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Europe: Earnings lift markets

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Date: Wednesday 07 May 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - A number of forecast-beating earnings helped Europe’s main markets aim higher at lunchtime.

Commerzbank advanced after first-quarter earnings came in slightly better than expected. The German bank saw profits fall by 54% to €280m after write-downs of €244m.

Shares in Lafarge jumped after the French cement maker reported forecast-beating first-quarter figures. Profit fell to €150m from €362m last time, while sales rose by 8% to €4bn.

France Telecom’s 1.4% rise in first-quarter revenue to €13.03bn also came in above previous expectations.

Deutsche Boerse gained as the exchange operator reported a 58% increase in first-quarter profit after the close last night.

Nokian Renkaat, a former unit of mobile-phone maker Nokia, soared in Finland after the tire maker gave a bullish outlook for the rest of this year, while first-quarter profit also beat analyst forecasts.

The German Dax rose 61 points to 7,079, the French CAC is up 31 points to 5,072, while the Swiss market added 34 points to 7,577.

In economic news, euro zone retail sales fell 0.4% in March from last month and 1.6% year-on-year, according to EU statistics office Eurostat.