European Markets Weekly Surge; Vinci, Ahold Up

123jump.com Staff
05 Mar, 2010
New York City

European markets closed higher and the benchmark index in Athens soared 9%. Investors surmised that the EU will provide a bailout to Greece after Greek lawmakers passed budget cuts meeting the demands of EU nations and regulators. Vinci SA and Ahold NV gained on earnings.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets closed higher and the benchmark index in Athens soared 9%. Investors surmised that the EU will provide a bailout to Greece after Greek lawmakers passed budget cuts meeting the demands of EU nations and regulators. Vinci SA and Ahold NV gained on earnings.][/R]

Fourth quarter gross domestic product in the euro area and wider zone of 27 nations increased 0.1% compared to previous quarter. Seasonally adjusted GDP compared to the quarter a year ago decreased 2.1% in the euro area and 2.3% in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2009.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 72.60 or 1.31% to 5,599.76, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 82.01 or 2.14% to close at 3,910.42, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 82.04 or 1.42% to close at 5,877.36. In Zurich trading SMI increased 42.91 or 0.63% to close at 6,847.78.

The ASE Index in Greece soared 8.8% after Greek parliament passed the budget cuts proposed by the government. National Bank of Greece SA rallied 13% and EFG Eurobank Ergasias advanced 11%.

Greece completed its offering of 5 billion euros drawing interests from Germany, UK and Asia.

In a statement released by HSBC Plc, one of the bond underwriting managers said Greece based investors took 23% of the offering, followed by German and UK investors bought collectively 34% and Asian investors purchased 8% of the offering.

The underwriting team increased the fees to 0.2% of the offering compared to 0.15% of size in January bond offering.

Glencore International AG is looking to raise $1 billion through asset sale to the purchase of coal mining unit Prodeco based in Colombia from Xstrata Plc.

The Swiss based commodities trading company said today it exercised to buyback Prodeco for $2.25 billion plus adjustments for profits and investments from Xstrata.

Glencore said to investors in a statement reviewed by 123jump.com said that the company has line up $1 billion of bridge loans.

The Caribbean coast facility has proven reserves of 250 million tons of coals reserves and also 40% stake in the railways that connect to the port.

Gainers & Losers

Air Berlin Plc rose 1.2% to €4.15 after the airline after Lufthansa, said the number of passengers its planes carried rose by 3.1% in February after falling in January.

Areva SA fell 0.1% to €350 after the builder of nuclear reactors said fiscal 2009 revenues rose 6% to €8.5 billion from €8.01 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 6% to €552 million compared to net profit of €589 million a year ago.

Autogrill SpA added 0.1% to €9.02 after the provider of food & beverage and retail services said fiscal 2009 revenues fell 1% to €5.73 billion from €5.79 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 56% to €37 million compared to net profit of €83.7 million a year ago.

Casino Guichard Perrachon SA decreased 0.02% to €60.42 after the retailer said fiscal 2009 revenues fell 1% to €26.8 billion from €27.1 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 8.8% to €543 million or €4.75 per diluted share compared to net profit of €499 million or €4.23 per share a year ago.

ERG SpA rose 1.6% to €9.72 an oil refiner said fourth quarter revenues fell 1.3% to €1.73 billion from €2.01 billion a year ago. Net loss for the quarter was €27 million compared to net loss of €12 million a year ago.

Finmeccanica SpA rose 0.9% to €10.08 after the operator in aerospace, defense and security sectors said fiscal 2009 revenues rose 21% to €18.2 billion from €15.0 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 14.5% to €654 million or €1.13 per diluted share compared to net profit of €571 million or €1.29 per share a year ago.

K+S AG the agro-chemical maker rose 1% to €46.48.

Linde AG fell 0.5% to €85.05 an industrial gases and engineering company said fiscal 2009 revenues fell 12% to €11.2 billion from €12.7 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 17.6% to €591 million or €3.51 per diluted share compared to net profit of €717 million or €4.27 per share a year ago.

NicOx SA rose 3.7% to €6.14 after the biopharmaceutical company said fiscal 2009 revenues fell 67% to €1.12 million from €3.4 million a year ago. Net loss for the year was €60.4 million or €1.20 per diluted share compared to net loss of €73.9 million or €1.56 per share a year ago.

Nordex AG rose 2.0% to €9.42 after the supplier of wind energy systems said fiscal 2009 revenues rose 3.5% to €1.18 billion from €1.14 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 51% to €24.2 million compared to net profit of €49.5 million a year ago.

Salzgitter AG fell 1.5% to €66.97 after the steel and technology company said fiscal 2009 revenues fell 37% to €7.82 billion from €12.5 billion a year ago. Net loss for the year was €386.9 million compared to net profit of €676.9 million a year ago.

Veolia Environnement dropped 2.6% to €24.34 after the provider of environmental management services said fiscal 2009 revenues fell 3.4% to €34.6 billion from €35.8 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 44% to €584.1 million or €1.24 per diluted share compared to net profit of €405.1 million or €0.88 per share a year ago.

DAX Index Movers

Henkel AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 0.96%, followed by Beiersdorf AG of 0.71%, in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA of 0.65%, in Fresenius SE of 0.44%, and in Merck KGaA of 0.20%.

Commerzbank AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 3.66%, followed by increase in Diamler AG of 3.19%, in Volkswagen AG of 3.12%, in BASF SE of 3.05%, and in K+S AG of 2.89%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Veolia Environnement led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 4.26%.

Societe Generale SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 4.83%.followed by increase in Renault SA of 3.97%, in ArcelorMittal of 3.85%, in BNP Paribas SA of 3.67% and in Alcatel Lucent of 3.59%.