Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News

5th August 2021

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

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

There will be an additional audio rundown at 0750BST/0250EDT recapping any company news which has hit the wires since 0715BST/0215EDT 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

Asia-Pac equities saw a mixed session with the breadth of the price action narrow following a subdued lead from Wall Street, in which the DJIA shed 0.9% and the S&P 500 dipped around 0.5%, but the NDX eked out a day of gains. US equity futures resumed trade with mild and broad-based gains across the board, with the ES above 4400 for most of the session. The futures were unfazed by Fed's Daly (2021/24 voter) joining the club calling for a potential QE taper this year, although at several points during her interview she stressed data dependency - ahead of Friday's jobs data. Back to APAC, the ASX 200 (+0.3%) held its head above 7,500, but losses in its heavyweight mining sector capped gains. Nikkei 225 (+0.4%) saw mild tailwinds from currency dynamics, but traders remained cautious as Japan proposed expanding the COVID-related restrictions to eight more prefectures - note, some are urging for a nationwide State of Emergency. The KOSPI (+0.2%) remained caged amid a lack of catalysts. The Hang Seng (-0.2%) and Shanghai Comp (+0.1%) were choppy and dipped at the open following reports in China’s Securities Times targeting gaming tax – albeit Chinese markets thereafter conformed to the tentative tone.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 +0.64% at 4,144; FTSE 100 +0.28% at 7,126; DAX +0.81% at 15,682; CAC 40 +0.34% at 6,747; IBEX 35 +0.26% at 8,796; FTSE MIB +0.53% at 25,490; SMI +0.23% at 12,191.

SECTORS: IT 1.74%, Industrials 0.92%, Financials 0.89%, Consumer Disc 0.61%, Healthcare 0.42%, Materials 0.41%, Utilities 0.33%, Telecoms 0.03%, Consumer Stpl -0.21%, Energy -0.57%

FTSE 100

Rolls Royce (RR/ LN) - Co. has confirmed it has decided to go into discussions with a consortium led by Bain Capital on a potential sale of the business. (Newswires)

UK Travel & Leisure - UK is removing the quarantine requirement for fully jabbed travellers coming back from France, and adds Germany, Austria, and Norway to the Green List. (Twitter)

UK Construction - The industry is facing a 10% rise in the cost of raw materials over the course of the next year as the sector struggles to meet demand for housing and infrastructure projects, according to a RICS survey. (Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

BAE SYSTEMS (BA LN) DOWNGRADED TO NEUTRAL FROM OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN

NATWEST (NWG LN) REMOVED FROM THE CONVICTION LIST AT GOLDMAN SACHS

STANDARD CHARTERED (STAN LN) MAINTAINED WITH OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN

UNITE GROUP (UTG LN) UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT FROM NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN

DAX

Adidas (ADS GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 5.07bln vs exp. EUR 4.97bln, net income EUR 387mln vs exp. EUR 319mln. Increase FY outlook as top-line momentum accelerates: now forecast net income EUR 1.4-1.5bln vs prev. EUR 1.25-1.4bln vs exp. EUR 1.511bln. Profitability outlook continues to include stranded costs relating to Reebok, should be fully eliminated by 2023; expect an impact of EUR 250mln on operating profit in 2021. (Newswires)

Bayer (BAYN GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 10.85bln vs exp. EUR 10.26bln, adj. EBITDA EUR 2.58bln vs exp. EUR 2.88bln. Upgrade FY21 guidance given strong growth: forecast sales of EUR 43bln vs prev. view EUR 41bln vs exp. EUR 41.4bln, core EPS EUR 6.00-6.20 vs prev. view EUR 5.60-5.80 vs exp. EUR 5.98. Separately, to acquire Vividion for USD 1.5bln upfront and a potential USD 500mln milestone payment. (Newswires)

Deutsche Post (DPW GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 19.47bln vs exp. EUR 19.1bln. Net EUR 1.3bln vs prev. EUR 525mln. Co. confirmed guidance. (Newswires)

Merck (MRK GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 4.9bln vs exp. EUR 4.8bln, net income EUR 747mln v exp. EUR 961mln, EBITDA EUR 1.4bln vs exp. EUR 1.50bln. FY21 group net sales forecast EUR 18.8-19.7bln vs exp. EUR 19.01bln, raising forecasts. (Newswires)

Siemens (SIE GY) - Q3 revenue EUR 16.1bln vs exp. EUR 14.86bln, adj. EBITA EUR 2.32bln vs exp. EUR 2.09bln, orders EUR 20.49bln vs exp. EUR 16.32bln. Increases FY21 guidance for revenue growth to 11-12% vs prev. 9-11% and net income to EUR 6.1-6.4bln vs exp. EUR 5.542bln vs prev. forecast EUR 5.7-6.2bln. Separately, to acquire Sqills, a international transportation software Co., for EUR 550mln. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

1&1 Drillisch (DRI GY) - H1 revenue EUR 1.93bln vs prev. EUR 1.88bln, EBITDA EUR 375mln vs prev. EUR 329mln. Confirms FY21 revenue guidance, upgrades EBITDA view. (Newswires)

Evonik (EVK GY) - Q2 sales EUR 3.64bln vs exp. EUR 3.45bln, EBITDA EUR 649mln vs exp. EUR 640mln, net income EUR 253mln vs exp. EUR 261mln. FY21 revenue forecast at EIR 13-14.5bln vs prev. forecast EUR 12-14bln vs exp. EUR 13.35bln. Confident on the guidance increase, from the current perspective we will end up in the upper-part of this range. (Newswires)

Lufthansa (LHA GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 3.2bln vs exp. EUR 3.6bln, adj. EBIT EUR -952mln vs exp. -907mln, net EUR -756mln vs exp. EUR -722mln. Expects to stop the operating cash outflow in Q3 and begin to generate positive EBITDA. (Newswires)

ProsiebenSat.1 (PSM GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 1.04bln vs exp. EUR 1.045bln, adj. EBITDA EUR 166mln vs exp. EUR 165mln. Reiterates FY guidance. (Newswires)

Rheinmetall (RHM GY) - H1 sales EUR 2.58bln, +9%; order intake for military vehicles EUR 2bln; consolidates operating result EUR 191mln, nearly doubling, setting a new record high for H1. (Newswires)

Symrise (SY1 GY) - H1 sales EUR 1.90bln vs exp. EUR 1.90bln, net EUR 196mln vs exp. EUR 186mln, EPS EUR 1.45, EBITDA EUR 420mln vs exp. EUR 415mln. Medium term guidance reiterated; rising FY21 targets for organic sales growth now seen above 7% vs prev. view 5-7%. (Newswires)

United Internet (UTD GY) - H1 revenue EUR 2.78bln vs prev. EUR 2.66bln, EBITDA EUR 670mln vs prev. EUR 621mln. (Newswires) +3.1% in Lang & Schwarz pre-market trade

Wacker Chemie (WCH GY) - H1 revenue EUR 2.86bln vs prev. EUR 2.67bln. H1 EBITDA EUR 573mln vs prev. EUR 279.5mln. Co. raises its FY21 EBITDA and revenue guidance. (Newswires)

Zalando (ZAL GY) - Q2 revenue EUR 2.73bln vs exp. EUR 2.67bln, adj. EBIT EUR 184mln vs exp. EUR 184mln. Reiterates FY21 outlook; now expect to reach the upper-half of adj. EBIT range of EUR 400-475mln. (Newswires) -2.4% in Lang & Schwarz pre-market trade

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Credit Agricole (ACA FP) - Q2 revenue EUR 5.82bln vs exp. EUR 5.337bln, net income EUR 1.97bln vs exp. EUR 1.1bln, CET1 12.6% vs exp. 12.4%. Applied to the ECB for a second EUR 500mln share buyback in Q4; booked an exceptional EUR 258mln gain for Q2 on the Creval acquisition. CEO is confident for H2-2021. (Newswires)

Eurofins Scientific (ERF FP) - H1 Adj. EBITDA EUR 1.01bln vs prev. EUR 494mln. Revenue EUR 3.27bln vs prev. EUR 2.32bln. Core business organic growth was 16% in H1 vs H1 2019. (Newswires)

Vivendi (VIV FP) - Pershing Square Capital Management is in talks to raise USD 1bln in funding to finance its bet on Vivendi's Universal Music Group, according to sources. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Valneva (VLA FP) - Valneva Announces Positive Phase 3 Pivotal Results for its Single-Shot Chikungunya Vaccine Candidate. (Valneva)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS IM) - Italian Finance Minister Franco has defended the potential sale of the Co. to UniCredit (UCG IM), stating that he sees no viable option for BMPS to remain in state control or to stand alone. (Newswires)

KBC (KBC BB) - Q2 net EUR 793mln vs exp. EUR 700mln. Net Interest Income EUR 1.09bln vs Co. exp. EUR 1.08bln. Total income EUR 1.85bln vs Co. exp. EUR 1.85bln. Floods in Belgium, at first estimates, are expected to impact reinsurance by around EUR -41mln but the true extend remains unclear. (Newswires)

Travel & Leisure - US President Biden Administration is developing a plan to require nearly all foreign nationals traveling to the US to be fully vaccinated; WH not immediately planning on lifting international travel restrictions but it is developing a policy. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

ASM (ASM NA) MAINTAINED WITH OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN

VOESTALPINE (VOE AV) MAINTAINED WITH UNDERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN

SMI

Swisscom (SCMN SW) - H1 revenue CHF 5.58bln vs exp. CHF 5.53bln, net income CHF 1.04bln vs exp. EUR 0.97bln. FY21 net revenue and capital expenditure guidance reiterated, raises EBITDA outlook to CHF 4.4-4.5bln vs prev. CHF 4.3-4.4bln vs exp. CHF 4.36bln. Propose to the 2022 AGM that the 2021 dividend remains unchanged at CHF 22/shr. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Vifor Pharma (VIFN SW) - H1 net sales CHF 859mln vs exp. CHF 891mln, EBITDA CHF 281mln vs exp. CHF 295mln. FY21 guidance confirmed. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Head of development states two phase three trials have been initiated in May for semaglutide in Alzheimer's disease with a total of 3,680 patients. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

Electronic Arts Inc (EA) Q1 2022 (USD): EPS 0.71 (exp. 0.67), Revenue 1.55bln (exp. 1.28bln)

Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) Q2 2021 (USD): Adj. EBITDA -509mln (exp. -324.5mln), Revenue 3.93bln (exp. 3.75bln). (Newswires) Shares fell 4.7% after market.

CLOSES: SPX -0.49% at 4,401, NDX +0.15% at 15,083, DJIA -0.92% at 34,792, RUT -1.25% at 2,193.

SECTORS: ENERGY -2.93%, INDUSTRIALS -1.37%, CONSUMER STAPLES -1.26%, MATERIALS -0.99%, CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY -0.84%, FINANCIALS -0.76%, HEALTH -0.42%, REAL ESTATE -0.35%, UTILITIES -0.14%, TECHNOLOGY +0.19%, COMMUNICATION SERVICES +0.23%.

05 Aug 2021 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk