RYCEY Rolls Royce Holdings PLC (PK)

LONDON—Executives from Europe Inc. woke up Friday facing a new world.

Britons' vote to leave the European Union sent executives scrambling to assess the short- and long-term impact, as they watched the pound tumble and their own shares plunge. A few multinationals, including aircraft maker Airbus Group SE, which makes the wings for its jets in Britain, bluntly threatened to reassess their U.K. businesses.

"This is a lose-lose ‎result for both, Britain and Europe," said Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders in a statement. The company's shares fell almost 10% in early trading. He called on politicians to proceed with the "divorce" in a way to minimize economic damage and said the plane maker would review its U.K. investment strategy, "like everybody else will."

BMW AG, the Germany luxury car maker, said Friday there would be no immediate changes at its Rolls-Royce and Mini car plants in the U.K., but it said it understood "relevant conditions for supplying the European market will have to be renegotiated." Investors sent BMW shares down more than 8% early in the day.

Other executives reacted with less measure. "It's like a wake," said Chris Hirst, chief of advertising firm Havas SA's ‎European and U.K. unit. He was up all night in London commenting on the vote for TV. "Everyone's trying to stay professional, but there's shock, amazement, disbelief," he said. Havas shares were down about 9% early Friday.

Most major companies based in Britain, and many in Europe and as far away as Asia and the U.S., had warned a British exit from the bloc would sow widespread uncertainty that would hurt profits and endanger jobs: Britain might be forced to renegotiate trade pacts, country-by-country, to maintain current export and import tariffs, they had warned. The free flow of labor between the U.K. and the EU could ebb. If the vote causes long-term market turmoil, economic growth—and company profits—could take a hit for years to come.

Many small British business owners, meanwhile, advocated leaving, saying they'd be better off unbridled from EU regulations. William Hynett, chief executive of plane maker Britten-Norman used one of the company's planes to fly a banner across the U.K. urging voters to "VoteLeave." On Friday, he said he was "extremely happy" with the outcome.

The vote would spur some near-term economic pain, but he said he was confident in the long-term benefits of breaking away from EU regulations that he considers burdensome for a small business.

Rachel Meadows, proprietor of Katie's Garden, a tea room in downtown Sunderland, a northeast city that reported a better-than-expected turnout for leave voters, underscores the divide. She voted to exit. But her friends who work at a local Nissan Motor Co. factory were worried that a leave vote could threaten their jobs, she said.

"They think it will be terrible," she said. Nissan declined to comment.

In the short term, sterling's volatility is the biggest risk for many companies, big and small. Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, chairman of his family's Reims, France-based champagne producer, rose at dawn for the final results. With sterling's steep fall Friday, his wine is suddenly more expensive for British buyers, his biggest market. Mr. Taittinger said he would give rebates to his British distributor at the end of the year to compensate.

"I've already called him and told him nothing would change between us," said Mr. Taittinger.

PSA Peugeot Citroen is studying different pricing scenarios for its models "to quickly react to the market," the company said Friday. Peugeot sold more than 85,000 vehicles under all of its brands in the U.K. in the first five months of 2016, about 13% of its total sales in Western Europe in that period, according to figures from the U.K. and European automobile manufacturer trade groups. Peugeot could decide to boost prices in the U.K. to account for the weaker British pound, or take a loss on selling some vehicles in order to protect market share.

Peugeot declined to give figures on what the U.K.'s departure could cost it. "It is too soon to measure the real impact," the company said in a statement. It said that Peugeot "has demonstrated its know-how in successfully managing its business in the context of highly volatile currencies, such as Argentina." Its shares were down 13% early in Europe.

Sam Schechner and William Boston contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2016 06:45 ET (10:45 GMT)

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