International stocks trading in New York closed mixed on
Thursday, with the Bank of New York index of American depositary
receipts adding 0.1% to 152.22. The European index rose 0.1% to
152.81, the Asian index fell 0.3% to 141.45, the Latin American
index gained 0.8% to 287.14 and the emerging-markets index rose
0.3% to 278.43. Among the companies with shares that actively
traded were Unilever PLC (UL, ULVR.LN) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN,
AZN.LN).
Unilever said it would raise prices in emerging markets across
its range of consumer goods and food products as it attempts to
tackle currency weakness amid falling sales. The consumer-products
company on Thursday reported a decline in first-quarter sales as
currency weakness across emerging markets continued to weigh on its
performance. Shares fell 1.3% to $43.61.
AstraZeneca's profit fell sharply in the first quarter, dented
by generic competition to its drugs, higher research, development
and sales expenses, and foreign-exchange movements. Shares in the
U.K. drug maker have risen this week after rumors emerged over the
weekend of a takeover approach from Pfizer Inc. AstraZeneca Chief
Executive Pascal Soriot declined to comment Thursday on takeover
speculation. People familiar with the matter have told The Wall
Street Journal that there are no talks or negotiations currently
going on between the two companies. AstraZeneca's shares rose 1.8%
to $69.01.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 600028.SH, 0386.HK),
China's largest oil refiner, said it appointed banks to handle the
sale of part of its retail assets, which include thousands of gas
stations and convenience stores. Shares fell 0.9% to $91.40.
Novartis AG (NVS, NOVN.VX) reported a more-than-20% jump in
first-quarter earnings, as the Swiss pharmaceutical company
provided clues as to how it will wring profit from a major overhaul
of its sprawling operations announced earlier this week.
Basel-based Novartis said it is forming a "shared-services
organization" that will consolidate support functions that are
currently spread throughout the company, which operates in 140
countries. Shares fell 1.8% to $84.59.
Banco Bradesco SA (BBD, BBDO, BBDC4.BR), one of Brazil's largest
banks in terms of assets, expects to accelerate its credit
expansion this year, after a relatively tepid performance in the
first quarter. The company posted better-than-expected net profit,
but its total credit portfolio expanded just 10.4% in the period.
Shares rose 1.8% to $15.12.
Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) directors said Thursday that rivals
are picking off the bank's top staff because it can't compete on
pay. The claim was made at an unruly annual meeting of the bank's
shareholders, during which one of the lender's biggest shareholders
delivered an unusual public reprimand on remuneration. The company
also said that a continuing slowdown in fixed-income trading would
push adjusted first-quarter profit lower than in the same quarter
last year. The caution came in a brief trading update issued before
the annual shareholder meeting. Shares rose 0.7% to $16.93.
China's state-run oil producer Cnooc Ltd. (CEO, 0883.HK) said
the chief executive of its Canadian-based unit Nexen Energy is
being succeeded by a veteran Chinese-national engineer with 30
years of experience in the industry, but that it doesn't plan to
change company strategy. Shares fell 0.6% to $162.44.
State-controlled PetroChina Co. (PTR, 0857.HK, 601857.SH,
K3OD.SG), China's largest oil company by production capacity, on
Thursday said its first-quarter net profit fell 4.9% from a year
earlier, due mainly to rising costs and a decline in international
crude prices. Shares fell 0.5% to $112.45.
Unable to solve a tax dispute with Indian authorities, Nokia
Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) on Thursday said it is unlikely that it would
be able to include a large phone plant in India in a wider deal to
transfer its phone business to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). Shares of
Nokia were flat at $7.30.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG, LLOY.LN) has appointed Nick
Prettejohn as a nonexecutive director of the lender and as chairman
of its Scottish Widows subsidiary. The 24.9% government-owned bank
added that Mr. Prettejohn, who will join the group on June 23, also
will serve as a member of the bank's audit and risk committees.
Shares edged up 0.2% to $5.11.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
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