Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 12th March 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks declined as rising oil prices dampened sentiment and stoked inflationary concerns, while the announcement of a record joint emergency reserves release failed to drag energy prices lower, due to likely slow deliveries and with further disruptions in the Middle East from the ongoing hostilities. ASX 200 was dragged lower by losses in nearly all sectors aside from energy, and with further calls by large banks for the RBA to deliver a back-to-back rate hike next week. Nikkei 225 briefly slumped below the 54,000 level as the higher oil prices lifted yields and weighed on manufacturer and exporter sentiment. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the broad downbeat mood in the region, with risk appetite also not helped by the announcement that the US is initiating a Section 301 investigation into 16 trading partners, including China, the EU, Mexico, Vietnam, India and Japan.

Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. revises guidance: now projects a FY25/26 loss of JPY 420bln-690bln (vs prior exp. JPY 300bln profit); losses amid asset write-offs on cancelled EV models. (Honda)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.70% at 5,796, Dax 40 -1.59% at 23,588, FTSE 100 -0.56% at 10,354, CAC 40 -0.19% at 8,042, FTSE MIB -0.95% at 44,773, IBEX 35 -0.53% at 17,352, PSI +0.58% at 9,076, SMI -0.61% at 12,976, AEX +0.05% at 1,003

FTSE 100

Anglo American (AAL LN), Vale (VALE) - Disrupted iron ore shipments due to the Middle East conflict are resulting in some cargoes being diverted to East Asia, according to Kpler data; at least three Anglo American cargoes and two Vale cargoes have had their destinations changed mid-voyage, Bloomberg said. (Bloomberg)

FTSE 100 Ex-Divs - Endeavour Mining (EDV LN), Schroders (SDR LN), Anglo American (AAL LN), HSBC Holdings (HSBA LN), Tritax Big Box REIT (BBOX LN), Entain (ENT LN), LondonMetric Property (LMP LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payouts. (dividenddata)

UK RICS House Price Balance - Feb: -12% vs. Exp. -9% (Prev. -10%). (RICS)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Rentokil (RTO LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS

DAX

BMW (BMW GY) – Q4 2025 (EUR): EBIT 2.12bln (exp. 1.92bln), Revenue 33.5bln (exp. 37.4bln). FY 2025: Revenue 133.45bln (prev. 142.38bln Y/Y), EBIT 10.18bln (prev. 11.50bln Y/Y), EBT 10.23bln (prev. 10.97bln Y/Y), Net Profit 7.45bln (prev. 7.67bln Y/Y), EPS 11.89 (prev. 11.62 Y/Y), Automotive Revenue 30.39bln (exp. 33.21bln), Automotive EBIT Margin 3.7% (exp. 4.24%). Deliveries 667,947 (prev. 696,697 Y/Y). Dividend of EUR 4.40/shr of common stock (prev. EUR 4.30/shr). FY outlook: Given the current economic outlook for 2026, the global automotive markets are expected to develop in a stable manner. Globally, the company forecasts that deliveries will be on a par with the previous year and that fully-electric vehicles will account for the same share of sales as last year. For financial year 2026, the BMW Group assumes that headwinds from higher tariffs will further impact the EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment by about 1.25 percentage points. The EBIT margin for the Automotive Segment is therefore forecast to be within the range of 4 to 6% (exp. 5.3%). RoCE should be between 6 to 10%. In the Financial Services Segment, RoE is projected to be between 13 to 16%. (BMW)

Daimler Truck (DTG GY) – FY (EUR): EPS 2.56 (exp. 3.47), Adj. EBIT 3.78bln (exp. 3.73bln). Dividend: Proposal of EUR 1.90 per share (prev. 1.90 per share Y/Y). Outlook 2026: Group expects operational improvement on higher volumes and efficiency gains compensating for increased tariff effects; Adjusted return on sales (IB) forecasted between 6% to 8%; Free Cash Flow (IB) is anticipated between EUR 2.7-3.2bln including an expected cash-inflow from the Fuso-Hino integration. (Daimler Truck)

Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) - Co. is considering sharing its South African production facility with a partner, possibly Great Wall Motor, Bloomberg reports. However, Handelsblatt reports citing sources that Great Wall Motor is not the partner. (Bloomberg/Handelsblatt)

RWE (RWE GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 5.1bln (exp. 4.85bln), Adj. Net Income 1.81bln (prev. 2.32bln Y/Y), External Revenue 17.6bln (prev. 24.2bln Y/Y). Co. to invest USD 19.6bln in the US by 2031, with a focus on gas generation. FY Outlook: Adj. EBITDA 5.2-5.8bln (exp. 5.57bln). Adj. Net Income 1.55-2.05bln. Dividend proposal of EUR 1.20 per share confirmed for fiscal 2025; an even higher dividend increase of 10% per annum targeted for the future. (RWE)

Zalando (ZAL GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 12.3bln (exp. 12.3bln), Adj. EBIT 590.7mln (exp. 580.1mln). FY Outlook: Adj. EBIT 660-740mln (exp. 692.3mln). Following the acquisition of ABOUT YOU, Zalando made exceptional progress on capturing synergies and targets to reach the announced 100 million euros run-rate in 2028, one year earlier than initially planned. Announces a share buyback programme of up to EUR 300mln. (Zalando)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) – February Total Group Passengers 8.7mln, +3.1% Y/Y. (Fraport)

K+S (SDF GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 3.65bln (exp. 3.68bln, prev. 3.65bln Y/Y), EBITDA 613mln (prev. 558mln Y/Y). Cuts dividend for 2025: EUR 0.07 per share (prev. 0.15 cents per share); total dividend payout: EUR 13mln, corresponding to 43% of adjusted free cash flow. Outlook: In 2025, global potash capacities were fully utilized. K+S expects potash demand to rise globally in 2026. This has already resulted in slightly higher prices in Brazil, an important overseas market, at the beginning of the year. Expects FY EBITDA 600-700mln (exp. 629mln). (K+S)

Nordex (NDX1 GY) – Co. to supply turbines for 49 MW community wind farm in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The installation of the wind turbines is planned for the second quarter of 2027. The commissioning of the community wind farm is scheduled for the third quarter of 2027. (Nordex)

Siltronic (WAF GY) – Q4 2025 (EUR): EPS -1.48 (exp. -1.55), Sales 372mln (exp. 343.3mln). FY Outlook: EBITDA margin of 20-24%. Capital expenditure significantly reduced to EUR 180 to 220 million. CEO: “The structural trends in the semiconductor industry remain unchanged: Megatrends such as Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Electromobility are driving a significant capacity expansion across the entire industry”. (Siltronic)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Credit Agricole (ACA FP) - Credit Agricole Ukraine has signed an agreement to acquire Bank Lviv. This transaction is in line with Credit Agricole S.A.’s return on investment criteria. Its impact on Credit Agricole S.A.’s CET1 ratio is negligible. (Credit Agricole)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) – Co. caps petrol price at EUR 1.99/litre and diesel price at EUR 2.03/litre. (TotalEnergies)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

JCDecaux (DEC FP) – FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 3.96bln, +0.8% Y/Y, Op. Margin 831.1mln, +8.7% Y/Y. Dividend: EUR 0.65 per share proposed for 2025. (JCDecaux)

Rubis (RUI FP) – FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 6.53bln (exp. 6.67bln), EPS 2.98 (exp. 3.15), EBITDA 741mln (prev. guided 710-760mln), +3% Y/Y. FY Outlook: 740-790mln. (Rubis)

Worldline (WLN FP) - Worldline launches a share capital increase with preferential subscription rights for an amount of approximately EUR 392mln, thus executing the final step of its c. EUR 500mln share capital increase. (Worldline)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Dsm-firmenich (DSFIR NA) – Guides initial OSF +2-4%, Adj. EBITDA 20%. Co. announces share repurchase program to cover share plans and reduce capital. Starts a new program to repurchase ordinary shares for a total amount of EUR 540mln. (Dsm-firmenich) Co. announced its intention to carry out the plan previously

HSBC Holdings (HSBA LN), Allianz SE (ALV GY) - Allianz and Sun Life are mulling bids for HSBC Life Singapore after HSBC began a strategic review, according to Bloomberg. Dai-ichi Life (DLICY) and Nippon Life (NIPF) may also bid. The sale process started this month and non-binding bids could emerge in the coming weeks, BBG added. (Bloomberg)

Leonardo (LDO IM) – FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 19.5bln (exp. 19.4bln), Adj. Net Income 1bln (prev. 0.74bln Y/Y). Raises quarterly dividend to EUR 0.63/shr, +21%. Guides initial FY 2026 Revenue 21bln, EBITA 2.03bln, Orders of around 25bln. (Leonardo)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Holcim (HOLN SW) - Holcim has signed an agreement to expand in Latin America by acquiring building materials and solutions operations in Colombia from Cemex. The transaction value of USD 485mln represents a pro forma 2026 EBITDA multiple of around 5x after run-rate synergies of around USD 30 million expected to be realized in year three. It is earnings per share (EPS) accretive in year one and return on invested capital (ROIC) accretive in year three. (Holcim)

Geberit (GEBN SW) – FY 2025 (CHF): Sales 3.16bln (exp. 3.16bln), Net Income 617mln (exp. 607mln), EBITDA 931mln, +2% Y/Y. Operating margins were only slightly below the previous year’s level. Without the one-off costs resulting from a plant closure, operating margins would have increased, thanks in part to efficiency improvements. (Geberit)

Partners (PGHN SW) – Group Chair is reportedly to “sound alarm” on private credit default rates, according to the FT; believes that private credit default rates could double in the coming years. (FT)

Swiss Banks - Swiss lawmakers will vote on a bill that could ban bonuses for senior executives at systemically important banks including UBS (UBSG SW), Raiffeisen Group (RBI AV), Zuercher Kantonalbank and PostFinance, Bloomberg reports. The measure, introduced almost five years ago, targets variable pay systems lawmakers say encourage aggressive risk-taking. (Bloomberg)

Swiss Life (SLHN SW) – FY 2025 (CHF): Net Profit 1.26bln (prev. 1.26bln Y/Y), Fee Result 858mln, -1% Y/Y. Proposes a dividend of CHF 36.50 per share (prev. CHF 35.00 per share). (Swiss Life)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Aker BP (AKRBP NO) downgraded to Sell from Hold at SEB

Neste (NESTE FH) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC

Sandvik (SAND SS) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.08% at 6,776, NDX +0.03% at 49,965, DJI -0.61% at 47,417, RUT -0.20% at 2,543

SECTORS: Consumer Staples -1.29%, Real Estate -1.12%, Financials -0.83%, Utilities -0.81%, Materials -0.33%, Industrials -0.27%, Consumer Discretionary -0.27%, Health -0.20%, Communication Services +0.01%, Technology +0.35%, Energy +2.48%.

Private Credit, Morgan Stanley (MS) - Morgan Stanley limited redemptions at its North Haven Private Income Fund after investors sought to withdraw nearly 11% of shares outstanding, Reuters reports. The fund returned about USD 169mln, or 45.8% of tender requests, and will fulfill requests for 5% of units outstanding as of 31st December 2025. The bank said the fund held investments in 312 borrowers across 44 industries as of 31st January.

12 Mar 2026 - 07:00- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk