Europe Movers: Crest Nicholson, BNP Paribas, Dassault, DSV, NXP Semiconductors, UBS

Inga Muller
04 Feb, 2025
Frankfurt

European stock market indexes lacked direction, and the euro and the pound remained under pressure amid growing possibilities of a trade confrontation with the U.S. 

Spain's jobless rate dropped to the lowest level in 17 years for January.

The DAX index decreased by 0.06% to 21,415.21; the CAC-40 index increased 0.15% to 7,866.62; and the FTSE 100 index declined by 0.15% to 8,571.10.

The yield on 10-year German bonds inched higher to 2.42%, French bonds increased to 3.13%, the UK gilts moved up to 4.60%, and Italian bonds edged higher to 3.53%.

UBS Group AG declined 6% to CHF 29.87 despite the Swiss financial service company posting better-than-expected results in the December quarter. 

Revenue climbed to $31.63 billion from $10.85 billion, net income swung to a profit of $770 million from a loss of $279 million, and earnings per diluted share came in at 23 cents compared to a loss of 9 cents a year ago.

In October 2024, UBS agreed to sell its 50% interest in Swisscard to its partner American Express.

The company’s board proposed a dividend of 90 cents per share, which is payable on April 17 to shareholders of record on April 16.

For fiscal year 2025, UBS plans to increase its dividend by 10%.

In addition, the company plans to repurchase $1 billion of shares in the first half of 2025 and $2 billion of shares in the second half of the year.

BNP Paribas increased 1.7% to €65.40 after the French banking group announced a new stock buyback program and higher-than-expected dividend.

Publicis Group dropped 1.6% to €100.80 despite the French advertising and public relations company posting strong earnings for fiscal year 2024.

Revenue increased 8.3% to €16.03 billion from €14.80 billion, net income jumped 26.5% to €1.66 billion from €1.31 billion, and earnings per diluted share rose 26.6% to €6.62 from €5.23 a year ago.

Personnel costs increased 8.3% compared to the year 2023.

For the full year 2025, the company aims for organic growth of 4% to 5%, driven by a number of acquisitions last year.

Siltronic AG plunged 10.5% to €38.84 after the Munich, Germany-based wafer manufacturer reported preliminary 2024 sales decreased 7% from a year ago to €1.41 billion.

Due to the delayed demand recovery, the company’s targets are expected to be realized after the year 2028, currently impacted by continued high inventories at chip manufacturers and their customers.

The company proposed a reduced dividend of 20 cents per share for fiscal year 2024 to be approved by shareholders on May 12.

Based on 30 million issued shares, this proposal will result in a total payout of €6 million.

DSV fell 3% to 1,354 krona after the Danish transport and logistics company reported lower profit for fiscal year 2024.

Revenue increased to 167.1 billion krona from 150.8 billion krona, profit slumped to 10.2 billion krona from 12.4 billion krona, and earnings per diluted share fell to 47 krona from 57 krona a year ago.

In the fourth quarter, revenue climbed to 43.5 billion krona from 36.5 billion krona a year earlier.

NXP Semiconductors NV surged 1.5% to €203 despite the Dutch company reporting lower earnings for its fourth quarter ending in December.

Revenue declined 9% to $3.11 billion from $3.42 billion, net income dropped to $495 million from $697 million, and earnings per diluted share fell to $1.93 from $2.68 a year ago.

During the quarter, the company paid $258 million in cash dividends.

In addition, NXP completed the repurchase of $455 million of its common shares.

In October, Audi adopted NXP’s Trimension NCJ29Dx Ultra Wide Band devices that deliver real-time localization with hands-free car access.

In December, NXP agreed to acquire Aviva Links for $242.5 million, and in January 2025, the company acquired TT Tech Auto for $625 million.

Crest Nicholson Holdings Plc dropped 0.6% to 174.12 pence after the U.K. home builder posted lower revenue for fiscal year 2024, impacted by exceptional cost of sales.

Revenue declined to £618.2 million from £657.5 million, operating loss came in at £128.7 million from a profit of £29.9 million, and loss per diluted share was 40.4 pence compared to positive earnings of 7.0 pence a year ago.

For fiscal 2025, the company expects profit before tax to be in the range of £28 million to £38 million.

Dassault Systèmes SE gained 4.3% to 38.96 after the French software company reported a 9% software revenue growth for the fourth quarter ending in December.

Total revenue jumped 7% to €1.75 billion from €1.64 billion, net income increased to €410.9 million from €330.3 million, and earnings per diluted share rose to 30 cents from 25 cents a year ago.

For fiscal year 2025, the company estimated revenue growth between 6% and 8% and diluted earnings per share of €1.36 to €1.39.