Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 29th February 2024

29th February 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were choppy at month-end after the lacklustre handover from the US ahead of PCE price data. ASX 200 eventually shrugged off the initial indecision and briefly climbed above 7,700 to eke a fresh record high. Nikkei 225 briefly dipped below the 39,000 level amid a firmer currency and hawkish comments from BoJ's Takata, although the index gradually recovered all of its losses in late trade. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were positive with outperformance in the latter which momentarily reclaimed the 3,000 level amid lower yields and after the PBoC voiced support for Shanghai's high-level opening up financially, while it was also reported that China is to crack down on illegal activity to maintain market order. Conversely, the gains in Hong Kong were limited with earnings on the radar.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.25% at 17,601.22, FTSE 100: -0.76% at 7,624.98, CAC 40: +0.08% at 7,954.39, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.03% at 4,884.45, IBEX 35: -0.45% at 10,068.60, FTSE MIB: -0.27% at 32,617.96, SMI: -0.25% at 11,411.40.

SECTORS: Industrials 0.65%, Financials 0.27%, Consumer Disc 0.03%, Healthcare -0.31%, Telecoms -0.44%, Utilities -0.48%, Energy -0.55%, Materials -0.58%, IT -1.35%, Consumer Stpl -1.59%

FTSE 100

Ex-Dividends - Diageo (DGE LN) and Barclays (BARC LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout. (Newswires)

Shell (SHEL LN) - US solar unit Savion seeks potential buyers for up to 10.6GW of development-stage solar and storage assets. (Newswires)

UK Homebuilders - Zoopla’s latest property data shows both buyers and sellers returned to the market in February, agreed sales +15% and buyer demand +11% Y/Y. Home sale expected to be +10% for the year. (Zoopla)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Direct Line (DLG LN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

DAX

Merck (MRK GY) - iOnctura BV receives US FDA orphan drug designation for Cambritaxestat for treatment of pancreatic cancer. (Newswires)

SAP (SAP GY) - Results from Salesforce (CRM), whose shares slipped by 1.6% in afterhours trade as it provided light guidance for the FY; see the US section below for full details.

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Covestro (1COV GY) - Q4 (EUR): adj. EBITDA 132mln (exp. 99mln), Revenue 3.35bln (exp. 3.44bln). Decides not to pay a dividend. Expects economic conditions to remain challenging in 2024. Guides Q1 EBITDA 180-280mln (exp. 204mln). Guides initial FY24 EBITDA 1-1.6bln (exp. 1.36bln), Revenue 14-15bln (exp. 14.7bln). (Newswires)

Kion (KGX GY) - FY23 (EUR): Net 314mln (exp. 333mln), adj. EBIT 791.8mln (exp. 792mln), Revenue 11.4bln (exp. 11.3bln). Raises dividend to 0.70/shr. Guides initial FY24 Adj. EBIT 790-940mln, Revenue to increase to 11.2-12.0bln. (Newswires)

Freenet (FNTN GY) - FY23 (EUR): EBITDA 500mln (exp. 501mln, prev. 479mln Y/Y), Revenue 2.63bln (exp. 2.61bln, prev. 2.56bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 Revenue "stable Y/Y", EBITDA 495-515mln. (Newswires)

NN (2NN GY) - FY23 (EUR): Net 1.17bln (exp. 1.44bln), Op. 1.13bln (exp. 1.23bln Y/Y). Raises dividend 15% to 3.20/shr. Increases buyback to EUR 300mln. (Newswires)

Nordex (NDX1 GY) - FY23 (EUR): EBITDA 2mln (exp. 24mln, prev. -244.3mln Y/Y), Revenue 6.49bln (exp. 6.2bln, prev. 5.7bln Y/Y). Guides FY24 Revenue 7-7.7bln (exp. 6.5bln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Encavis (ECV GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Air France (AF FP) – Q4 (EUR): Net -256mln (exp. -154.8mln), Revenue 7.41bln (exp. 7.44bln). Guides FY24 capacity +5%, unit costs +1-2% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Arkema (AKE FP) – FY23 (EUR): Adj. Net 653mln (prev. 1.17bln Y/Y), EBITDA 1.5 (prev. 2.11bln), Revenue 9.51bln (prev. 11.6bln Y/Y), Raises dividend to 3.50/shr (prev. 3.40/shr). (Newswires)

Eiffage (FGR FP) - FY23 (EUR): Revenue 21.83bln (exp. 22.62bln, prev. 20.32bln Y/Y), Operating profit 2.40bln (exp. 2.38bln, prev. 2.21bln), Order book 26bln, +40% with the signature of two major contracts; proposes dividend of 4.10/shr (prev. 3.60)

Valneva (VLS FP) - US CDC voted to recommend use of Valneva’s single-dose chikungunya vaccine IXCHIQ® for the prevention of disease caused by the chikungunya virus. (Valneva)

Wendel (MF FP) - FY23 (EUR): 142mln (exp. 545mln), Revenue 7.13bln (exp. 7.66bln). Guides initial FY24 Revenue "mid to single digit organic revenue growth". (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

ASR Nederland (ASRNL NA) - FY23 (EUR): Net 1.09bln (exp. 943.4mln), Op. 1.12bln (exp. 1.23bln). (Newswires)

Amadeus (AMA SM) - Co. and Fiserv (FI) are reportedly vying to acquire Shift4 Payments (FOUR), according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

Erste Group (ERST AV) - FY (EUR): Net Fee Income 2.64bln (exp. 2.6bln), NII 7.3bln (exp. 7.3bln), CET1 15.7%. (Newswires)

Moncler (MONC IM) - FY23 (EUR): Net income 611.9mln (exp. 597mln), Revenue 2.98bln (exp. 2.93bln), EBIT 894mln (exp. 871mln); a proposed dividend of 1.15/shr. CEO says is very confident to continue with the two current brands, in relation to acquisitions. (Newswires)

Poste Italiane (PST IM) - Q4 (EUR): Net 411mln (exp. 359mln), EBIT 515mln (prev.237mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.19bln (exp. 3.14bln). (Newswires)

Prysmian (PRY IM) - FY (EUR): Sales 15.35bln (exp. 15.59bln), adj. EBITDA 1.63bln (exp. 1.63bln), Net Income 529mln (exp. 772mln), Dividend 0.70/shr (exp. 0.68/shr). (Newswires)

Saipem (SPM IM) - Q4 (EUR): adj. Net 100mln (exp. 32mln), adj. EBITDA 286mln (exp. 236mln), Revenue 3.51bln (exp. 3.01bln). Board dividend policy envisaging return to dividend in FY25. Guides initial FY24 Revenue 12.7-13.3bln, adj. EBITDA margin approx. 10%. (Newswires)

Universal Music Group (UMG NA) - Q4 (EUR): adj. EBITDA 677mln (exp. 440mln, prev. 620mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.21bln (exp. 2.59bln, prev. 2.94bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Banco BPM (BAMI IM) initiated with Outperform at Oddo

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Adecco (ADEN SW) - Q4 (EUR): adj. EPS 0.75 (prev. 0.76 Y/Y), EBITA 264mln (prev. 228mln Y/Y), Revenue 6.1bln (exp. 5.8bln, prev. 6.2bln Y/Y). Guides Q1 Gross Margin "similar Q/Q". (Newswires)

ams OSRAM (AMS SW) - Unexpectedly cancels the MicroLED Project. Guides EUR 30-50mln lower adj. EBIT for FY24 with non-cash impairment charge EUR 600-900mln. (Newswires)

Clariant (CLN SW) - Q4 (CHF): adj. EBITDA 106mln (exp. 170mln, prev. 154mln Y/Y), Revenue 1.06bln (exp. 1.08bln, prev. 1.32bln). Guides initial FY24 Revenue low single-digit growth. Adjusts targets for FY25 Revenue +4-6% (prev. guided +4-6%), EBITDA Margin 17-18% (prev. guided 19-21%). (Newswires)

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - US Subsidiaries resolve generic drug antitrust class action litigation with direct purchaser class plaintiffs. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Elekta (EKTAB SS) - Q3 (SEK): Sales 4.5bln (exp. 4.58bln), adj. EPS 0.88 (exp. 0.93), Orders 4.4bln (exp. 5.1bln), adj. EBIT 0.5bln (exp. 0.5bln). Expect Q4 in-line Y/Y, which was a strong quarter. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Millicom (MIC SS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at New Street Research

SOBI (SOBI SS) initiated with Buy at Berenberg

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.17% at 5,069, NDX -0.54% at 17,874, DJIA -0.06% at 38,949, RUT -0.77% at 2,040.

SECTORS: Communication Services -0.92%, Technology -0.55%, Health -0.51%, Energy -0.18%, Consumer Staples +0.09%, Materials +0.22%, Financials +0.35%, Consumer Discretionary +0.32%, Utilities +0.3%, Industrials +0.3%, Real Estate +1.28%.

Coinbase (COIN) - Said it is aware some users may see a zero balance in accounts; the team is investigating the issue and will provide an update; your assets are safe. Says all services on Coinbase.com have been restored. (Newswires)

Electronic Arts (EA) - To reportedly lay off 5% of its workforce, or about 670 employees, via CNBC. (CNBC)

HP Inc (HPQ) - Q1 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.81 (exp. 0.81), Revenue 13.2bln (exp. 13.56bln); affirms FY24 guidance. (Newswires)

Snowflake (SNOW) - Q4 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.35 (exp. 0.18), Revenue 774.7mln (exp. 760.4mln); Q1 product revenue view 745-750mln (exp. 769.5mln), FY25 product revenue view 3.25bln (exp. 3.46bln). (Newswires)

Salesforce (CRM) - Shares slipped by 1.6% in afterhours trade as it provided light guidance for the FY. Q4 adj. EPS 2.29 (exp. 2.26), Q4 revenue USD 9.29bln (exp. 9.22bln). Increases share repurchase authorisation by USD 10bln. Initiated a common stock dividend of USD 0.40/shr. Sees Q1 adj. EPS between USD 2.37-2.39 (exp. 2.20), and Q1 revenue between USD 9.12bln-9.19bln (exp. 9.19bln); sees FY25 revenue between USD 37.7bln-38.0bln (exp. 38.6bln).

29 Feb 2024 - 06:55- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk