Europe Movers: Hella, Nexi SpA, St James's Place

Inga Muller
03 Mar, 2025
Frankfurt

Nexi SpA surged 9% to €5.06 after the Italian bank focused on payment processing reported steady revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Revenue jumped 3.7% to €942.4 million from €908.6 million a year ago.

Revenue for the full year 2024 increased 5.1% to €3.51 billion from €3.34 billion, profit climbed to €167.36 million from a loss of €1.0 billion, and normalized earnings per share rose 11% to 59 cents from 54 cents a year ago.

The company guided for fiscal 2025 revenue in the "low-to-mid-single-digit growth," affected by mergers and acquisitions and the banks’ contracts renegotiations.

The company proposed a dividend of 25 cents per share for a total of €300 million, up 20% from the previous year, as well as a share buyback program for €300 million.

HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA dropped 2% to €89.00 after the German automotive parts supplier reported preliminary results for fiscal 2024 ending in December.

Sales remain at the previous year's level of €8.0 billion, operating income decreased to €446 million from €486 million a year ago, and the operating income margin declined to 5.6% from 6.1% in fiscal 2023.

The company guided for fiscal 2025 adjusted sales between €7.6 billion and €8.0 billion and an operating income margin between 5.3% and 6%, compared to 5.6% in 2024.

St James’s Place Plc. dropped 3.6% to 1,058 pence after the British financial advice and wealth management company reported increased fee and commission income for the fiscal year 2024 ending in December.

Fee and commission income climbed to £3.16 billion from £2.79 billion, profit increased to £398.4 million from a loss of £10.1 million, and earnings per diluted share rose to 72.6 pence from a loss of 1.8 pence a year ago.

The company paid total dividends of 14 pence per share, down from 53.02 pence per share in 2023, for a total of £76.6 million, down from £289.6 million in 2023.

St. James’s Place proposed a final dividend of 12 pence per share for a total of £65.3 million, payable on May 23 to shareholders on the register as of April 11.

In addition, the wealth management company committed to buy back shares for up to £92.6 million, starting on February 28.

Bunzl Plc. gained 0.9% to 3,368 pence after the British distribution and outsourcing company reported lower earnings results for fiscal 2024 ending in December.

Revenue decreased to £11.78 billion from £11.80 billion, profit declined to £501.0 million from £526.2 million, and earnings per share fell to 149.6 pence from 157.1 pence a year ago.

The company guided for fiscal 2025 revenue growth, driven by announced acquisitions and a slight increase in underlying revenue growth.

The group operating margin is expected to be maintained in line with 2024 and to remain substantially higher compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The total dividend in the year rose 8.2% to 73.9 pence per share from 68.3 per share in 2023.