2013.08.1506:22:17UTC+00European stocks advance for fifth day on Euro-area progress

European stocks climbed higher for a fifth day, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index surging to a 12-week high, as a report showed the euro area’s economy grows from a record-long recession in the second quarter.

Subsea 7 SA, an offshore oil services provider, spiked gains the most in three years after reporting a below estimated quarterly loss. Rentokil Initial Plc leapt to the topmost price in more than two years after reporting an increase in first-half earnings and sales. RWE AG relinquished 4.5 percent after second-quarter net income missed analysts’ predictions.

Germany, France

The German economy developed with 0.7 percent in the second quarter from the previous period, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists had predicted a gain of 0.6 percent.

Stimulus Paring

The Stoxx 600 has still diminished 0.6 percent from its peak on May 22 as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicated the U.S. central bank could pare stimulus measures if the economy improves as forecast.

Rentokil Gains

Rentokil jumped 6.1 percent to 103 pence, its highest price since February 2011. The pest control and hygiene-services company reported a 5.2 percent increase in first-half operating profit and 3.7 percent rise in revenue as growth accelerated in the second quarter and business outside Europe picked up.

Wirecard Increases

Wirecard AG hopped 4.6 percent to 23.95 euros, its highest price since at least 2000. The Internet payment-services company reported a gain of about 21 percent in first-half sales to 216.1 million euros ($286.5 million) and a 14 percent increase in pretax profit to 56.2 million euros.

RWE relinquished 4.5 percent to 21.36 euros. Germany’s second-largest utility said recurrent net income, the measure used to calculate the dividend, climbed to 1.99 billion euros from 1.67 billion euros a year earlier, missing the 2.1 billion-euro average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Celesio AG drifted 1.1 percent lower to 16.30 euros. The company trim its 2013 forecast for adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to 405 million euros to 425 million euros, down from 445 million euros to 475 million euros, citing discount competition in the German wholesale market and additional negative currency effects.

Portugal Telecom SGPS SA plunged 7.3 percent to 2.93 euros after slashing its annual dividend to 10 euro cents per share for 2013 and 2014 from 32.5 cents in 2012.