By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A deluge of earnings reports is keeping
investors in Europe busy on Thursday, with oil companies one of the
few sectors in black after encouraging earnings reports from Royal
Dutch Shell PLC and BG Group PLC.
Risers
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) jumped 4% after the oil giant said its
second-quarter profit more than doubled, as it benefited from
higher liquid-petroleum prices and higher prices for specific
products.
Another energy heavyweight, BG Group , advanced 2.7% after the
company reported a 25% rise in second-quarter earnings.
Subsea 7 SA rallied 5.9% after the Norwegian seabed-to-surface
engineering contractor said it swung to a profit in the second
quarter.
German health-care group Fresenius SE put on 3.5% after
reporting a rise in second-quarter profit and raising its sales
outlook.
Siemens AG (SIEGY) picked up 1.2% after the German industrial
conglomerate said profit for the third fiscal quarter rose 28%.
BT Group PLC (BT) climbed 1.8% after the U.K. telecom firm
recorded a rise in first-quarter earnings despite lower
revenue.
Losers
Adidas AG slumped 12% after the German sportswear retailer
issued a profit warning for 2014 and pushed its targets back to
2015.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG lost 6.3% after the airline reported
second-quarter earnings below expectations.
Alcatel-Lucent SA slid 6.1% after the French network-equipment
maker reported a loss for the second quarter, although it was
smaller than in the same period last year.
Metro AG gave up 4.6%. The German retailer said it swung to an
unexpected loss in its third fiscal-quarter due to a strong euro
and disposals of business units.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) fell 2.2% after the U.K. lender
said profit fell sharply in the first half of the year due to a
number of legacy charges.
Telefonica SA(TEF) slipped 1.2%. The Spanish telecoms major said
second-quarter profit rose 4.9%, but that revenue continued to fall
in Latin America and most of Europe.
Afren PLC sank 34%. The oil-exploration company said it has
suspended its chief executive officer, Osman Shahenshah, and chief
operating officer, Shahid Ullah, after discovering "unauthorized
payments" potentially made for their benefit.
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