revenue increased 4% to $8.09 billion from $7.65 billion, net income jumped 7% to $987 million from $921 million, and earnings per diluted share rose to 54 cents from 50 cents a year ago.

Revenue in Europe declined 2% although orders in the region rose 9% on comparable basis, led by the Netherlands, while orders in Italy slumped 39%.

Orders in the Americas and Asia, Middle East and Africa also jumped, up 7% and 4%, respectively, led by Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, and despite weakness in Canada and India.

Orders in the machine builder segment declined, while the buildings segment improved despite weakness in China.

On December 18, the company agreed to acquire the power electronics product business of Gamesa Electric in Spain from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, the provider of onshore wind turbine technologies.

The company’s board proposed to increase an ordinary dividend to 0.90 Swiss franc compared to 0.84 Swiss franc in the previous year.

ABB also announced a new $1.5 billion stock repurchase plan, ending on January 28, 2026.

Glencore surged 2.7% to 354.90 pence after the Swiss commodity company released its 2024 production report.

The company’s coal business was supported by the acquisition of Elk Valley Resources, following the significant growth in its Argentina copper resources base reported in 2023.

Glencore saw steady additions to its mineral reserve base, notably in copper, bauxite and steelmaking coal.

In the second half of year 2024 copper production increased 6% and zinc volumes jumped 17% compared to the first half of the year.

Coal energy volumes increased 5.2 million tons in line with operational and logistical improvements in Australia and South Africa, while steelmaking coal added 13.1 million tons, a near fivefold increase versus first year-half, reflecting a 12.5 million tons contribution from EVR.

For full-year 2024, steel making coal production soared to 19.9 million tons from 7.5 million tons, and realized price decreased $201.5 per ton from $267.40 per ton a year ago, respectively. 

Unit production cost fell to $115.6 per ton in2024 from $141.30 a ton in 2023. 

Symrise AG dropped 1.9% to €99.46 although the German chemicals company reported strong full-year 2024 results.

Gross profit increased to €1.96 billion from €1.69 billion, net income jumped to €478.2 million from €340.5 million, and earnings per share rose to €3.42 from €2.44 a year ago.

Sales in Europe, Africa and the Middle East grew 10.9%, in North America up 1.5%, in the Asia Pacific region up 9.3%, and in Latin America up 15.2% year-on-year.

Growth in the taste, nutrition and health segment was 7.8% and in scent and care sales were up 8.9%.

Stolt-Nielsen Ltd dropped 1.5% to €26.55 after the sea farm and transportation company posted mixed fourth-quarter earnings.

Revenue increased to $709.4 million from $695.2 million, net profit declined to $130.4 million from $140 million, and earnings per diluted share fell to $1.71 from $1.84 a year ago.

The company swung to profit in four of its eight business segments, with the highest growth in tank containers, sea farm, and terminals. 

Stolt-Nielsen agreed to acquire all shares of Avenir LNG Ltd during the first quarter of 2025.

Avenir LNG owns and operates a fleet of five small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels, with two new-buildings under construction.

SKF gained 0.9% to 227.80 krona after the Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company reported strong fourth-quarter results.

Net sales increased to 24.73 billion krona from 24.44 billion krona; operating profit climbed to 2.33 billion krona from 1.93 billion krona, and earnings per share rose to 3.31 krona from 1.37 krona a year ago.

Sales in the company’s industrial segment rose 1.1%, while in automotive they were up 1.8%, supported by strong sales in India and Southeast Asia.

In October SKF completed the acquisition of John Sample Group’s lubrication and flow management businesses.

Novartis AG jumped 3.8% to CHF 97.40 after the Swiss pharmaceutical company reported better-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter, and the company lifted its dividend. 

Hexagon AB soared 8.2% to 128.55 krona after the Swedish engineering company reported an unexpected increase in its operating profit. 

ATOSS Software SE jumped 4.7% to €120.0 after the workforce management software developer proposed to increase the dividend after profit advanced in the fourth quarter. 

Smiths Group plc soared 11.5% to 2,084.0 pence after the UK-based diversified industrial company announced a number of steps to improve its operations. 

In addition, the company announced its plans to expand its stock repurchase program to £500 million from £150 million and extended the period to December 2025 from March 2025.