Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 7th March 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

APAC stocks declined as geopolitical concerns lingered ahead of the third round of Ukraine-Russia talks and after evacuation attempts over the weekend in Mariupol were halted amid a ceasefire breach, while the US and allies are engaged in a “very active discussion” regarding a Russian oil embargo. ASX 200 weakened as tech led the declines across most industries aside from the commodity-related sectors which were boosted by a spike in oil and supply squeeze concerns across the metals complex. Nikkei 225 suffered a near-1000 point intraday loss with notable weakness in autos and airlines stocks. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. conformed to the risk aversion after China set its lowest growth target in 30 years at 'around 5.5%' and with mixed Chinese trade data also failing to inspire a turnaround.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 -5.0% at 3,556, FTSE 100 -3.5% at 6,987, DAX 40 -4.4% at 13,094, CAC 40 -5.0% at 6,061, FTSE MIB -6.2% at 22,464, IBEX 35 -3.6% at 7,720, SMI -3.3% at 11,286.

SECTORS: Utilities -1.16%, Healthcare -1.65%, Telecoms -2.23%, Basic Materials -2.89%, Energy -3.22%, Consumer Services -4.27%, Industrials -4.50%, Consumer Goods -4.52%, Financial Services -5.07%, Technology -5.45%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - To spend an additional GBP 100mln in 2022 above the budget to complete its UK R&D site, bringing the projects spend to GBP 1.1bln. (Times)

BAE Systems (BA/ LN)/ Rolls-Royce (RR/ LN)/ Babcock (BAB LN)/ Meggitt (MGGT LN) - The UK defence budget is the most likely of any budget to rise, according to two sources cited by Sky News. (Sky News)

IAG (IAG LN)/Ryanair (RYA LN) - Ryanair CEO claims that France and Germany are to take advantage of post-Brexit legislation to force IAG’s British Airways to be spun-off. (Telegraph)

Next (NXT LN) - Co. is ‘mothballing’ its Russian distribution centre and the website will stop within Russia over the next few days. (Telegraph)

Oil and Mining Stocks - Commodities saw substantial gains overnight with Brent May almost hitting USD 140/bbl whilst LME nickel rose 20% - with gains also seen across copper and zinc.

Tui (TUI LN) - Co's head of Germany said that holiday bookings are increasing towards pre-COVID levels. (Newswires)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Co. is to publish nutrition scores for its food portfolio, in response to Candriam and other institutional investors tabling a shareholder resolution. Targets are to be outlined by October. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

En+ (ENPL LN) - Co. is said to be mulling a carveout of its Rusal assets, according to reports. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Bunzl (BNZL LN) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse

ITV (ITV LN) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs

Jupiter (JUP LN) downgraded to Hold from Add at Peel Hunt

Mondi (MNDI LN) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Exane BNP

National Express (NEX LN) initiated with Buy at Investec

Stagecoach (SGC LN) initiated with Buy at Investec

Taylor Wimpey (TW/ LN) upgraded to Buy from Add at Peel Hunt

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Co. is planning to go ahead with its EV Wolfsburg plant and will be investing EUR 2bln into production. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Telefonica Deutschland (O2D GY) - CFO expects operating margin to rise, according to reports citing German press. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Boeing (BA) is said to plan to nearly double its 737Max production by 2023 to 47/month vs the current rate of 27/month, according to Reuters sources. (Newswires)

Kering (KER FP) - Co. is to temporarily close its Russian stores. (Newswires)

LVMH (MC FP) - Co. is reportedly mulling closing its stores in Russia. (Newswires)

Total (FP FP) - Co. will “keep what it has in Russia unless there are sanctions”, according to sources; Co. has reportedly not experienced pressure from the French gov’t to exit operations within Russia. (FT)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Euronext (ENX FP) - Feb ADV in cash markets +12% M/M and +21% Y/Y. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Thales (HO FP) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

PAN EUROPE

bpost (BPOST BB) - Co. is to suspend commercial mail services to Russia and Belarus. (Newswires)

EU Stocks - EU officials are conducting early discussions on relaxing state aid rules, according to sources; discussions with member states could commence this week though this is a 'moving target'. (FT)

Inditex (ITX SM) - Co. has halted trading in Russia and closed 502 stores in the region alongside stopping online sales. Russia accounts for around 8.5% of total group EBIT. (Newswires)

OMV (OMV AV) - OMV no longer pursues investments in Russia. OMV will recognize a value adjustment charge of EUR 987mln due to the fact that receivables from Nord Stream 2 AG may be unrecoverable. This is a non-cash value adjustment that will impact reported Earnings before Taxes in the first quarter of the current financial year. A total value adjustment of EUR 1.5-1.8bln is anticipated. (OMV)

Stellantis (STLA IM/FP) - CEO said the Co. is looking at more of a direct sales model to decrease costs associated with dealers. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Vopak (VPK NA) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

SMI

UBS (UBSG SW) - CEO proposes an ordinary dividend of USD 0.50 (gross) in cash per share for the financial year 2021. The Board of Directors proposes a capital reduction by way of cancellation of shares repurchased under the 2021 share buyback program and the approval of a new share buyback program 2022. (Business Wire)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Aryzta (ARYN SW) - Q2 2022 (EUR): Revenue 835.3mln (prev. 753mln Y/Y). EBITDA 104mln (prev. 76.1mln). Co. upgrades its FY organic revenue guidance to 12-14% vs prev. "mild single digit organic revenue growth". (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: S&P 500 -0.8% at 4,328, Nasdaq 100 -1.4% at 13,837, Dow Jones -0.5% at 33,614, Russell 2000 -1.3% at 2,002.

SECTORS: Financials -2.0%, Technology -1.8%, Consumer Discretionary -1.5%, Communication Services -1.4%, Materials -0.4%, Industrials -0.2%, Consumer Staples +0.1%, Health +0.5%, Real Estate +0.8%, Utilities +2.2%, Energy +2.9%.

RUSSIA-EXPOSED EUROPEAN STOCKS

EUROPEAN COMPANIES WITH STAKES IN RUSSIAN FIRMS

Source: Goldman Sachs/GoogleOrder: Descending market cap

• 
  Shell (SHEL LN) - (Energy) Has a stake of around 28% stake in Gazprom-operated Sakhalin-2 LNG project. [Announced the exit of Gazprom entities (Mar 1)]
  


• 
  TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - (Energy) Exposed via its partnerships with Russian nat gas producers Novatek and Yamal LNG. [Holds presence in Russia but announced no further investments (Mar 1)]
  


• 
  Prosus (PRX AV) - (Tech) Co. owns Avito, a Russian classified advertisements website.


• 
  BP (BP/ LN) - (Energy) Exposed via its 20% stake in Rosneft. [Announced sale of stake with potential hit of USD 25bln (Feb 27)]
  


• 
  Equinor (EQNR NO) - (Energy) Owns minority stakes in three oilfields in Russia.


• 
  Glencore (GLEN LN) - (Basic Resources) Owns a 0.6% stake in Rosneft and 10.5% in Anglo-Russian green energy and metals company EN+.


• 
  OMV (OMV AV) - (Energy) Exposed via the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field. [No longer pursuing investments in Russia (Mar 7)]


• 
  Tenaris (TEN IM) - (Energy) Exposed via a pipeline deal it owns 49% interest in.


• 
  Renault (RNO FP) - (Auto & Parts) 6% of Renault's revenue and 15% of EBIT comes from its ownership of AvtoVAZ - Russian automobile manufacturing company.


• 
  Alstom (ALO FP) - (Industrial) Has a 20% stake in Russia's largest rail manufacturer - Transmasholdings.

EUROPEAN COMPANIES WITH RUSSIAN SALES EXPOSURE ABOVE 20%

• 
  VEON (VEON AV) (Telecom) 48%


• 
  Polymetal (POLY LN) (Basic Materials) 42%


• 
  EVRAZ (EVR LN) (Basic Materials) 38%


• 
  Uniper (UN01 GY) (Utilities) 25%


• 
  Fortum (FORTUM FH) (Utilities) 25%


• 
  NOKIAN (TYRES FH) (Autos) 21%

07 Mar 2022 - 06:50- MetalsResearch Sheet- Source: Newswires