Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 20th December 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks eventually traded mixed following a mostly lower open after the lead from Wall Street as markets digest a slew of central bank decisions whilst still feeling the hangover from the Fed. ASX 200 was pressured by heavyweight financial, materials, and healthcare sectors, whilst Utilities and IT bucked the trend and posted mild gains. Nikkei 225 was briefly supported by the recent JPY weakness, although later faltered as JPY eventually strengthened following hotter-than-expected CPI and currency jawboning by Japanese officials. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp both opened lower and trimmed losses to later trade, with Chinese markets unfazed as the PBoC maintained its LPRs.

KKR (KRR) - Extends second tender offer for Fuji Soft (9749 JT). (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -1.20% at 19,999, FTSE 100: -1.14% at 8,105, CAC 40: -1.22% at 7,294, Euro Stoxx 50: -1.58% at 4,879, AEX: -1.55% at 879, IBEX 35: -1.53% at 11,440, FTSE MIB: -1.78% at 33,787, SMI: -2.11% at 11,395, PSI: -0.05% at 6,291.

SECTORS: Consumer Stpl -0.41%, Energy -0.77%, Utilities -0.87%, Financials -1.26%, Telecoms -1.29%, Consumer Disc -1.36%, Materials -1.79%, Healthcare -1.90%, Industrials -2.02%, IT -2.53%

FTSE 100

Shell (SHEL LN) - Co. reportedly tied new Nigeria offshore investments to approval for oil asset sale, according to FT. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Adidas (ADS GY) - Nike shares fell 0.5% after-hours after its earnings release; the co. beat on headline metrics, but its revenue forecasts disappointed. details in the US section below

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - Expects a EUR 300mln hit in Q4 due to litigation over foreign currency loans at its Polish subsidiary, according to Handelsblatt. Deutsche Bank increased the capital of Deutsche Bankpolska by approximately EUR 310mln, primarily to address ongoing litigation matters regarding FX mortgages. In line with prior guidance they would take further steps in Q4 to address legacy litigation items in order to mitigate further financial risk from these matter sin the future. (Handelsblatt)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen and unions agree in some areas of cost-cutting talks but not in others. Still wants a solution before Christmas. To provide an update on Friday at the earliest. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Fraport (FRA GY) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Cytokinetics announces Sanofi acquired rights to develop and commercialise Afiacamten in China. (Newswires)

Vinci (DG FP) - Co. won two transport infrastructure contracts in Czech Republic; total value EUR 417mln. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Eiffage (FGR FP) - Won in consortium a renovation contract; Eiffage share is EUR 36.7mln. (Newswires)

Rubis (RUB FP) - Appointed Bergeron as CEO of its Energy distribution division. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

ACS (ACS SM) - Delegation for implementation of second execution of flexible dividend. To proceed with second execution of flexible dividend of around 0.45/shr. (Newswires)

A2A (A2A IM) - Signed contract for sale of gas network assets. (Newswires)

Banco BPM (BAMI IM) – Reaches agreement with trade unions on 550 new hirings in exchange for 1.1k of early retirements. (Newswires)

EDPR (EDPR PL) - Decided not to proceed with investments in its 0.5 GW wind projects in Guajira region in Colombia. Estimates potential losses associated to these projects of up to EUR 0.7bln. (Newswires)

Postal Names - FedEx shares +8.7% after-hours after its results and announcing a freight business spinoff. details in the US section below

Credit Agricole (ACA FP) / Santander (SAN SM) - Co. has signed an agreement for the acquisition of Santander's 30.5% stake in Caceis, its asset services provider, aiming to bring its ownership to 100%; Credit Ag says transaction is to impact CET1 ratio by 30bps. Santander says upon completion deal will have positive impact of around 10bps on fully loaded CET1 ratio. Will not have a relevant impact on either earnings or EPS. (Newswires)UniCredit (UCG IM) – Speaking with the FT, the CEO says investment in Commerzbank (CBK GY) and bid for Banco BPM (BAMI IM) are test cases that ask if EZ is serious about greater integration. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Software One (SWON SW) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas

SCANDINAVIA

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Demonstrates with Turkcell quantum-safe protection for mobile subscribers. (Newswires)

Zealand Pharma (ZEAL DC) - U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues Complete Response Letter for the glepaglutide New Drug Application for the treatment of short bowel syndrome. The FDA concluded that Zealand Pharma’s application did not meet the full requirements for substantial evidence to establish the efficacy and safety of the to-be-marketed dose of glepaglutide. Zealand Pharma will continue the dialogue with the FDA to align on the path toward obtaining regulatory approval in the U.S. Zealand Pharma expects to proceed with its current plans for a European Marketing Authorization Application submission in 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

GenMab (GMAB DC) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.09% at 5,867, NDX -0.47% at 21,111, DJIA +0.04% at 42,342, RUT -0.45% at 2,221

SECTORS: Real Estate -1.69%, Materials -1.07%, Energy -0.99%, Consumer Staples -0.74%, Health -0.73%, Communication Services -0.11%, Industrials -0.1%, Consumer Discretionary +0.08%, Technology +0.19%, Financials +0.4%, Utilities +0.48%.

FedEx Corp (FDX) - Q2 2025 (USD): EPS 4.05 (exp. 4.06), Revenue 22.0bln (exp. 22.1bln); FY EPS view 19-20 (exp. 19.75, prev. 20-21); FY25 capital outlook USD 5.2bln. Co. announces intent to separate FedEx freight, creating two industry-leading public companies. (Newswires)

Intel (INTC) - Co. has shortlisted a number of buyout firms for the next round of bidding for its Altera unit, via Bloomberg. Suitors for Altera are said to include Apollo, Bain and others. Francisco Partners and Silver Lake are competing alongside Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) in the second round for Altera. (Newswires)

Nike Inc (NKE) - Q2 2025 (USD): EPS 0.78 (exp. 0.63), Revenue 12.4bln (exp. 12.11bln). Gross margin: 43.6% (prev. 44.6% y/y, exp. 43.1%). EBIT: Asia Pacific & Latin America Ebit: -12% y/y to 460mln (exp. 464mln). Greater China Ebit: -27% y/y to 375mln (exp. 458.7mln). EMEA Ebit: -10% y/y to 831mln (exp. 766.2mln). North America Ebit: -10% y/y to 1.37bln (exp. 1.14bln). Cash and cash equivalents: +0.8% y/y to 7.98bln (exp. 8.27bln). Inventory: 7.98bln (prev. 7.98bln y/y, exp. 7.65bln). Revenue breakdown: North America revenue: -7.9% y/y to 5.18bln (exp. 4.97bln). Greater China revenue: -8.2% y/y to 1.71bln (exp. 1.77bln). Asia Pacific & Latin America revenue: -3.4% y/y to 1.74bln (exp. 1.67bln). EMEA revenue: -7.4% y/y to 3.30bln (exp. 3.22bln). Converse revenue: -17% y/y to 429mln (exp. 471.2mln). Equipment revenue: +14% y/y to 544mln (exp. 470.6mln) Apparel revenue: -1% y/y to 3.74bln (exp. 3.4bln). Footwear revenue: -11% y/y to 7.66bln (exp. 7.74bln). Global Brands revenue: +8.3% y/y to 13mln (exp. 12.6mln). CFO says Co. expects Q3 revenue to be down low double digits; says Co. expects Q3 margins to be down about 300-350bps. (Newswires)

TPG (TPG) - Reportedly in talks to buy Crown Castle's (CCI) fibre unit for some USD 8bln, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

20 Dec 2024 - 06:47- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk