Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 5th February 2024

5th February 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly subdued after last Friday's red-hot jobs report and the latest comments from Fed Chair Powell who reiterated the expectation that a March cut is likely too soon. ASX 200 was dragged lower by underperformance in the commodity-related sectors and as participants await tomorrow's RBA decision, while Australian Services and Composite PMI data improved but remained in contraction territory. Nikkei 225 was underpinned by recent currency weakness and with the biggest movers influenced by earnings. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were initially both pressured from early on in a continuation of the equity rout after Chinese stocks plunged to five-year lows despite the PBoC's previously announced RRR cut taking effect, while the securities regulator pledged to stabilise the market and prevent abnormal market fluctuations although refrained from announcing specific measures. As such, Chinese markets later recovered from their lows which saw both benchmarks briefly turn positive.

Hyundai Motor (005380 KS) - Explores IPO for Indian unit by year-end with Indian unit seeking valuation of USD 25bln-30bln in IPO, while IPO talks are still at an early stage with no banks appointed, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

Toyota (7203 JT) - Is to keep production on 6 lines at 4 Japanese factories suspended through February 9th on supplier's engine certification issue, Co. is to also cancel work initially planned on Feb. 9th on the 6 lines. Co. will decide on production plans from February 12th onwards on Thursday. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.35% at 16,918.21, FTSE 100: -0.09% at 7,615.54, CAC 40: +0.05% at 7,592.26, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.36% at 4,655.15, IBEX 35: +0.48% at 10,062.50, SMI: +0.23% at 11,239.68.

SECTORS: Financials 0.69%, Consumer Disc 0.52%, Industrials 0.37%, IT 0.35%, Consumer Stpl 0.08%, Telecoms -0.25%, Healthcare -0.69%, Materials -0.82%, Utilities -0.87%, Energy -1.53%

FTSE 100

BP (BP/ LN) - Says power has been restored to its Whiting, Indiana refinery (435k BPD) following an outage that disrupted operations at the facility on February 1st. Whiting, Indiana, refinery has no date set for restart; Co. is still assessing the status after Thursday's power outage, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Shell's CEO warns of confidence erosion in a crucial global energy sector, after US President Biden's pause on new LNG export terminal approvals, FT reports. Shell remains optimistic about gas demand amid potential fossil fuel consumption decline. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Superdry (SDRY LN) - Founder Dunkerton, who controls ~30% of shares, is reportedly in discussions with the Gordon Brothers and Rcapital on assisting in financing an offer to take the Co. private, via Sky News citing sources; talks not yet at an advanced stage. (Sky News)

BROKER MOVES

Informa (INF LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS

Land Securities (LAND LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

National Grid (NG/ LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

DAX

Rheinmetall (RHM GY) – Awarded GBP 282mln contract from UK Government for 500 support trucks. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) - Reports prelim. Q4 GMV 12.3bln, +6.7% Y/Y. Confirms reached FCF break-even during H2-23. FY Revenue 10.46bln (exp. 11.28bln), FY23 adj. EBITDA 250mln (exp. 716mln). Guides initial FY24 GMV +7-9% Y/Y, Total Segment Rev. +15-17% Y/Y, Adj. EBITDA 725-775mln, FCF "positive". (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Adidas (ADS GY) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC

Nemetschek (NEM GY) initiated with Buy at UBS

CAC

Thales (HO FP) - Wins GBP 1.8bln, 15-year contract from the Royal Navy for ship availability and resilience. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP) – Enters into discussions with banks with a view to reaching a refinancing plan for its financial debt. Given the changes in the market environment, the conditions of the initially planned EUR 720mln rights issue are no longer applicable. (Newswires)

Valneva (VLA FP) - Announces the sale of a priority review voucher for USD 103mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Enel (ENEL IM) - Co. is considering scrapping its Argentina exit, with the Co. growing in confidence in new President Milei, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

ING (INGA NA) - Proposes that Deloitte is the new external auditor from January 2026. (Newswires)

Lloyds (LLOY LN)/Santander (SAN SM) - Iran has reportedly used the banks to convert money globally, as part of a sanctions-evasion scheme, via FT citing documents; firms provided bank accounts for front companies. (FT)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Q4 (EUR): Net 2.81bln (exp. 1bln), Revenue 5.98bln (exp. 5.56bln). NII 3.61bln (exp. 3.46bln). Adjusts FY24 Net "substantially in-line with FY23" (prev. guidance Net "at least in line"), Revenue 22.5bln (prev. guidance "broadly in line Y/Y"). The introduction of an interim dividend on FY24 earnings should allow for about EUR 10bln of calendar year distributions in 2024. Intends to distribute EUR 8.6bln to shareholders for 2023, pending approval. CEO says they expect rate cuts in H2’24. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Jeronimo Martins (JMT PL) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Galderma - EQT is reportedly reviving plans for an IPO of Galderma, which was spun-out of Nestle (NESN SW) in 2019, via FT citing sources; IPO could occur in H1 with a value of USD 20bln. (FT)

SoftwareOne (SWON SW) - Co's founding shareholders request the convening of an EGM to elect a new Board with no delay. Additionally, Reuters reports that Bain is in discussions with the mentioned shareholders and remains interested in a transaction if one is possible, according to sources. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Nordea Bank (NDA FH) - Q4 (EUR) Op. 1.42bln (exp. 1.57bln), Revenue 2.92bln (exp. 3.03bln), NII 1.95bln (exp. 1.94bln). Guides initial FY24 ROE above 15% (prev. guidance "above 13%"). Affirms FY25 guidance. Launches long term incentive plan for 2024-2026. (Newswires)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - CEO Jordensen said they were surprised by the uptake for Wegovy in Europe saying “it's perhaps the first time you see a large population willing to pay out of pocket for medicine. (FT) Wegovy is currently not readily available in European public health services, 80% of sales are paid directly by customers

BROKER MOVES

Konecranes (KCR FH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SEB

Volvo Cars (VOLVCARB SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.07% at 4,958, NDX +1.72% at 17,642, DJIA +0.35% at 38,654, RUT -0.59% at 1,962.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +1.98%, Consumer Staples +1.97%, Utilities +1.89%, Real Estate +1.75%, Industrials +1.7%, Materials +1.66%, Technology +1.38%, Health +1.27%, Communication Services +0.88%, Financials +0.09%, Energy -0.06%.

Tesla (TSLA) - Raises price of Model 3 Long Range to USD 46,990 from USD 45,990. (Newswires)

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