DAILY EUROPEAN EQUITY OPENING NEWS: earnings from Credit Suisse (CSGN VX), Statoil (STL NO) and Munich Re (MUV2 GY)

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4^th FEBRUARY 2016

ASIA

Asian equities traded mostly in the green, bolstered by the turn around in energy stocks following WTI crude futures rising by over 8% in the US, while also drawing comfort from a late rally on Wall Street . As such, the ASX 200 (+2.1%) had been underpinned by energy and material names, while the Shanghai Comp (+1.3%) was also led higher by the energy, in addition the PBoC strengthened the CNY by the most since December 4th. However, Nikkei 225 (-0.9%) bucked the trend as exporters felt the brunt from the recent strength in the JPY, subsequently erased the majority of its BoJ stimulus inspired gains. JGBs finished trade flat in what was quiet session for Japanese pape

Best Performing Sectors in the Nikkei 225: Energy (+2.42%) Materials (+1.90%) Telecommunication Services (+0.82%)

Worst Performing Sectors in the Nikkei 225: Consumer Discretionary (-2.25%) Health Care (-1.99%) Consumer Staples (-1.87%)

FTSE

N/A

OTHER UK COMPANIES

N/A

Companies paying dividend:

FTSE 250: Scottish Investment Trust PLC/Fund (GBP 0.083), WH Smith PLC (GBP 0.303)

Companies going ex-dividend:

FTSE 100: Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (GBP 0.546), Unilever PLC (GBP 0.256)

FTSE 250: Daejan Holdings PLC (GBP 0.389), Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC/The (GBP 0.058), Stagecoach Group PLC (GBP 0.039), Victrex PLC (GBP 0.390)

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS (BBG/RTRS)

COCA-COLA HBC (CCH LN) DOWNGRADED TO UNDERWEIGHT FROM EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS

LEGAL & GENERAL (LGEN LN) RATED NEW UNDERPERFORM AT MACQUARIE

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) – Co. to face a USD 3.1bln lawsuit in the US, over claims it failed to properly monitor 10 trusts backed by toxic residential mortgages. (RTRS)

Munich Re (MUV2 GY) – Q4 operating result EUR 1.4bln vs. Exp. EUR 1.15bln, net income EUR 0.7bln vs. Exp. EUR 0.7bln, reinsurance combined ratio 78.6%. Co. to raise dividend to EUR 8.25/shr vs. Exp. EUR 8.00/shr (prev. EUR 7.75/shr) (BBG)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) – EU climate and energy commissioner has sent a letter to the Co. seeking updates on the investigation into the emissions scandal. (BBG)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS (BBG/RTRS)

INFINEON (IFX GY) RATED BUY FROM UNDER REVIEW AT BERENBERG; PT EU15

K+S (SDF GY) UPGRADED TO HOLD FROM SELL AT LIBERUM

ADIDAS (ADS GY) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN

SALZGITTER (SLZ GY) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT BAADER-HELVEA

AXEL SPRINGER (SPR GY) DOWNGRADED TO HOLD FROM BUY AT HSBC

HANNOVER RE (HNR1 GY) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT HSBC

CAC

Peugeot (UG FP) – Co. are to reduce employee numbers at their Poissy plant by 700 on a voluntary basis. (AFP)

Dassault (DSY FP) – Q4 non-IFRS EPS EUR 0.71 vs Exp. EUR 0.67, Q4 non-IFRS revenue EUR 802mln vs Exp. EUR 773mln. (BBG)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

N/A

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS (BBG/RTRS)

ELIS (ELIS FP) RATED NEW BUY AT BERENBERG

PAN-EUROPE

ING (INGA NA) – Q4 net EUR 819mln vs. Exp. EUR 789mln, Q4 underlying net income EUR 822mln vs. prev. EUR 548mln, CET1 ratio 12.7%. (BBG)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) – Brandes Investment Partners have stated that they own a 3.15% stake in the Co., according to a filing. (BBG)

Pop Milano (PMI IM) / Popolare (BP IM) – Pop Milano are aiming to have a deal in place with Popolare by March, according to sources. (ANSA)

INWIT (INW IM) – 9-month revenue EUR 239.2mln and EBITDA EUR 108.2mln. Additionally, the Co. have proposed a dividend of 90% of their net income to the board. (BBG)

Companies going ex-dividend: AEX: Unilever NV (EUR 0.30)

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS (BBG/RTRS)

GAS NATURAL (GAS SM) DOWNGRADED TO NEUTRAL FROM OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA

STMICRO (STM IM) RATED SELL FROM UNDER REVIEW AT BERENBERG

GENERALI (G IM) DOWNGRADED TO SELL FROM NEUTRAL AT CITI

SNAM (SRG IM) RATED NEW BUY AT JEFFERIES

SMI

Credit Suisse (CSGN VX) - Q4 net loss CHF 5.83bln vs. Exp. loss of CHF 4.32bln, Co. to accelerate cost saving program. - CET1 ratio of 11.4%. FY dividend of CHF 0.70/shr, with scrip alternative. Cost cutting plan includes 4000 staff reductions. (BBG)

Swisscom (SCMN VX) – FY EBITDA CHF 4.1bln vs. Exp. CHF 4.2bln, net income CHF 1.36bln vs. Exp. CHF 1.42bln, will reduce number of call centres by 8 this year. (BBG)

Roche (ROG VX) – Co.’s potential PACB deal unlikely until H2 2016/17 according to Cantor. (BBG)

LafargeHolcim (LHN VX) – Co.’s third largest shareholder Sberbank is set to sell its shares said to be valued at USD 1.5bln, in other news Co. proposes divesting India arm as remedy after the sale of 2 cement plants was rejected by India’s competition commission. (BBG)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

N/A

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS (BBG/RTRS)

SWATCH (UHR VX) DOWNGRADED TO HOLD FROM BUY AT EVERCORE; PT CHF325

SCANDINAVIA

Statoil (STL NO) – Q4 Adj. net income NOK 1.6bln vs. Exp. NOK 3bln, Q4 Adj. earnings NOK 15.2bln vs. Exp. NOK 13.6bln and Q4 Div. NOK 0.22. (BBG)

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS (BBG/RTRS)

SWEDBANK (SWEDA SS) DOWNGRADED TO REDUCE FROM ADD AT ALPHAVALUE

FORTUM (FUM1V FH) DOWNGRADED TO SELL FROM ADD AT ALPHAVALUE

KESKO (KESBV FH) DOWNGRADED TO SELL FROM HOLD AT NORDEA

US

Yum! Brands Inc (YUM) – Q4 Adj. EPS USD 0.68 vs. Exp. USD 0.66 and Q4 revenue USD 3.95bln vs. Exp. USD 4.03bln. They also report that their Q4 China division comp sales rose 2% vs. Exp. rise of 1.9%.

In what was a volatile session, focus was on market drivers towards the open on Wall Street. A combination of dovish Fed commentary, disappointing ISM non-manufacturing data and dampened sentiment on the US economy saw US equities decline rapidly following their open in the green. This was pressured further by the aforementioned ISM non-manufacturing data, where the employment index (52.1) matched the lowest reading since Apr’14. Energy names outperformed after yesterday’s DoE release saw a turn-around in sentiment. The headline reading printing a larger build (+7792K) than last night’s API release (+3800K), however output fell by 0.076% which bolstered WTI crude futures to rise over 8.0% on the day. As a result the NASDAQ-100’s underperformed given lack of energy names whereas the Dow Jones outperformed, led by Exxon (+5.2%) and DuPont (+4.6%). The DJIA finished up 1.13% at 16336.66, S&P 500 finished up 0.50% at 1912.53 and the NASDAQ-100 finished down 0.50% at 4171.97.

Best Performing Sectors in the S&P 500: Energy (+3.96%), Materials (+3.32%), Telecoms (+1.65%)

Worst Performing Sectors in the S&P 500: IT (-0.37%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.34%), Consumer Staples (-0.19%)

NXP Semiconductor (NXPI) – Co. Q4 Non-GAAP EPS USD 1.25 vs. Exp. USD 1.01, Q4 revenue USD 1.61bln vs. Exp. USD 1.49bln, forecasts Q1 Adj. EPS USD 1.05-1.15 vs. Exp. USD 1.08., forecasts Q1 revenue USD 2.15bln-2.21bln vs, Exp. USD 2.24bln. (BBG)

04 Feb 2016 - 06:56- EquitiesResearch Sheet- Source: RANsquawk