Commerzbank swings to loss on revamp costs

Commerzbank AG said Thursday that it swung to a net loss for the final quarter of 2019 as it booked a restructuring charge related to planned job cuts at the lender, and lowered its dividend for the year.

The German company reported a net loss of 54 million euros ($58.9 million) for the quarter, compared with net profit of EUR113 million a year earlier. The loss was narrower than analysts’ views of a EUR113 million net loss, according to a FactSet consensus estimate.

The fourth-quarter loss was driven by a EUR101 million restructuring charge booked in the quarter. The expense is related to the first part of Commerzbank’s announced job cuts.

Revenue excluding exceptional items for the period rose to EUR2.16 billion from EUR2.15 billion, Commerzbank said.

The company proposed a dividend of EUR0.15 a share compared with EUR0.20 a share in 2018.

Commerzbank backed its targets as part of its new strategic plan, and said that, for 2020, it plans to keep a dividend payout ratio at a level comparable to 2019.

The bank said it targets 2020 underlying revenue at least in the level of 2019, and backed its goal of a CET1 ratio of at least 12.75% by the end of 2020.

Rexel FY19 Profit Rises – Quick Facts

Rexel (RXLSF.PK) reported that its fiscal 2019 net income increased 50.3% to 203.8 million euros. Recurring net income was 341.2 million euros, up 7.5%. Adjusted EBITA was 685.1 million euros, an increase of 5.1%.

Fiscal 2019 sales rose 2.8% to 13.7 billion euros from 13.4 billion euros, prior year. Sales were up 1.4% on a constant and same day basis.

Fourth-quarter sales were 3.52 billion euros, up 0.7% on a reported basis. On a constant and same-day basis, sales were down 0.5%, for the quarter.

For 2020, the company projects adjusted EBITA growth of between 2% and 5%.

Rexel will propose to shareholders a dividend of 0.48 euros per share, up 4 cents or 9.0% higher compared to last year.

Barclays Q4 Pre-tax Profit Climbs, Says RoTE View Challenging To Achieve In 2020

British banking major Barclays plc (BARC.L,BCS) reported Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit before tax climbed to 1.10 billion pounds from last year’s 374 million pounds.

Attributable profit was 681 million pounds, compared to a loss of 14 million pounds a year ago. Basic earnings per share were 3.9 pence, compared to loss of 0.1 pence last year.

Excluding litigation and conduct, profit before tax was 1.26 billion pounds, compared to 434 million pounds a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 4.7 pence, compared to prior year’s 0.3 pence.

Total income grew to 5.30 billion pounds from 5.07 billion pounds last year. Net interest income increased to 2.34 billion pounds from prior year’s 2.30 billion pounds.

Further, the company has declared a full year dividend of 6.0p per share. This results in total dividend of 9 pence per share, up from 6.5p in 2018, and three times that of 2017.

Looking ahead, the company said it continues to target >10% RoTE. However, given global macroeconomic uncertainty and the current low interest rate environment, it has become more challenging to achieve this in 2020. Notwithstanding these headwinds, the company believes it can achieve a meaningful improvement in returns in 2020.

Pernod Ricard H1 Profit Up 1%; Lowers FY20 Profit Growth Outlook – Quick Facts

French drinks company Pernod Ricard SA (PDRDF.PK,PDRDY.PK,PRN.L) reported Thursday that its first-half group share of net profit rose 1 percent to 1.032 billion euros from last year’s 1.023 billion euros.

Group share of net profit from recurring operations or PRO grew 10 percent to 1.22 billion euros from 1.11 billion euros a year ago.

Net sales for the year increased 5.6 percent to 5.47 billion euros from 5.19 billion euros last year. Organic net sales growth was 2.7 percent.

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, the company said it remains confident in its strategy despite the particularly uncertain environment from a geopolitical standpoint, with the additional pressure related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

For fiscal 2020, Pernod Ricard said that assuming a severe impact of COVID-19 mainly on the third quarter, organic growth in profit from recurring operations for the year is now projected in a range of 2 percent to 4 percent. The company added it will continue to closely monitor its environment.

Earlier, the company forecast fiscal 2020 organic growth in profit from recurring operations of between 5 percent and 7 percent.

Norwegian Air Shuttle narrows net loss

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA’s fourth-quarter net loss narrowed as the airline continued its comprehensive cost cutting efforts, despite continued headwinds from the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and ongoing Rolls Royce engine issues.

The budget carrier reported a net loss of 1.88 billion Norwegian kroner ($203 million) in the quarter, from a loss of NOK3 billion a year earlier, against a loss of NOK1.4 billion expected in a FactSet analyst poll.

Total operating revenue fell 7.4% to NOK8.94 billion against NOK8.9 billion expected, amid capacity reductions and route optimization across the network.

The MAX grounding has resulted in additional costs of approximately NOK300 million in the quarter and NOK1 billion for 2019, it said.

The company guided for decreased "available seat kilometers," a key airline measure of capacity, of between 13% and 15% in 2020 from 2019.

It is also targeting a unit cost of approximately NOK0.44-NOK0.45 and a unit cost excluding fuel of approximately NOK0.33-NOK0.34 for 2020.

Norwegian said its guidance is based on return to service for the MAX in September 2020 and also assumes reaching agreements on fleet disruptions. The MAX grounding continues to affect both demand, operating expenses and production, it said.

The company continues to optimize the network to make sure the core production is covered for Summer 2020 without the MAX.

"All the above taken into consideration, the company targets a net profit in 2020," Norwegian said.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [email protected]