Nordics SECURITAS was up SEK13.50 to SEK145.50. The company revealed better-than-expected fourth quarter 2005 sales of SEK17.7 billion, leading to pretax profit of SEK1.02 billion, also ahead of consensus. Net profit amounted to SEK755 million in the fourth quarter, with operating profit at SEK1.19 billion (operating margin of 7.6%).
ALFA LAVAL was up SEK17.50 to SEK183.50. The company unveiled fourth quarter 2005 sales of SEK4.68 billion vs. SEK4.534 billion in the previous year and vs. SEK4.571 billion consensus forecast. Order intake landed at SEK5.02 billion. Pretax profit came in at SEK276 million, below consensus, and net profit amounted to SEK304.7 million.
Spain ALTADIS was up €1.24 to €36.89. The company said it is not in negotiations with Imperial Tobacco. Nevertheless, shares jumped as M&A talk resurfaced.
FERROVIAL was down €1.40 to €65.60. BAA is braced to repel a prospective bid from the company, reported the FT. BAA said yesterday that it advises its shareholders to take no action following the company’s statement that it is considering buying BAA.
France RENAULT was up €0.75 to €76.40. The carmaker posted fiscal year gross operating profit of €1.323 billion, -37.4%, below market consensus of €1.39 billion, net income €3.367 billion. The company saw revenue of € 41.33 billion, +1.9%.
HAVAS AD. was up €0.12 to €4.00. The company posted fourth quarter sales of € 1.460 billion, ahead of guidance of €1.41 billion; organic growth +2.5%, fourth quarter sales €420 million, with organic growth +1.8%. The company said new business wins were 24% higher year-over-year in 2005.
PERNOD RICARD was down €8.60 to €143.60. First half 2006 sales were €3.268 billion, +67%, vs. consensus of €3.23 billion. The company confirmed its synergy target of € 300 million with Allied Domecq.
Switzerland SYNGENTA was up CHF10.90 to CHF177.90. The company is increasing its dividend to CHF3.30 from CHF2.70 in the form of a par value repayment, and is also offering shareholders a put option with an initial value of CHF1.50 and would give each shareholder the right to sell a fixed number of shares back to the company.
United Kingdom BAA was up £ 0.27 to £7.80. Moody's kept a stable outlook on the company with Baa1 long-term and short-term ratings. It said that if a cash offer were to materialize, it would likely incorporate a material element of debt finance and would thus have a downward impact on the company's ratings.
TESCO was down £ 0.06 to £ 3.21. The company announced that it intends to enter the US through the development of a new convenience format, beginning on the West Coast in 2007. It said the development of the business will be through organic growth, with initial planned capital expenditure of up to £250 million per year, which will be funded from existing resources, with break-even expected by the end of the second full year of operation.
SMITH & NEPHEW was down £ 0.10 to £ 5.21. The company announced adj. fiscal year EPS up 14% to 23.74p, ahead of forecasts, on revenues up 11% to £1.407 billion. It said the trading margin improved to 20.6% while trading profit was up 16% to £290 million.
BG PLC was up £0.58 to £6.76. The company reported fiscal 2005 revenues up 39% to £5.66 billion, after an 81% gain in the fourth quarter to £2.098 billion. Total operating profit including joint ventures was up 57% for the fiscal year at £2.38 billion after a 97% gain in the fourth quarter to £858 million.
BT GROUP (BT) was down £0.04 to £2.09. The company reported third quarter revenues up 8% to £4.95 billion, or up 3% ex-acquisitions.
Netherlands ABN AMRO (ABN) was up €0.75 to €24.54. In line with earlier announcements, the company said it is commencing the buyback of its own shares. Shares to a total amount of €600 million will be bought back by June 30, 2006.
UNILEVER NV (UN) was up €0.80 to €59.35. The company reported fiscal year sales of €39.672 billion up 3% year-over-year, operating profit of €5.314 billion was up 25% year-over-year, pretax profit of €4.751 billion was up 28% year-over-year, net profit from continuing operations of €3.502 billion, up 21% year-over-year, and EPS of €3.88, up 37% year-over-year.
Germany LUFTHANSA was down €0.03 to €13.62. January passenger numbers were up 3.1% to 3.64 million and traffic was 0.8% higher. The passenger load factor for the month fell 1.3 percentage points to 72%. Freight and post carried fell 3.1% to 123,000 tons last month.
PROSIEBEN was up €0.70 to €20.70. Credit Suisse lifted its target to €23.00 from €18.50 as it sticks to an outperform rating. SocGen lifted its fair value on the company's stock to €19.20 from €17.0; hold. Exane BNP-Paribas upgraded it to neutral from underperform.
HOCHTIEF was up €1.28 to €44.63. The Daily Telegraph sees the company as part of the consortium bidding for UK airports operator BAA. This was firmly refuted by the company. Meanwhile, Custodia Holding, a Munich-based commercial property investor owned by billionaire August von Finck, has reportedly increased its stake in the company to more than 25%. A further increase might be possible.
Italy UNICREDIT was up €0.13 to €5.89. An EU Commissioner has accused Poland of being uncooperative as the Commission probed Warsaw's handling of Europe's largest cross-border banking merger, Reuters reported.
Prepared by Zaida Espana, Valerie Vidal, Michael Sanderson, Mariella Mongio, Alexander Wisch, Holly Cook, Emma Stevenson, Pawan Girglani, Julien Manrique, and Rocio Opazo-Aniotz (Standard & Poor's); Alex Halperin (BusinessWeek Online)
All of the views expressed in this research report accurately reflect the research analyst's personal views regarding any and all of the subject securities or issuers. No part of analyst compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this research report. Standard & Poor's Regulatory Disclosure
Any advice, analysis, or recommendations contained in articles labeled "Insight from Standard & Poor's" reflect the views of Standard & Poor's, which operates separately from and independently of BusinessWeek Online. It is possible that BWOL may from time to time publish information that is not consistent with advice, analysis, or recommendations that are published by Standard & Poor's. Standard & Poor's and BusinessWeek Online are each units of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Printer-Friendly Version