Summary Net profit rallied 23 percent to 1.42 billion euro’s between January and March.
LONDON (AFP) - European stocks rose on Monday with the pharmaceuticals sector and sterling given a shot in the arm by news of US giant Pfizer s $100 billion merger offer for British rival AstraZeneca.
Drugmakers were lifted also by impressive earnings from Germany s Bayer, and upbeat news from France s Sanofi.
London s benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies advanced 0.25 percent to stand at 6,702.37 points in midday trade.
Frankfurt s DAX 30 gained 0.69 percent to 9,466.17 points and in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.44 percent to 4,462.79 compared with Friday s closing levels.
Pfizer declared on Monday that it wants a blockbuster merger with AstraZeneca to fuel research in cancer, revealing that an informal approach worth almost $100 billion (72 billion euro’s) had been rejected.
Pfizer said a tie-up between two of the world s biggest pharmaceutical groups would "help to fight some of the world s most feared diseases, such as cancer", adding it also benefit the shareholders of both firms.
In reaction, AstraZeneca s share price surged 15.42 percent to 4,708.5 pence, topping the FTSE riser’s board.
Peers GlaxoSmithKline and Shire Pharmaceuticals climbed 0.60 percent and 1.65 percent, to stand at 1,665 pence and 3,263 pence respectively.
"It was the pharmaceutical sector that was still the talk of the market with GSK, Shire and AstraZeneca all leading the FTSE," said Farhan Ahmad, trader at brokerage Tradenext.
"Pfizer is still perusing the takeover of AstraZeneca ... With the prospect of one of the largest ever takeovers in the sector, AstraZeneca shareholders could be tempted."
Chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer, maker of Aspirin, added on Monday it turned in a better first-quarter performance than expected thanks to healthy growth driven by new products.
Net profit rallied 23 percent to 1.42 billion euro’s ($1.96 billion) between January and March, compared with a year earlier.
In reaction, Bayer s share price rallied 4.68 percent to 100.25 euro’s in Frankfurt.
In Paris, French peer Sanofi revealed it had successfully completed the first of two Phase III clinical studies of a proposed dengue vaccine. That sent Sanofi s share price jumping 2.22 percent to 77.85 euro’s.
Monday s Pfizer announcement is the latest in a string of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the global pharmaceuticals industry in recent weeks.
- Sterling soars versus dollar -
The merger proposal also boosted the British pound, which was also lifted by expectations of strong first-quarter economic growth data on Tuesday.
Sterling jumped to $1.6854, the highest level since November 2009, compared with $1.6798 on Friday.
"The news that Pfizer has once again attempted to strike a deal with AstraZeneca is having a positive effect on sterling," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading site Forex.com.
"The reaction in the market could be expectation that Pfizer will have to increase its offer for AstraZeneca, perhaps with a larger cash portion of the deal, which could boost sterling."
The euro rose to $1.3875 from $1.3832 late in New York on Friday. The European single currency firmed to 82.33 British pence from 82.32 pence.
And on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold edged up to $1,302.08 an ounce from $1,301.25 on Friday.
- Asian equities stumble -
Asian markets were mostly lower following a negative lead from Wall Street, while tensions in Ukraine added to selling pressure.
Traders were awaiting the release later in the week of global manufacturing data as well as earnings reports from Japan; while the US Federal Reserve is also due to hold its latest policy meeting.
Hong Kong dipped 0.41 percent, Tokyo slipped 0.98 percent, Seoul lost 0.12 percent and Shanghai dived 1.62 percent in value.
Before the weekend, Wall Street had fallen on Friday led by the tech-rich Nasdaq after a disappointing earnings report from Amazon. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine also hurt sentiment.
