European blue-chip earnings set for strongest growth since late 2022

May 15 (Reuters) - European blue-chip companies are on track ​to ⁠deliver the strongest earnings growth ​since the fourth quarter of 2022, the latest LSEG I/B/E/S data showed on Thursday, though revenue ​was ‌still expected to fall.

Buoyed by exceptional profits from the energy sector and ⁠a better-than-expected performance of financial companies, earnings of European ⁠blue-chips are now expected to ​have grown 11.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, on average.

That is based on results from 265 companies in the benchmark STOXX 600 index and market estimates ​for ‌those that are yet to report.

* European blue-chips are now expected to report a 0.4% decline in first-quarter revenue

* Revenues have lagged earnings in seven out of eight previous quarters

* Companies have taken measures to tackle ​the economic slowdown in recent years by optimising costs in order to improve their ‌earnings

* European energy majors are seen posting profits 50.4% higher than those in the same period last year, ‌thanks to higher oil prices as a result of the war in the Middle East

* Before the outbreak of the conflict, they were forecast ​to fall by 2%

* The European financial sector has also outperformed expectations, with 68% of companies ‌posting earnings above estimates, according to the I/B/E/S data

* The real estate sector, on the other hand, is on track to deliver profits 23.9% below ⁠those of ⁠last year

* The STOXX 600 index is ‌up 4% since the beginning of the year, but still about 3% below pre-war levels

* Norwegian ​and Spanish ​companies in the index are expected to deliver the ‌highest earnings growth on average at 56.3% and 31.5%, respectively

* Meanwhile, respective profits of Portuguese and Danish firms are seen declining 34.3% and 8.5%