Daily European Equity Opening News

3rd February 2022

The Daily European Equity Opening News is uploaded at 0700GMT/0200EST recapping all of the overnight equity news.

From 0700GMT/0200EST all equity news will be covered in real-time over the audio and headline feed and the full audio rundown will be at 0715GMT/0215EST.

There will be an additional audio rundown at 0750GMT/0250EST recapping any company news which has hit the wires since 0715GMT/0215EST ahead of the European equity open

European equity coverage will only cover companies in the STOXX 600 or companies of systemic importance to particular sectors.

ASIA

Asian equity markets were mostly negative as the region took its cue from the selling pressure in US equity futures which was triggered by a more than 20% drop in Meta shares post-earnings after it missed on the bottom line and disappointed on guidance. ASX 200 (-0.1%) was dragged lower by heavy losses in tech after Meta’s slump spooked its industry peers although the losses for the index were stemmed by resilience across mining stocks and after mixed-to-firm data releases. Nikkei 225 (-1.2%) was subdued with Japan’s government said to be mulling an extension to the quasi-state of emergency in Tokyo and with Panasonic and Sony shares among the worst-hit post-earnings despite mixed results, while KOSPI (+2.4%) outperformed as it played catch up to this week's gains on return from the Lunar New Year holiday. Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam remained closed for holidays.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 -0.1% at 4,222, FTSE 100 +0.6% at 7,583, DAX 40 +0.1% at 15,640, CAC 40 +0.2% at 7,115, FTSE MIB +0.6% at 27,388, IBEX 35 -0.2% at 8,713, SMI +0.0% at 12,361.

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Playtech (PTEC LN) - TT Bond Partners, which previously advised on a bid for the Co. by Gopher Investments has asked the board of the Co. to release it from restrictions which prevent it from tabling an additional offer. Sky sources have suggested that the request has been accepted by the Co.'s board. (Sky News) This was later confirmed by Playtech

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Infineon (IFX GY) Q1 (EUR) - Revenue 3.16bln (exp. 3.05bln), EPS 0.35 (exp. 0.37). Q2 guidance: Revenue 3.2bln (exp. 3.15bln). FY22 guidance: Revenue 13bln +/- 500mln (exp. 14.08bln). (Infineon)

Siemens Healthineers (SHL GY) Q1 (EUR) - Revenue 5.07bln (exp. 4.87bln), adj. EBIT 898mln (exp. 774mln), net profit 472mln (exp. 456mln). Expects FY22 comparable revenue growth 3-5% (prev. 0-2%). (Siemens Healthineers)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Dassault Systemes (DSY FP) Q4 (EUR) - Revenue 1.37bln (exp. 1.34bln), Net income 237mln (exp. 375mln), Operating income 318mln (prev. 283mln), adj. EPS 0.29 (exp. 0.28). Expects Q1 EPS 0.23-0.24 (exp. 0.24). (Dassault Systemes)

Publicis (PUB FP) FY (EUR) - Revenue 10.49bln (exp. 10.66bln), EBITDA 2.31bln (exp. 2.38bln), Net Income 1.03bln (exp. 1.21bln), EPS 4.13 (exp. 4.90). Expects Q1 organic growth to be slightly above guided range. (Publicis)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Generali (G IM) - Co. has asked regulators to investigate whether the 16.3% stake built by a shareholder group including Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Leonardo Del Vecchio are in compliance with insurance sector rules. (Newswires)

ING (INGA NA) Q4 (EUR) - Total Income 4.62bln (exp. 4.51bln), Net 945mln (exp. 1.04bln), CET1 15.9% (exp. 15.8%). Operating expenses include 141mln of restructuring costs and impairments related to the announcement to exit the retail banking market in France. Propose final dividend of 0.41/shr for FY21. (ING)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Nestle (NESN SW) - To acquire a majority stake in Orgain, includes option to purchase the entire stake in 2024. (Butterfly)

Roche (ROG SW) FY21 (CHF) - Sales 62.8bln (exp. 62.5bln), operating profit 21.9bln (exp. 21.2bln). Proposes a dividend increase to 9.30; expect to increase the dividend further. FY22 guidance: Sales are expected to be stable or grow in the low-single digits; Core EPS are targeted to grow in the low- to mid-single digit range; Group Sales to be in the high-single digits excluding the anticipated decrease to 5bln (prev. 7bln) sales of COVID diagnostics/medicines. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Nokia (NOKIA FH) Q4 (EUR) - Net sales 6.4bln (exp. 6.47bln), operating profit 908mln (exp. 822mln), EPS 0.13 (exp. 0.12). Propose a dividend of 0.08/shr. Share buyback programme of EUR 600mln to occur over a two-year period, will commence in Q122. FY22 guidance: net sales 22.6-23.8bln (exp. 23.06bln); expect 2022 to bring another year of sales growth. "Considering how quickly we have executed on our strategy, we are now introducing new long-term targets. We still expect to deliver progress in 2023 but we want to emphasize that is not the end of our ambition." - new long term targets to grow revenue faster than the market and a comparable operating margin of ≥14%. (Nokia)

BROKER MOVES

US

Meta Platforms Inc (FB) - Dropped by over 20% following its Q4 metrics; profits, DAUs, MAUs were on the soft side, while its guidance disappointed. FB has a 4.7% NDX weight and a 2.3% SPX weight. Q4 EPS 3.67 (exp. 3.84), Revenue 33.67bln (exp. 33.40bln), DAUs 1.93bln (exp. 1.95bln), MAUs 2.91bln (2.95bln). Sees Q1 rev. USD 27bln-29bln (exp. 30.25bln), with Y/Y growth in Q1 to be impacted by headwinds to both impressions and price growth. Expects continued headwinds from increased competition for people's time and a shift of engagement within apps towards video surfaces which monetise at lower rates than Feed and Stories. On the pricing side, expects growth to be negatively impacted by a few factors: anticipates modestly increasing ad targeting and measurement headwinds from platform and regulatory changes including Apple's (AAPL) iOS changes (exec. said IoS headwind was "in the order of USD 10bln" for 2022); macroeconomic challenges like cost inflation and supply chain disruptions are impacting advertiser budgets; expects foreign currency to be a headwind to Y/Y growth.

Qualcomm (QCOM) - Lower in after hours trade despite reporting decent Q1 metrics; shares may have slipped in sympathy with index heavyweight FB after its disappointing earnings. Qualcomm's Q1 Adj. EPS 3.23 (exp. 3.00), revenue 10.70bln (exp. 10.44bln). QCT revenue USD 8.85bln (exp. 8.64bln), QTL revenue USD 1.82bln (exp. 1.71bln). Sees Q2 Adj. EPS between 2.80-3.00 (exp. 2.48), and sees Q2 revenue between 10.2-11bln (exp. 9.59bln). (Newsquawk)

T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS) - Q4 EPS 0.34 (exp. 0.18), Revenue 20.8bln (exp. 21.08bln), Postpaid net customer additions +1.75mln (exp. 1.6mln), Postpaid phone net adds +844k (exp. +838k). (Newsquawk)

CLOSES: SPX +0.94% at 4,589, NDX +0.80% at 15,140, DJIA +0.63% at 35,629, RUT -1% at 2,030.

SECTORS: Communication Svs +3.1%, Real Estate +1.66%, Utilities +1.46%, Health Care +1.25%, Consumer Staples +1.18%, Technology +0.81%, Industrials +0.67%, Financials +0.66%, Energy +0.38%, Materials +0.23%, Consumer Discretionary -0.53%.

03 Feb 2022 - 06:50- EquitiesData- Source: Newsquawk