International stocks trading in New York closed lower Wednesday,
with the Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts
dropping 0.3% to 147.34. The European index fell 0.4% to 147.93,
the Asian index edged down 0.1% to 138.90, the Latin American index
declined 0.2% to 265.45 and the emerging-markets index dropped 0.1%
to 264.82. Among the companies with shares that actively traded are
China Eastern Airlines Corp. (CEA, 0670.HK, 600115.SH,
K3CD.SG).
China Eastern Airlines' 2013 net profit fell 25% as intensifying
competition weighed on its profitability. The Chinese carrier,
which operates out of the Shanghai financial hub, said Wednesday
its net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2013, was 2.38
billion Chinese yuan ($387 million), according to Chinese
accounting standards, down from a net profit of CNY3.17 billion a
year earlier. The results were in line with analyst forecasts, but
shares fell 1.1% to $16.50.
Investors on Wednesday dumped shares in Brazilian phone company
Oi SA (OIBR, OIBRC, OIBR4.BR) after Brazil's securities regulator
allowed for a controversial plan for Oi to merge with Portugal
Telecom SGPS SA, Portugal's largest telecom firm. Oi shares fell
8.7% to $1.37.
The U.K. government Wednesday said it has sold a 7.8% stake in
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG, LLOY.LN) at 75.5 pence (123.6 cents)
a share, raising 4.2 billion pounds ($6.9 billion). Shares declined
2.7% to $5.02.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN) on Wednesday said the European
Commission has granted marketing authorization for its once-weekly
diabetes treatment, Eperzan. Shares still edged down 0.6% to
$53.59.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires