European stocks slightly higher after Trump imposes fresh tariffs

Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, discusses the firm’s fourth-quarter results, the bank’s investment in Commerzbank, and interest rates.

Shares of gambling giant Entain dropped 11% after the company said its chief executive Gavin Isaacs has resigned.

The global gaming company said its non-executive chair Stella David would lead the firm on an interim basis until a permanent replacement has been found.

Entain shares have fallen by about 50% since its 2021 high.

— Ganesh Rao

British oil major BP on Tuesday posted a sharp drop in fourth-quarter profit on weaker refining margins, announcing a $1.75 billion share buyback and a pledge to “fundamentally” reset its strategy.

The energy firm posted underlying replacement cost profit (RC profit) — used as a proxy for net profit — at $1.169 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.99 billion in the same period of last year and with an analyst forecast of $1.2 billion, according to a LSEG poll.

The company attributed its quarterly 48% drop in RC profit to “weaker realized refining margins, higher impact from turnaround activity, seasonally lower customer volumes and fuels margins and higher other businesses & corporate underlying charge.”

Shares of BP were 0.2% higher at 10:37 a.m. London time.

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— Ruxandra Iordache

French luxury goods firm Kering on Tuesday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales that were nevertheless down year-on-year amid lagging demand for its main Gucci label.

The high-end fashion group, whose brands also include Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, posted a 12% decline in fourth-quarter revenues to 4.39 billion euros ($4.52 billion), just slightly ahead of the 4.29 billion euros forecast by LSEG analysts.

Full-year sales dipped 12% to 17.19 billion euros versus an anticipated 17.09 billion euros.

Kering shares popped 6% in opening trade Tuesday, before paring gains to trade up 0.5% by 10:15 a.m. London time.

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— Karen Gilchrist

European markets opened in positive territory on Tuesday, shrugging off the latest raft of tariffs introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

While the pan-European Stoxx 600 index and Germany’s Dax were mostly flat, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up by 0.22%. France’s CAC also opened higher by 0.35%.

— Ganesh Rao

UniCredit said it aims to increase net profit to around 10 billion euros by 2027, with the “ambition” to distribute more to shareholders than it did 2024.

Italy’s second-largest lender posted fourth-quarter net profit that beat expectations amid market focus on the bank’s M&A overtures.

Net profit attributable to the group came in at 1.969 billion euros ($2.03 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared with an analyst forecast of 1.803 billion euros, according to a LSEG-compiled consensus.

The company also said it aims to raise its returns on tangible equity above 17% over the next three financial years from the current 16.6%, making it one of the most efficiently run large banks in Europe.

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— Ganesh Rao

Novartis is set to buy Boston-based Anthos Therapeutics for $925 million in a bid to strengthen its late-stage cardiovascular treatment pipeline.

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said that further payments of up to $2.15 billion could be made if “specified regulatory and sales milestones” were met by Anthos.

Founded in 2019, Anthos Therapeutics has developed abelacimab, a medicine for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in some patients, from the clinical stage through the ongoing phase-3 clinical trial.

Novartis expects the transaction to close in the first half of this year.

— Ganesh Rao

European markets are expected to open in mixed territory Tuesday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 8 points lower at 8,770, Germany’s DAX down 29 points at 21,903, France’s CAC down 12 points at 7,999 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 41 points higher at 37,378, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Kering, BP, Dunelm, TUI Group, Ams-OSRAM and Unicredit. On the data front, French unemployment figures are due.

— Holly Ellyatt