Top European equity performers in the past year

Investors that have held on to European equities in the past year are probably in the red. There is a good reason; from the 50 companies in the Euro Stoxx 50, only a handful of European equities increased in price in the past year. The following are the 7 stocks that had a positive performance over a 1 year period.

Vinci SA

Vinci is a French Concessions and construction company. It employs over 180,000 people and is the largest construction company in the world by revenue. In the past year, Vinci gained 21 percent which is well above the Market performance over the same period.

Fresenius SE & CO KGAA

Fresenius is a European diversified health care company based in Bad Homburg, Germany. The Fresenius Group provided products and services for dialysis, hospitals as well as inpatient medical care. In the past year, Fresenius gained 13.45 percent.

Orange SA

Orange SA, Formerly France Telecom SA, is a French Multinational telecommunications corporation. Its head office is in Paris. Orange has been the company’s main brand for mobile, landline, internet and IPTV services since 2006. In the past year Orange gained 3.12 percent.

Essilor International

Essilor International SA is a French company that produces ophthalmic lenses along with optical equipment. It is based in Charenton-le-Pont, France. Essilor is responsible for creating Verilux, the world’s first progressive lens which corrects presbyopia and allows clear vision in the wearer’s near, intermediate and far vision. In the past year, Essilor gained 2.75 percent.

Unilever NV

Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational consumer goods company co-headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and London, United Kingdom. Its Products include food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. It is the world’s third-largest consumer goods company after, P&G and Nestle. In the past year Unilever gained 1.23 percent.

Unilever owns over 400 brands, but focuses on 14 brands with sales over 1 billion euros. These are Axe/Lynx, Dove, Omo, Flora, Heartband ice creams, Hellmann’s, Knorr, Lipton, Lux, Magnum, Rama, Rexona, Sunsilk and Surf. In the past year SAP gained 0.44 percent.

Anheuser Busch InBev SA/NV

AB InBev is a multinational Belgian-Brazilian beverage and brewing company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. It is the world’s largest brewer and has a 25 percent global market share. Their portfolio includes global brands Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Beck’s, Leffe, Skol and Jupiler.

In October 2015, AB InBev announced a successful all cash bid to acquire multinational competitor SABMiller. SABMiller owns brands Foster’s and Bavaria amongst others. In the past year SAP gained 0.44 percent.

SAP SE

SAP SE is a German multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. SAP SE is headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, with regional offices in 130 countries. In the past year SAP gained 0.44 percent.