Finance
European first-quarter corporate profits expected to return to growth
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
European companies forecast a 0.4% growth in Q1 profits, reversing previous declines. Real estate leads growth, while energy lags.
By Javi West Larrañaga, Marleen Kaesebier
(Reuters) -European companies are expected to report growth of 0.4% in first-quarter earnings, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data released on Tuesday, compared to the 1.7% drop analysts had expected a week ago.
The improvement comes after 58.4% of the 149 STOXX 600 companies that have already reported first-quarter earnings exceeded analysts' expectations.
At the time of U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, the forecasts were for a 3.5% increase in first-quarter earnings, according to LSEG data, but that reversed to expectations for a drop of as much as 3.5% following Trump's April tariff announcements.
Consensus for revenue also slightly improved, with analysts expecting a 1.9% increase, compared with a 1.4% rise expected last week.
That compares to a drop of 3.3% in earnings and a drop of 4.6% in revenues a year earlier, the data showed.
Investors are welcoming the prospect the trade war may ease after China's announcement that it was "evaluating" a U.S. offer to discuss tariffs last week.
However, companies, such as German car parts maker Continental, warned that increasing U.S. trade restrictions from higher tariffs pose economic risks.
According to the LSEG report, seven of the ten sectors in the index expect to see an improvement in earnings compared to the year prior.
The real estate sector stands out with the highest earnings growth rate of 22.8% for the quarter, while energy has the weakest anticipated growth with an expected 28.2% decrease.
Companies continue to publish their results, with weight loss drug maker Novo Nordisk set to report first quarter earnings on Wednesday, with a 19.7% increase in revenue expected, compared to a year ago, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier and Javi West Larrañaga in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
The article discusses the expected growth in European corporate profits for the first quarter of 2023.
European companies are expected to report a 0.4% growth in Q1 earnings, with many exceeding analyst expectations.
The real estate sector is leading with a 22.8% growth in earnings for the quarter.
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