Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 21st October 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 indices traded somewhat mixed after the similar performance stateside where the broader market extended on gains in which the DJIA touched a fresh record high and the S&P 500 also briefly approached within 5 points of its all-time peak as attention remained on earnings, although the Nasdaq lagged with tech and duration-sensitive stocks pressured by higher longer-term yields. ASX 200 (+0.1%) was positive as Victoria state approaches the end of the lockdown at midnight and with the index led by outperformance in mining stocks and real estate. However, gains were capped amid weakness in energy as shares in Woodside Petroleum and Santos were pressured following their quarterly production results in which both posted a decline in output from a year ago, albeit with a jump in revenue due to the rampant energy prices, while Woodside also flagged a 27% drop in Wheatstone gas reserves. Nikkei 225 (-1.5%) felt the pressure from the pullback in USD/JPY and with focus shifting to upcoming elections whereby election consulting firm J.A.G Japan sees the LDP losing 40 seats but win enough to maintain a majority with a projected 236 seats at the 465-strong Lower House. Hang Seng (-0.4%) and Shanghai Comp. (+0.5%) were varied despite another respectable PBoC liquidity effort with the mood slightly clouded as Evergrande concerns persisted with Co. shares suffering double-digit percentage losses after it resumed trade for the first time in three weeks and after its deal to sell a stake in Evergrande Property Services fell through, while reports that Modern Land China cancelled its USD 250mln bond repayment plan on liquidity issues added to the ongoing default concerns although it was later reported that Evergrande secured a three-month extension on USD 260mln Jumbo Fortune bond which matured on October 3rd.

Evergrande (3333 HK) secures a three-month extension on USD 260mln Jumbo Fortune bond which matured on October 3rd. (Newswires) Shares traded lower by around HKD 0.37 or 12.5% after a two-week trading pause

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 +0.1% at 4,172, FTSE 100 +0.1% at 7,223, DAX 40 +0.1% at 15,523, CAC 40 +0.5% at 6,706, FTSE MIB +0.9% at 26,582, IBEX 35 +0.2% at 9,018, SMI +0.6% at 12,013.

SECTORS: Utilities 1.74%, Energy 1.16%, Consumer Goods 0.96%, Telecoms 0.92%, Healthcare 0.53%, Industrials 0.23%, Financial Services 0.15%, Consumer Services -0.52%, Basic Materials -0.87%, Technology -1.14%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - FDA placed a clinical hold on AstraZeneca's cancer drug amid a heart safety scare in combo test. (Fierce Biotech)

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK LN) - US Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices votes unanimously to recommend Shingrix for immunocompromised adults aged 19 and up. (GSK)

Severn Trent (SVT LN) – Complaints to water companies increased by 11% in 2020/21 YY, two-thirds of these complaints are in relation to bill disputes. (FT)

UK Cos – Over 80% of private sector employers expect to increase pay at the next annual review, median award to increase by 2.5% vs prev. 1.6%. (FT)

UK Defense Names - Britain is in talks with Ukraine to sell the nation weapons for the first time amid fears that Russia could use the gas crisis as an opportunity to seize the country. (Telegraph)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

LEGAL & GENERAL (LGEN LN) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT JEFFERIES

DAX

SAP (SAP GY) - Q3 adj. EBIT EUR 1.25bln vs prev. EUR 1.47bln. Revenue EUR 6.85bln vs prev. EUR 6.54bln. SAP is seeing strong growth in current cloud backlog across its cloud portfolio, in particular with S/4HANA Cloud. SAP's cloud revenue growth also accelerated sequentially. The share of more predictable revenue grew by 3 percentage points year over year to 77% in the third quarter. (Newswires/SAP IR)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Metro AG (B4B GY) - Q4 revenue EUR 7.1bln vs prev. EUR 6.5bln. Co. guides FY21 EBITDA at the upper end of prior range. (Newswires)

Software AG (SOW GY) - Q3 revenue EUR 198mln vs exp. EUR 195.4mln. EBIT EUR 24.5mln vs exp. EUR 22mln. Co. upgrades A&N booking growth guidance to "-8% to -12%" from "-30% to -20%". (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SARTORIUS (SRT GY) REITERATED WITH OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN CHASE

CAC

Carrefour (CA FP) - Q3 revenue EUR 20.47bln (+0.8% LFL). Q3 France sales EUR 9.88bln, -0.3% LFL. Q3 France Hypermarket sales -2.8% LFL. Q3 France Supermarket sales EUR +2.2% LFL. Q3 Brazil sales -1.8% LFL. 2021 net FCF objective confirmed. Does not anticipate any material impact of inflation on its FY 2021 performance. Continued food ecommerce sales growth +19% in Q3, +100% over last two years. (Newswires/Carrefour IR)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP)/ Eutelsat (ETL FP) - Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer will leave the Co. and replace Elie Girard as chief executive of Atos by early next year. (Yahoo Finance)

Edenred (EDEN FP) – Q3 revenue EUR 405mln vs prev. EUR 357mln, operating revenue EUR 393mln vs prev. EUR 346mln. Confident in FY21 EBITDA guidance in the upper-half of the EUR 620-670mln range. Reinstating ‘next frontier’ objectives, assuming no major COVID surge. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

ADP (ADP FP) UPGRADED TO NEUTRAL FROM UNDERPERFORM AT BNP PARIBAS

PAN EUROPE

Auto Names - Tesla (TSLA) shares fell 1.6% after market. See the US section for details.

EZ Banks - ECB is reportedly pushing for banks to bolster their post-Brexit operations by adding hundreds of additional staff and billions of additional capital into operations in continental Europe. (FT)

Orange Belgium (OBEL BB) – Q3 revenue EUR 346mln vs prev. EUR 225mln, EBITDAAL EUR 97mln vs prev. EUR 89mln. Confirms FY21 guidance; expects to slightly exceed the EBITDAAL guidance range, due to positive results and the improved health context. (Newswires)

Randstad (RAND NA) - Q3 underlying EBITA EUR 298mln vs exp. EUR 280mln. Revenue EUR 6.18bln vs exp. EUR 6.2bln. (Newswires)

Tech Names - IBM (IBM) shares fell 4.3% after market. See the US section for details.

BROKER MOVES

AENA (AENA SM) DOWNGRADED TO UNDERPERFORM FROM NEUTRAL AT EXANE BNP

ITALGAS (IG IM) UPGRADED TO NEUTRAL FROM SELL AT CITIGROUP

SNAM (SRG IM) UPGRADED TO NEUTRAL FROM SELL AT CITIGROUP

SMI

ABB (ABBN SW) - Q3 adj. EBITDA USD 1.06bln vs prev. USD 800mln. Revenue USD 7bln vs prev. USD 6.6bln. Co. guides Q4 revenue to be "broadly similar Q/Q". Co. targets the upper end of its operating EBITDA guidance. Co. sees revenue growth hampered by supply constraints. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

GAM (GAM SW) – 9-month investment management AUM CHF 33.4bln, net client outflows of CHF 1.23bln and negative market/FX activity of CHF 0.2bln. Expect the market environment to remain challenging, but are well position for this. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Fingerprint Cards AB (FINGB SS) – Q3 reveneu SEK 354mln vs prev. SEK 294mln, EBITDA SEK 32mln vs prev. SEK 9mln. Q4 expects revenue of SEK 350-390mln. (Newswires)

Nordea (NDA SS) - Q3 operating profit EUR 1.27bln vs prev. EUR 1.09bln Y/Y. Revenue EUR 2.34bln vs prev. EUR 2.16bln. NII EUR 1.23bln vs prev. EUR 1.15bln. CET1 ratio 16.9% vs prev. 16.4%. Co. guides net loan losses to be significantly lower Y/Y. (Newswires)

Swedbank (SWEDA SS) – Q1 NII SEK 6.59bln vs exp. SEK 6.61bln, net commission income SEK 3.8bln vs exp. SEK 3.66bln, net profit SEK 5.5bln vs exp. SEK 5.1bln. Q3 saw a gradual recovery to a new normal. Propose a SEK 7.30 dividend. (Newswires)

Telia (TELIA SS) - Q3 revenue SEK 21.27bln vs exp. SEK 20.9bln. adj. net SEK 1.64bln vs prev. SEK 2.57bln. Adj. EBITDA SEK 7.81bln vs prev. SEK 8.21bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

International Business Machines Corp (IBM) Q3 2021 (USD): Operating EPS 2.52 (exp. 2.50), Revenue 17.6bln (exp. 17.77bln). Cloud And Cognitive Software: 5.69bln (exp. 5.77bln), +2.5% Y/Y. Global Business Services: 4.43bln (exp. 4.29bln), +12% Y/Y. Global Financing: 220mln (exp. 254.00mln). Global Technology Services: 6.15bln (exp. 6.21bln). Systems: 1.11bln (exp. 1.24bln). (businesswire) Shares fell 4.3% after market

Tesla Inc (TSLA) - Q3 2021 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.86 (exp. 1.58), Revenue 13.76bln (exp. 13.62bln). EBIT margin 14.6% and free cash glow USD 1.33bln. Automotive gross margin +30.5% (exp. 28.4%). Cash and cash equivalents USD 16.07 (exp. 16.88bln). Saw a continuation of global supply chain, transportation and other manufacturing challenges in Q3. Continue to ramp up Gigafactory Shanghai and build new capacity in Texas and Berlin. (businesswire) Shares fell 1.6% after market

CLOSES: SPX +0.4% at 4,538, NDX -0.1% at 15,389, DJIA +0.4% at 35,610, RUT +0.9% at 2,295.

SECTORS: Utilities +1.6%, Real Estate +1.5%, Health Care +1.5%, Energy +0.8%, Materials +0.8%, Financials +0.8%, Industrials +0.6%, Consumer Staples +0.6%, Consumer Discretionary -0.2%, Communication Services -0.2%, Information Technology -0.3%.

21 Oct 2021 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk