Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 7th March 2024

7th March 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed as participants second-guessed central bank policies and digested Chinese trade data. ASX 200 finished higher but with trade choppy after disappointing home loans and trade data from Australia. Nikkei 225 initially climbed to a fresh record high but then slumped amid increasing hawkish BoJ speculation. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were subdued with heavy losses in WuXi Biologics and Wuxi Apptec after the US Senate's Homeland Security Committee voted to move forward with a bill that could restrict business with Chinese biotech companies, while the mainland was cautious despite the stronger-than-expected Chinese trade data, as the double-digit rise in exports had already been flagged by officials and with data likely to be influenced due to seasonality factors owing to the Lunar New Year holiday.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.06% at 17,726.65, FTSE 100: +0.43% at 7,679.31, CAC 40: +0.28% at 7,954.74, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.47% at 4,916.15, IBEX 35: +0.79% at 10,197.20, FTSE MIB: +0.66% at 33,363.84, SMI: +0.68% at 11,541.80.

SECTORS: IT 1.37%, Energy 1.28%, Materials 0.70%, Utilities 0.63%, Financials 0.49%, Industrials 0.38%, Consumer Disc 0.20%, Healthcare 0.01%, Consumer Stpl -0.04%, Telecoms -0.40%

FTSE 100

Ex-Dividends - HSBC (HSBA LN), Rio Tinto (RIO LN), Standard Chartered (STAN LN), Berkeley Group (BKG LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout. (Newswires)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Received a notification from Jemena of an incident impacting the Queensland gas pipeline, while it is working with parties to understand the impact to its Gladstone operations. (Newswires)

Vodafone (VOD LN) - Is reportedly seeking new co-investors for the Greek Fiber business, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Anglo American (AAL LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

LondonMetric (LMP LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

DAX

Brenntag (BNR GY) - FY23 (EUR): EPS 4.73 (exp. 5.22, prev. 5.74 Y/Y), Op. EBITA EUR 1.27bln (prev. 1.51bln Y/Y), Revenue 16.8bln (exp. 17.19bln, prev. 19.4bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 Op. EBITA 1.23-1.43. (Newswires) Shares seen -2% in pre-market trade

Continental (CON GY) - FY23 (EUR): adj. EBIT 2.52bln (exp. 2.56bln), Revenue 41.4bln (exp. 41.8bln), adj. EBIT margin 6.1% (prev. 4.9%). Guides initial FY24 Revenue 41-44bln. (Newswires) Shares seen +1.4% in pre-market trade

Fresenius (FRE GY) - Fresenius Kabi Usa receives USA FDA BLA supplemental 3 approval for Tyenne. (Newswires)

Merck (MRK GY) - FY23 (EUR): Net 2.83bln (exp. 3.66bln, prev. 3.34bln Y/Y), adj. EBITDA 5.88bln (exp. 5.79bln, prev. 6.65bln Y/Y), Revenue 21.0bln (exp. 21.02bln, prev. 22.2bln Y/Y), Organic Growth -9% Y/Y. Guides initial FY24 Revenue "return to organic growth" and adj. EBITDA "slight to moderate organic growth". (Newswires)

Porsche (PAH3 GY) - EV battery blamed for ship fire in a lawsuit by Mitsui O.S.K. (9104 JT) that is seeking EUR 30mln, according to Nikkei. (Nikkei)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA GY) - Q4 (EUR): adj. EBIT 402mln (exp. 405.5mln), Revenue 8.76bln (exp. 9.26bln), proposes a dividend of 0.30/shr (exp. 0.34/shr). Notes that demand is high, especially for flights during the Easter and summer vacation periods. Sees ITA deal approval by EU during 2024. Guides Q1 adj. EBIT loss by higher Y/Y citing strikes, FY24 Revenue to increase significantly Y/Y, adj. EBIT flat Y/Y, Cuts adj. EBIT margin 7.6% (prev. guidance 8%). (Newswires) Shares seen +2.8% in pre-market trade

Encavis (ECV GY) - Signs project refinancing agreements for Spanish solar parks Talayuela and Le cabrera for EUR 203mln. (Newswires)

GEA Group (G1A GY) - FY (EUR): Revenue 5.35bln (exp. 5.45bln), adj. EBITDA 774mln (exp. 765mln), adj. EBIT 580mln (exp. 572mln), proposed another dividend increase to 1.0/shr (exp. 1.02/shr). Positive outlook for FY24. (Newswires)

Hugo Boss (BOSS GY) - FY23 (EUR): EBIT 410mln (exp. 410mln), Revenue 4.2bln (exp. 4.2bln). Guides initial FY24 Revenue 4.3-4.45bln (exp. 4.57bln), guides FY24 EBIT 430-475mln Y/Y. (Newswires)

ProSiebenSat.1 (PSM GY) - FY (EUR): Revenue 3.95bln (exp. 3.85bln), Net -134mln (exp. 232mln), adj. Net reflects the development of adj. EBITDA and has decreased to 225mln (exp. 561mln). Dividend 0.05/shr. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Bayer (BAYN GY) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein

CAC

Teleperformance (TEP FP) - FY23 (EUR): Net 10.18bln (prev. 10.77bln Y/Y), adj. EBITA 1.29bln (prev. 1.26bln Y/Y), Revenue 8.45bln (prev. 8.15bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 LFL Revenue 2-4%. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

JC Decaux (DEC FP) - FY23 (EUR): adj. Op. 663.1mln (prev. 602.9mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.57bln (exp. 3.53bln, prev. 3.32bln Y/Y). Proposal to AGM not to pay any dividends in 2024 to maintain financial flexibility. Guides Q1 adj. Organic Revenue +9%. (Newswires)

Spie (SPIE FP) - FY23 (EUR): adj. Net 344mln (prev. 301mln Y/Y), EBITA 585mln (exp. 574mln), Revenue 8.71bln (exp. 8.68bln). Raises dividend to 0.83/shr, +13.7%. Guides initial FY24 organic revenue "further growth", EBITA margin "further increase". (Newswires)

Elis (ELIS FP) - FY (EUR): Revenue 4.3bln (exp. 4.3bln), Net Income 262mln (exp. 432mln), Dividend 0.43/shr (exp. 0.51/shr); a record financial performance with numerous successes. FY24 Guidance: Net Income/shr above 1.75, Organic Revenue Growth 5%. (Newswires)

Eurazeo (RF FP) - FY (EUR): Net 1.85bln (exp. 731mln, prev. 701mln). New EUR 200mln buyback for 2024. Confirms guidance. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

BEL 20 Index - Euronav (EURN BB) and Lotus Bakeries (LOTB BB) to be added to the BEL 20 Index replacing Aperam (APAM AM) and Proximus (PROX BB). (Newswires)

Jereonimo Martins (JMT PL) - Q4 (EUR): EPS 0.32 (prev. 1.06 Y/Y), EBITDA 578mln (exp. 570mln), Revenue 8.16bln (exp. 8.16bln). (Newswires)

Nexi (NEXI IM) - FY (EUR): Revenue 3.36bln (exp. 3.35bln), Net 711mln (exp. 709mln), EBITDA 1.75bln (exp. 1.72bln); non-cash technical impairment of goodwill and intangibles of 1.255bln for the FY. EUR 500mln buyback proposed. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Is to invest BRL 30bln in Brazil between 2025-2030 and is to launch a hybrid vehicle in Brazil in H2. (Newswires)

Salvatore Ferragamo (SFER IM) - FY23 (EUR): Revenue 1.16bln (exp. 1.16bln), EBITDA 251.8mln (exp. 238.8mln), Net income 26.1mln (exp. 26.3mln). CEO says sales in January were softer, while in February they were in-line Y/Y; gross profit margin should stabilise at around 72% in 2024 (exp. 71.6%). (Newswires)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - Board approves 2024-26 "Free to run" industrial plan; guides 2023-2026 Revenue CAGR 2%. The plan includes: Revenue to grow 3% through to 2026, EBITA after lease to rise 8%, targeting leverage 1.6-1.7x. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Adyen (ADYEN NA) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas

Iberdrola (IBE SM) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Moncler (MONC IM) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein

Pirelli (PIRC IM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas

Pirelli (PIRC IM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Avolta (AVOL SW) - FY23 (CHF): Adj. EBIT 865.1mln (exp. 762.5mln), Revenue 12.8bln (exp. 12.6bln). (Newswires)

Bachem (BANB SW) - FY23 (CHF): EBITA 166.7mln (prev. 160mln Y/Y), Revenue 531.7mln (exp. 554.9mln). Guides initial FY24 Revenue growth mid-to-high single-digit percentage range Y/Y. (Newswires)

SFS (SFSN SW) - FY23 (CHF): EBIT 358.6mln (prev. 330.3mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.09bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Belimo (BEAN SW) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

SCANDINAVIA

Skanska (SKABB SS) – Reconstructs interchange in the US for USD 85mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Stora Enso (STERV FH) initiated with Underweight at Barclays

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.51% at 5,105, NDX +0.67% at 18,018, DJI +0.20% at 38,661, RUT +0.70% at 2,068.

SECTORS: Utilities +0.97%, Technology +0.91%, Consumer Staples +0.8%, Materials +0.75%, Health +0.71%, Real Estate +0.55%, Industrials +0.5%, Financials +0.41%, Energy +0.34%, Communication Services -0.17%, Consumer Discretionary -0.39%.

Alphabet’s (GOOG) Chief Business Officer says the company is seeing ‘substantial progress’ in fixing the Gemini bias issue, and adds over 80% of all advertisers are using at least one AI search solution. (Newswires)

Bank of America (BAC) - CFO confident NII will be in upper end of range for Q1, does not see a change to NII outlook, feels good about NII overall; loan growth is off to a slower start in Q1. (Newswires)

Exxon (XOM) - Files for arbitration to protect Guyana ROFR rights, claiming Chevron attempted to circumvent the contract rights; Exxon-Chevron Guyana arbitration to take place through ICC. (Newswires)

Intel (INTC) - CFO says most of the top 20 foundry customers are running test chips with the Co. - Morgan Stanley conference. (Newswires)

NYCB (NYCB) - Seeking to raise equity capital in efforts to shore up confidence in the bank; bank has dispatched bankers to gauge investors' interest in buying stock in the company, according to WSJ sources. Raises more than USD 1bln in equity led by Mnuchin's firm; investors include Liberty Strategic, Hudon Bay, and Reverence, according to Bloomberg sources. (Bloomberg/ WSJ)

07 Mar 2024 - 06:55- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk