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European shares steadied early on Wednesday, helped by some calm returning to bond markets and by strong results from France’s Vivendi and Britain’s SABMiller.
Drinks group SABMiller rose 2 per cent after reporting full-year profit above analyst expectations as performance picked up in the later half of the year, but saying trading would continue to be tough in its new financial year.
Media company Vivendi also rose 2 per cent after posting a rise in first-quarter profit and saying it planned to buy the rest of pay-TV operator Canal Plus’ SECP unit.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.2 per cent at 1,578.41 points at 0713 GMT, mirroring a fall in yields across the main euro zone government bonds.
The FTSEurofirst shed 1.3 per cent in the previous session and is down 4.5 per cent from a 14-1/2 year high hit last month.
Investors were also digesting mixed economic data from the euro zone’s two largest economy, with France growing faster than expected in the first quarter, while Germany suffered a bigger-than-forecast slowdown.
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