In Europe, the stock markets opened on Thursday with mixed results. The Euro Stoxx 600 general index was down 0.3 percent, while London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent and Germany’s DAX index was down 0.4 percent. Stockholm’s OMXS30 index also saw a decline of 0.3 percent.
Several large European companies released their earnings reports on Thursday, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Nestle, and Airbus. Deutsche Bank reported a profit increase to 1.275 billion euros in the first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations by 275 million euros compared to their predicted result of 1.23 billion euros. The company’s net sales also rose by 1 percent year-on-year to 7.8 billion euros, close to the forecast of 7.73 billion euros.
Barclays also exceeded analysts’ expectations with a first-quarter profit fall to £185 million pounds, down from £257 million pounds a year ago. Analysts had expected an operating loss of £926 million due to increased costs and lower revenue from financial services operations in Africa and Asia Pacific region.
Nestle reported a decline in revenue by 5.9 percent from a year ago to CHF22 billion (Swiss franc), falling short of analysts’ forecasts by CHF486 million (Swiss franc). However, the company’s gross margin expanded by two percentage points due to increased pricing and volume growth in emerging markets such as China and India where it has been present for more than two decades now .
Meanwhile, British mining giant Anglo American announced that Australian competitor BHP had made a purchase offer of £31 billion pounds for its Australian assets which includes mines and exploration licenses in Australia’s Pilbara region . The offer is currently under evaluation by Anglo American’s board who are considering if it align with the company’s long term strategy and if there will be any synergies between the two companies after the merger . If this deal goes through , it could mark one of the largest mergers in the mining industry in recent years .
