Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 25th January 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

Asia-Pac equity markets were heavily pressured despite the recovery on Wall St where the major indices finished a roller-coaster session in the green after the Nasdaq rebounded from a 4% intraday slump and the DJIA also clawed back losses of more than 1,000 points, although US stock index futures have since soured overnight. ASX 200 (-2.5%) retreated below the 7k level with broad losses across all sectors and sentiment further dampened by weak NAB Business Confidence which turned negative, as well as firmer than expected CPI data which strengthened the case for the RBA to tighten policy and saw several banks bring forward their RBA rate hike calls to August this year. Nikkei 225 (-1.8%) briefly retreated below 27K for the first time since August last year, while the KOSPI (-2.4%) failed to benefit from encouraging GDP data in which its economy grew by 4.0% annually in 2021 which was the fastest pace in 11 years, as South Korea also registered a record of new daily COVID-19 cases and reports noted that North Korea may have fired two cruise missiles. Hang Seng (-1.6%) and Shanghai Comp. (-1.8%) conformed to the downbeat mood with Hong Kong dragged by notable losses in its tech sector and Chinese property names were also subdued amid ongoing Evergrande woes after the developer urged investors against aggressive legal action and its advisory team initiated active dialogue with offshore creditors.

Hyundai Motor (005380 KS) - Q4 net KRW 547bln vs exp. KRW 1.5tln, oper. profit KRW 1.5tln vs exp. KRW 1.7tln, rev. KRW 31tln vs exp. KRW 30.1tln. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 -4.1% at 4,054, FTSE 100 -2.6% at 7,297, DAX 40 -3.8% at 15,011, CAC 40 -4% at 6,787, FTSE MIB -4% at 25,972, IBEX 35 -3.2% at 8,417, SMI -4% at 11,856.

SECTORS: Consumer Stpl -1.24%, Utilities -2.16%, Telecoms -2.57%, Financials -3.74%, Energy -3.87%, Healthcare -3.97%, Materials -4.27%, Industrials -4.48%, Consumer Disc -4.79%, IT -5.97%

FTSE 100

Abrdn (ABDN LN) - Co. is looking into how individual investors/institutions can be allowed to purchase “tokens” in buildings, funds and infrastructure assets, work is taking place with Citigroup on blockchain technology. (Times)

IAG (IAG LN) - Co. is said to be in talks to buy a 50% stake in Air Europa, El Confidential reports. (El Confidential)

ITV (ITV LN) - Co. is to extend its evening bulletin to a one-hour period as of March, paying for 27 new journalists. Decision has been taken as the broadcaster is waiting for the Spring launch of TalkTV that ex-ITV journalist Piers Morgan will be on. (Telegraph)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Co. announces Oyu Tolgoi partners reached a comprehensive agreement and approved the commencement of underground mining operations, agreement will move the Oyu Tolgoi project forward. Capital forecast for the project is USD 6.93bln and the first sustainable production from the project is expected in H1-2023. (Newswires) Shares fell by 0.8% in Australian trade

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Co. plans to slash thousands ("low thousands") of management positions across its operations, according to Reuters source. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

NATIONAL GRID (NG/ LN) DOWNGRADED TO SECTOR PERFORM FROM OUTPERFORM AT RBC

RIGHTMOVE (RMV LN) INITIATED WITH OUTPERFORM AT DAVY RESEARCH

DAX

Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA GY) - Co. is reportedly in discussions to purchase a 40% stake in ITA Airways, according to Reuters sources. The price is reportedly still under negotiations and it could take longer than a few days to reach a deal. Later reports via Italian press downplayed this. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

DWS (DWS GY) - Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) has alerted Bafin to a EUR 160k payment made in 2018 from a client to former private client/current DWS head Wohrmann, according to FT sources. Additionally, sources add that Deutsche Bank has widened its own investigation into the payment and private email usage, alongside alerting Bafin. (FT)

Home24 (H24 GY) - Q4 revenue EUR 152mln vs prev. EUR EUR 152mln Y/Y. Co. reduces FY21 EBTIDA and revenue outlook amid weakness in its Brazilian market. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

UNIPER (UN01 GY) UPGRADED TO SECTOR PERFORM FROM UNDERPERFORM AT RBC

CAC

BNP (BNP FP) - Co. has reportedly been approaching possible buyers for its Spanish private banking division. (Expansion)

Remy Cointreau (RCO FP) - Q3 revenue EUR 1.09bln vs prev. EUR 780.9mln Y/Y. Cognac revenue +38.5% Y/Y, Liqueurs +39.1% Y/Y, Partner Brands +20.1% Y/Y. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Orpea (ORP FP) - Co. has refuted the Le Monde article which claimed alleged mistreatment of elderly in retirement homes. (Newswires) Co. closed lower by 16.1% on Monday

BROKER MOVES

PUBLICIS (PUB FP) UPGRADED TO OUTPERFORM FROM NEUTRAL AT ODDO SECURITIES

SANOFI (SAN FP) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT LIBERUM CAPITAL

PAN EUROPE

Diasorin (DIA IM) - The board has renewed full confidence in its CEO and expects him to be cleared in the insider-trading investigation, according to reports. (Newswires)

PostNL (PNL NA) - Total revenue is expected to be approximately EUR 3.466bln in 2021. Normalized EBIT for the year is estimated to be around EUR 308mln, at the higher end of the previously issued forecast. "Cash flow development was very strong", with free cash flow of approximately EUR 288mln - higher than the previous forecast. This has led to a further improvement in the financial position. The company's financial strength, combined with its capital allocation policy, enables a share buy-back program worth EUR 250mln. (PostNL)

Stellantis (STLA IM/FP) - Co. is to open a third production unit at plant in Mulhouse, France which will add 850 jobs, according Les Echos citing unions. (Les Echos)

Tech Names - IBM (IBM) shares rose 2.4% post-earnings after top and bottom lines beat expectations. Refer to the US section below for more details.

Unicredit (UCG IM) - Co. received around five non-binding offers for parts of its leasing business, including from Bain and CVC combined with several other industrial players, but there is no bid for the entire leasing business and the bank faces losses, sources stated. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Credit Suisse (CSGN SW) - Co. flagged litigation provisions of around CHF 500mln, which is expected to negatively impact Q4 pre-tax to around break-even. Q4 results will be published on Feb 10th. (Newswires)

Logitech (LOGN SW) - Q3 revenue USD 1.63bln vs exp. USD 1.51bln. EPS USD 1.55 vs exp. USD 1.31. Co. raises FY22 operating profit forecast to USD 850-900mln vs prev. USD 800-850mln, and revenue growth is seen +2-5% Y/Y vs prev. +/- flat. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - Roche’s Evrysdi has been granted FDA priority review for treatment of pre-symptomatic babies under 2 months of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). (Roche)

Swatch (UHR SW) - FY21 EBIT CHF 1.02bln vs exp. CHF 900mln. Revenue CHF 7.31bln vs prev. CHF 5.601bln Y/Y. Operating margin 14% vs exp. 12.9%. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

NOVARTIS (NOVN SW) DOWNGRADED TO HOLD FROM BUY AT LIBERUM

SCANDINAVIA

Ericsson (ERICB SS) - Q4 revenue SEK 71.3bln vs exp. SEK 68.1bln. Adj. operating profit SEK 12.3bln vs prev. SEK 10.0bln. Net SEK 10.1bln vs prev. SEK 7.2bln Y/Y. Gross margin 43.5% vs prev. 40.6% Y/Y. Organic sales +2% Y/Y. Board will propose a dividend of SEK 2.50/shr vs exp. 2.18/shr (vs prev. SEK 2.00/shr Y/Y). Co. affirms long term EBITA margin. (Newswires)

Lundbeck (LUN DC) - Vyepti has been approved by the EU Commission for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

GENMAB (GMAB DC) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT DNB MARKETS

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.28% at 4,410, NDX +0.49% at 14,510, DJIA +0.29% at 34,365, RUT +2.29% at 2,034.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +1.21%, Energy +0.55%, Industrials +0.53%, Communication +0.43%, Technology +0.33%, Financials +0.24%, Real Estate +0.18%, Materials +0.0%, Consumer Staples -0.35%, Health Care -0.37%, Utilities -1.03%.

International Business Machines Corp (IBM) - Q4 2021 (USD): Adj. EPS 3.35 (exp. 3.30), Revenue 16.70bln (exp. 15.96bln). Consulting segment revenue rose 13% Y/Y to USD 4.75bln. Software revenue rose 8.2% Y/Y to USD 7.27bln. Infrastructure revenue fell 0.2% Y/Y USD 4.41bln. Guides FY22 at sustained mid-single-digit revenue growth and strong free cash flow. (PR Newswire) Shares rose 2.4% after-market

25 Jan 2022 - 06:52- Data- Source: Newswires