European equities drift as Ibex 35 opens lower amid a wave of corporate results
The Ibex 35 began Wednesday with a slight dip of 0.16%, taking the index to 10,097.31 points as the day unfolds with a batch of corporate earnings from Spain hitting the market.
Before the bell, Aena disclosed a record net profit of 1,630.8 million euros for 2023, up 80.9% from 2022, helped by extraordinary items including deposits remunerations in Brazil of 36.3 million euros and currency differences of 11.2 million euros.
Amadeus reported a net profit of 1,123.9 million euros in 2023, up 59.8% from 703.1 million the prior year, while Redeia posted a net profit of 689.6 million euros in 2023, a 3.7% rise from 664.7 million euros in the previous year.
Indra meanwhile registered a net profit of 206 million euros in 2023, up 19.8% from 172 million in the prior year, and announced a dividend of 0.25 euros per share payable from 2023 earnings, matching the payout of the previous year.
Endesa achieved a net profit of 742 million euros in 2023, down 71% from 2,541 million in the previous year due to fewer extraordinary gains, including the disposal gains from selling part of its electric mobility business to its parent Enel, along with government levies on utilities and other one-off gas-related effects and a dispute ruling affecting a supply contract with Qatar.
Audax reported a 31.4 million euro profit in 2023, a fourfold increase of 304% versus 7.8 million in the prior year.
In early trading, the Ibex 35’s top movers were Grifols up 0.89%, Banco Santander up 0.34%, Amadeus up 0.32%, and Redeia up 0.27%. Lagging behind were Repsol down 1.1%, ArcelorMittal down 0.54%, and BBVA down 0.32%.
Across Europe, major indices opened with mixed results. Paris and Frankfurt edged higher by 0.04% and 0.02% respectively, while Milan slipped 0.47% and London fell 0.24%.
Turning to commodities, Brent crude, a European benchmark, slipped 0.52% to around 82.23 dollars per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at 78.45 dollars, down 0.53%.
Foreign exchange markets showed the euro trading at about 1.0824 dollars, while Spanish 10-year government bond yields rose to 3.351% on the day.
Source attributions: market data and earnings figures are compiled from official company disclosures and market reports.