Europe Movers: Holcim, Pearson, Rightmove, Saint-Gobain, Teleperformance, WPP

Inga Muller
28 Feb, 2025
Frankfurt

Saint-Gobain dropped 1.3% to €94.90 after the French producer of construction, high-performance, and other materials reported lower revenue in fiscal 2024 ending in December.

Sales dropped 2.9% to €46.57 billion from €47.94 billion, net income increased 6.6% to €2.84 billion from €2.67 billion, and earnings per diluted share rose 8.2% to €5.69 from €5.26 a year ago.

The company expects an operating margin of more than 11.0% in 2025, compared to 11.4% in 2024.

Saint-Gobain proposed a 5% increase of dividend to €2.20 per share for 2024, and its total shareholder return was 32%.

The company said it completed its share buyback program one year earlier than expected and announced a new €400 million stock repurchase program in 2025.

WPP Plc. plunged 15.6% to 650 pence after the UK-based advertising and public relations company offered a muted revenue outlook, impacted by weakness in China and U.S. uncertainty.

Revenue in fiscal 2024 declined 0.7% to £14.74 billion from £14.84 billion, profit dropped 5.6% to £969 million from £1.03 billion, and earnings per diluted share fell 5.9% to 88.3 pence from 93.8 pence a year ago.

The company guided comparable revenue to be flat to down 2%, with performance improving in the second half of 2025.

The advertising services provider said the operating margin is expected to be around flat, excluding the impact of foreign exchange.

Last year, WPP sold its majority stake in FGS Global for $1.7 billion, unlocking significant value for its shareholders.

Holcim AG dropped 0.6% to CHF 95.66 after the Swiss building materials manufacturer beat analyst expectations for the fourth quarter of 2024 ending in December.

Net sales declined 2.2% to CHF 26.41 billion from CHF 27.01 billion, net income fell 4.4% to CHF 2.93 billion from CHF 3.06 billion, and earnings per share decreased 2.3% to CHF 5.24 from CHF 5.37 a year ago.

Net sales in the fourth quarter dropped 1.9% to CHF 6.47 billion from CHF 6.60 billion a year ago.

The company guided for fiscal 2025 sales growth at mid-single digits in local currency, further expansion of recurring EBIT margin, and earnings per share up 5.3% to CHF 5.70 from CHF 5.24 a year ago.

Holcim proposed an 11% increase in dividend to CHF 3.10 per share.

The company plans the listing of its North American business, on track to occur by the end of the first half of 2025.

Pearson Plc. gained 1.4% to 1,335 pence after the U.K.-based educational publishing and services company reported higher profit in fiscal 2024 ending in December.

Sales declined to £3.55 billion from £3.67 billion, profit jumped to £435 million from £380 million, and earnings per diluted share rose to 63.5 pence from 52.7 pence a year ago.

The company proposed a final dividend of 16.6 pence per share, payable on May 9 to shareholders on the register as of March 21.

Rightmove Plc. gained 0.6% to 674 pence after the U.K.'s largest property portal reported a 7% revenue increase in fiscal 2024 ending in December.

Revenue increased to £389.88 million from £364.32 million, profit declined to £192.71 million from £199.15 million, and earnings per diluted share fell to 24.3 pence from 24.4 pence a year ago.

The company proposed a 7% increase in the final dividend for 2024 to 6.1 pence per share, compared to 5.7 pence per share in 2023, and the total dividend for 2024 is up 5% to 9.8 pence per share, compared to 9.3 pence per share in 2023.

Rightmove returned £181.7 million of surplus cash to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends during 2024, compared to £201.7 million in 2023.

The company guided for fiscal 2025 revenue growth between 8% and 10%, and an underlying operating margin of 70%, flat to 2024.

Teleperformance SE traded flat at €100.20 after the French business process outsourcing company reported revenue acceleration after a year of consolidation.

Revenue in fiscal 2024 increased to €10.28 billion from €8.34 billion, net profit declined to €523 million from €592 million, and earnings per diluted share fell to €8.71 from €10.01 a year ago.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose to €2.68 billion from €2.40 billion a year ago.

The company plans to launch a new investment program in artificial intelligence partnerships with a target of €100 million in 2025, after signing a first partnership with Sanas, a real-time speech understanding provider, on February 19.