Additional European Equity News

BHP (BHP LN) - Woodside Petroleum (WPL AT) approved a merger with BHP's petroleum arm to create an oil and gas producer worth some USD 40bln, according to proxy votes cited by Reuters. (Newswires)

Clariant (CLN SW) - Q4 2021 (CHF): Revenue 1.24bln (prev. 1.02bln). Adj. EBITDA 230mln (prev. 165mln). Co. guides "continued strong growth" in revenue. (Newswires)

Credit Suisse (CSGN LN) - Fitch Ratings downgrades rating to "BBB+" from "A-"; outlook stable. (Fitch)

Darktrace (DARK LN) – In relation to recent media speculation, Co. notes recent share movement and speculation about their relation to civil proceedings. State that nether Darktrace nor any acting executives was a party to civil proceedings, or the target of any investigation. See no link between Co. and civil action against Mike Lynch. No change to prospects/trading of business since the last update. (Newswires)

Dufry (DUFN SW) - Q1 2022 (CHF) Revenue 1.12bln (exp. 1.09bln). Q1 organic revenue +144.5% y/Y. (Newswires)

easyJet (EZJ LN) - H1 2022 (GBP): Revenue 1.50bln (exp. 1.50bln). Pre-tax loss 545mln (exp. 545mln). Co. notes that higher fuel and USD exchange rates are layering additional costs in H2. Bookings continue to be strong. Q4 sold ticket yields are currently 15% above 2019 levels. Load factor 77.3% (exp. 75.7%). (Newswires)

Elior (ELIOR FP) - Derichbourg is to acquire 14.7% of Elior Group's share capital from BIM and Gilles Cojan, with share value of EUR 5.65/shr. (Newswires)

Eurazeo (RF FP) - Q1 2022 (EUR): Revenue 1.10bln prev. 1.16bln Y/Y). Co. launches a EUR 100mln share buyback and confirmed outlook. (Newswires)

Fevertree (FEVR LN) - Co. says it has made a solid start to the year and trading is in line with expectations released in March. (Newswires)

FTSE 100 ex-dividend – Bunzl (BNZL LN), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK LN), Kingfisher (KGF LN), Pershing Square (PSH LN), Shell (RDSA LN), Tesco (TSCO LN) & Unilever (ULVR LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend. (Newswires)

Generali (G IM) - Q1 2022 (EUR) Operating profit 1.63bln (prev. 1.61bln Y/Y). Net 727mln (prev. 802mln). Gross written premiums 22.3bln (prev. 19.7bln). Co. affirms FY EPS target. Separately, Mediabanca's (MB IM) stake in Generali has fallen back under 13%, according to Reuters. (Newswires)

Homeserve (HSV LN) - Co. is to be acquired by Brookfield Asset Management for GBP 12.00/shr (vs GBP 10.53/shr Wednesday close. (Newswires)

Investec (INVP LN) - FY21 (GBP): Revenue 1.99bln (exp. 1.90bln). EBIT 687.4mln (prev. 377.6mln Y/Y). (Newswires) 

IAG (IAG LN) has reached an agreement with Boeing (BA) to order 25 737-8200 and 25 737-10 craft, option for a further 100. For delivery between 2023-27. IAG has negotiated a 'substantial' discount vs list price. (Newswires)

L'Oreal (OR FP) - Co. is finalising the acquisition of Byredo perfumes - transaction will be based on a valuation of EUR 1bln. (Les Echos) 

National Grid (NG/ LN) – FY21/22 (GBP): Profit before tax 3.05bln (exp. 2.8bln). Good progress on the cost-efficiency programme. Five-year guidance remains unchanged. Iain Mackay, the GSK (GSK LN) CFO, has been appointed as a non-exec director. (Newswires)

Orpea (ORP FP) - Co. says it has currently not identified any material negative impact on cash flow and real estate assets as a resulted of the reported fraudulent activities. (Newswires) 

Rio Tinto (RIO) - Rio Tinto agreed to amend the previously agreed funding plan with Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) in order to provide liquidity of up to USD 400mln in short-term early advances, while the special committee of Turquoise Hill evaluates Rio Tinto’s CAD 34/shr all-cash proposal to acquire the approximately 49% of the issued and outstanding shares of TRQ that Rio Tinto does not currently own. (Newswires)

Royal Mail (RMG LN) – FY21/22 (GBP): Revenue 12.7bln (exp. 12.83bln), Operating Profit 577mln (prev. 611mln), EPS 0.617 (exp. 0.595). Proposing 0.131/shr and FY ordinary dividend of 0.20/shr, in-line with policy. Cost savings above GBP 350mln have been identified to mitigate macro-economic pressures. (Newswires)

SocGen (GLE FP) - Co. said it had closed the sale of Rosbank and this will result in the bank taking a EUR 3.2bln hit. (Newswires) 

Smiths Group (SMIN LN) - 9M Organic revenue +4.2%. Co. maintains FY guidance of 3% revenue growth. (Newswires) 

Veolia (VIE FP) - UK CMA provisional review into the Veolia-Suez deal finds competition concerns, according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - A group led by the Co. is set to win EU antitrust approval for the acquisition of Europecar, with the bid at EUR 3bln, according to Reuters sources. Seperately, Co. and Mahindra have signed a partnership for MEB electric components in Shanghai. (Newswires) 

Barclays (BARC LN) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette

Nestle (NESN SW) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein

19 May 2022 - 07:53- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk