Rolls-Royce shares soar 9% on bumper profit and sales

Rolls-Royce: Data centers are a 'huge potential' business opportunity

Jet engine maker Rolls-Royce shares soared 10% after the company raised its full year underlying operating profit forecast to more than £3.1 billion to £3.2 billion ($4.1 billion to 4.2 billion), compared to the £2.8 billion expected by the market.

— Ganesh Rao

'A lot of volatility': Anglo American CEO reacts to Trump's watered down copper tariffs

Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad said U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise decision to pare back copper tariffs comes at a time of heightened market volatility.

The U.S. president on Wednesday said the White House would impose a 50% tariff on copper prices and wiring, falling short on expectations of sweeping restrictions.

“Certainly, a lot of volatility in markets around tariffs generally and particularly as they flow through to metals,” Wanblad told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.

“And I think we're finding ourselves in a place, which is what the market is reacting to right now, where we have quite a material dislocation of where certain inventories are in the world at this particular point in time.”

Anglo American, a global mining company that holds a significant portfolio of copper assets, said the demand fundamentals for copper look “great” over the long term, underpinned by robust demand amid the energy transition. Supply, however, continues to look constrained, Wanblad said.

Unilever's second-quarter sales rise despite price hikes

Consumer goods giant Unilever on Thursday posted second-quarter sales that beat expectations, as shoppers lapped up its suite of products spanning Hellmann's Mayonnaise and Dove soap, despite price hikes.

Underlying sales growth ticked up 3.8% in the three months to June 30, ahead of the 3.6% forecast in a company-compiled poll.

More than half of that was driven by price rises, primarily in the Vaseline maker's personal care and beauty and well-being businesses. Prices hikes were also most prevalent in the Americas but less so in Europe.

Unilever said that its ice cream business, known as The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which began operating independently on July 1, is on track for full demerger in mid-November.

The company also reported underlying operating profit of 5.8 billion euros ($6.6 billion) for the first half, slightly ahead of forecasts of 5.7 billion, and it retained its full-year guidance for underlying sales growth of 3% to 5%.

Oil giant Shell posts beat on profit despite sharp annual drop

Britain's Shell on Thursday reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit, amid a drop in global oil and gas prices.

The energy giant posted adjusted earnings of $4.26 billion for the three months through June, beating analyst expectations of $3.87 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.

A separate, company-provided analyst forecast had expected Shell's second-quarter profit to come in at $3.74 billion.

Profits at world's largest brewer jump in the second quarter

Profits at the world's largest brewer AB InBev rose ahead of expectations in the second-quarter as sales in its key U.S. market ticked up during the approach to summer.

Operating profits at the Budweiser maker climbed 6.5% over the three-month period to $5.3 billion, ahead of analyst expectations for a 5.7% rise.

Revenues were up 3% to $16 billion, even as volumes declined 2.1%. It also flagged an 2.1% uptick in U.S. sales over the period following declines in the prior quarter.

“The resilience of the beer category and the continued momentum of our megabrands delivered another quarter of profitable growth,” CEO Michel Doukeris said in a statement.

The company maintained its 2025 outlook for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to grow in line with its medium-term outlook of between 4% and 8%.

Here are the opening calls

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC's live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Thursday.

Futures data from IG suggest a broadly positive open for European indexes, with London's FTSE 100 seen opening 0.1% higher, France's CAC 40 unchanged, Germany's DAX up 0.2%, and Italy's FTSE MIB 0.3% higher.

European markets closed in mixed territory Wednesday, with sectors diverging as second-quarter earnings season ramped up.

There will be more earnings today, with Unilever, Shell, Anheuser-Busch Inbev, London Stock Exchange Group, BMW, Anglo American, SocGen, Renault, AF-KLM, Euronext, Sanofi, Credit Agricole and ArcelorMittal among the heavyweight regional companies that are due to report.

On the data front, French, German and Italian inflation data is due, as are the latest German and EU unemployment figures.