Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 1st March 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

APAC stocks began the month mostly on the front foot after Monday's intraday rebound on Wall St where the major indices finished mixed but off worse levels and following talks between Russia and Ukraine with another round of discussions to take place in the coming days, while the region also digested encouraging Chinese PMI data. ASX 200 gained amid a cyclical bias with outperformance in tech, financials and industrials leading the index. Nikkei 225 traded higher and briefly climbed above 27k where it then met some resistance. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were mixed with the mainland kept afloat after the better than expected Chinese Official Manufacturing and Caixin Manufacturing PMI data, while Hong Kong lagged with the city set for a 9-day lockdown later this month alongside mass COVID-19 testing.

Mitsubishi Motors (7211 JT) may suspend sale of cars in Russia due to sanctions, according to Jiji press. (Jiji)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 -1.2% at 3,924, FTSE 100 -0.4% at 7,458, DAX 40 -0.7% at 14,461, CAC 40 -1.4% at 6,658, FTSE MIB -1.4% at 25,415, IBEX 35 -0.1% at 8,479, SMI -0.1% at 11,986.

SECTORS: Utilities 2.32%, Technology 1.36%, Healthcare 0.87%, Consumer Services 0.63%, Basic Materials 0.45%, Industrials 0.40%, Consumer Goods -0.23%, Energy -0.26%, Telecoms -1.08%, Financial Services -2.51%

FTSE 100

BP (BP/ LN) - Co. is said to weigh selling its Rosneft stake back to state-controlled Russian explorer at a significant discount, according to Bloomberg sources, no decision made as of yet. (Newswires)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Co. intends to exit its equity partnership with Gazprom entities. Co. is to exit JVs with Gazprom and related entities, including its 27.5% stake in Sakhalin-ii liquefied natgas facility, and intends to end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 project. Co. will also be exiting its 50% stake in Salym Petroleum Development and Gydan Energy Venture. Shell expect the decision to impact the book value of Co's Russian assets and lead to an impairment. Co. expects to increase dividend per share by 4% for the first quarter of 2022. (Shell)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

IAG (IAG LN) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein

Rightmove (RMV LN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Adidas (ADS GY) - The divestiture of Reebok has been completed. Adidas has now received the majority of the total consideration of up to EUR 2.1bln in cash. Adidas launches additional share buyback program of up to EUR 1.5bln to return cash proceeds to shareholders. (Adidas)

Bayer (BAYN GY) - Q4 2021 (EUR): Sales 11.12bln (exp. 10.57bln). Adj. EBITDA 2.40bln (exp. 2.32bln). Core EPS 1.26 (exp. 0.99). Dividend 2.00/shr (exp. 2.02/shr). Co. guides 2022 revenue around 46bln (exp. 45.37bln) and guides adj. EBITDA around 12bln (exp. 12bln). (Newswires)

Linde (LIN GY) - Co. announced a share buyback programme of up to USD 10bln. Co. raises quarterly dividend 10.4% to USD 1.17/shr (prev. 1.06/shr) (Newswires)

Zalando (ZAL GY) - FY21 (EUR): Revenue 10.4bln (prev. 7.98bln Y/Y). Net 234.5mln (prev. 226.1mln). Adj. EBIT margin 4.5% (prev. 5.3%). (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

HelloFresh (HFG GY) - Q4 2021 (EUR): Revenue 1.58bln (prev. 1.11bln Y/Y). Adj. EBITDA 131mln (prev. 174mln). Co. affirms its adj. EBITDA and revenue guidance. (Newswires)

Software AG (SOW GY) - To acquire StreamSets for around EUR 520mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Airbus strike action in the UK paused as workers are offered an improved pay package. "A worker source said they believed it was a reasonable offer that balanced the needs of staff hit by cost of living increases alongside ensuring the site stays competitive." (Business Live)

LVMH (MC FP) - Cartier sues its Tiffany brand for "stealing trade secret", according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Technip (TE FP) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

PAN EUROPE

Melia Hotels (MEL SM) - FY21 (EUR): Revenue 902.4mln (prev. 528.4mln). EBITDA 125.5mln (prev. 151.5mln). Net -192.9mln (prev. -595.9mln). Co. foresees a strong recovery from March onwards. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Mediaset Espana (TL5 SM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup

SMI

Swiss Life (SLHN SW) - FY21 (CHF): Gross Written Premium 20.2bln (prev. 20.0bln Y/Y). Net 1.26bln (prev. 1.05bln). Operating profit 1.81bln (prev. 1.57bln). (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Julius Baer (BAER SW) - Co. launched a new buyback programme of up to CHF 400mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: S&P 500 -0.3% at 4,371, Nasdaq 100 +0.4% at 14,237, Dow Jones -0.5% at 33,892, Russell 2000 +0.4% at 2,045.

SECTORS: Energy +2.6%, Industrials +0.7%, Consumer Discretionary +0.6%, Utilities +0.4%, Communication Services, +0.0%, Technology -0.2%, Health -0.8%, Materials -1.2%, Consumer Staples -1.3%, Financials -1.5%, Real Estate -1.8%.

Steel Dynamics (STLD) - Boosts Q1 cash dividend by +31% to USD 0.34/shr, adds additional USD 1.25bln to share repurchase authorisation. (Newswires) 

RUSSIA-EXPOSED EUROPEAN STOCKS

EUROPEAN COMPANIES WITH STAKES IN RUSSIAN FIRMS

Source: Goldman Sachs/GoogleOrder: Descending market cap

• 
  Shell (SHEL LN) - (Energy) Has a stake of around 28% stake in Gazprom-operated Sakhalin-2 LNG project. [Announced the exit of Gazprom entities (Mar 1)]


• 
  TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - (Energy) Exposed via its partnerships with Russian nat gas producers Novatek and Yamal LNG.


• 
  Prosus (PRX AV) - (Tech) Co. owns Avito, a Russian classified advertisements website.


• 
  BP (BP/ LN) - (Energy) Exposed via its 20% stake in Rosneft. [Announced sale of stake with potential hit of USD 25bln (Feb 27)]


• 
  Equinor (EQNR NO) - (Energy) Owns minority stakes in three oilfields in Russia.


• 
  Glencore (GLEN LN) - (Basic Resources) Owns a 0.6% stake in Rosneft and 10.5% in Anglo-Russian green energy and metals company EN+.


• 
  OMV (OMV AV) - (Energy) Exposed via the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field.


• 
  Tenaris (TEN IM) - (Energy) Exposed via a pipeline deal it owns 49% interest in.


• 
  Renault (RNO FP) - (Auto & Parts) 6% of Renault's revenue and 15% of EBIT comes from its ownership of AvtoVAZ - Russian automobile manufacturing company.


• 
  Alstom (ALO FP) - (Industrial) Has a 20% stake in Russia's largest rail manufacturer - Transmasholdings.

EUROPEAN COMPANIES WITH RUSSIAN SALES EXPOSURE ABOVE 20%

• 
  VEON (VEON AV) (Telecom) 48%


• 
  Polymetal (POLY LN) (Basic Materials) 42%


• 
  EVRAZ (EVR LN) (Basic Materials) 38%


• 
  Uniper (UN01 GY) (Utilities) 25%


• 
  Fortum (FORTUM FH) (Utilities) 25%


• 
  NOKIAN (TYRES FH) (Autos) 21%

01 Mar 2022 - 06:50- MetalsResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk