Aug 18 ,2023
Synopsis:
European equity markets ended mostly lower. Greece (1.6%), Norway (1.4%), Denmark (1.1%) led the underperformer whilst Portugal (0.0%), just flirting with negative territory, led the overperformers.
Gas Infrastructure Europe announced the EU has reached its target of filling gas storage facilities to 90% of capacity roughly two and a half months ahead of schedule. EU Commissioner for Energy said "the EU is well-prepared for winter and this will help to further stabilise markets in the coming months". However, analysts warn that a cold winter could lead to volatile prices and Europe scrambling for energy (FT).
In political developments, Spain's PM Sanchez's candidate Francina Armengol secured the presidency for the Spanish parliament. Armengol, with 178 votes in favour out of 350 in the Chamber, won over the candidate of the conservative Popular Party, which did not obtain the required support from other parties to achieve enough majority. The vote was widely considered as a practice run ahead of an important investiture vote next month which will decide who forms the government (euronews). Elsewhere in other developments, Sweden yesterday raised its terror threat to level four out of five. In addition, UK government announced in line with speculations that UK banks could face fines if they don't maintain easy access to cash.
Focus on retail sales data in the UK, where latest figures saw a fall in July at (1.2%) vs consensus (0.5%) and prior +0.6%.The ONS said wet weather had reduced clothing sales and food sales had also fallen back. The data was a reversal from the unexpected strength seen in the prior month and was the first drop in four months (Bloomberg). Also in macroeconomics updates, inflation in the Eurozone in July matched preliminary release at +5.3% y/y.
In corporate news, u-blox Holding (UBXN.SW) reported H1 adjusted net income CHF48.3M vs year-ago CHF48.7M. Also in the DACH reigon, PSP Swiss Property (PSPN.SW) H1 EPS ex-items CHF3.28 vs year-ago CHF2.71 and raised FY EBITDA guidance; Emmi (EMMN.SW) posted H1 net income attributable CHF97.8M vs FactSet CHF55.6M and reaffirmed FY guidance. Compagnie Financière Tradition (CFT.SW) announces the launch of its share buyback program of up to 300,000 shares. Furthermore, SUSE (SUSE.GR) entered into transaction framework agreement with Marcel for public purchase offer and delisting
Out of he Nordics, Catella (CAT.B.SS) reported Q2 EPS SEK0.95 vs year-ago SEK2.80; Proximar Seafood (PROXI.NO) Q2 EPS (NOK0.49) vs year-ago (NOK0.15); Boozt Fashion (BOOZT.SS) Q2 net income SEK66.1M vs FactSet SEK55.8M; Nilfisk Holding (NLFSK.DC) posted Q2 earnings and announced new interim CEO.
Elsewhere, Kingspan Group (KRX.ID) reported H1 EPS €1.75 vs consensus €1.73 and declared an interim dividend of 26.3 cent. Adyen (ADYEN.NA) sold off ~40% in the previous session and was down today after Thursday's H1 earnings fell sharply below Street forecasts and company's own targets.
The week ahead sees Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Bundesbank's monthly report, interest rate decisions in Iceland and Turkey, Eurozone, France, Germany, UK Aug preliminary manufacturing/services PMIs, as well as earnings from CRH (CRH.LN), Mowi (MOWI.NO), Royal Unibrew (RBREW.DC) and SoftwareONE Holding (SWON.SW)
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers
Utilities +0.41%, Technology +0.15%, Telecom +0.08%, Food & Beverage (0.06%), Media (0.15%), Oil & Gas (0.30%), Chemicals (0.59%),
Underperformers
Real Estate(1.73%), Basic Resources (1.49%), Retail (1.24%), Health Care (1.07%), Travel & Leisure (1.02%), Autos & Parts (0.86%), Financial Svcs (0.85%), Construct & Mtls (0.80%), Banks (0.80%), Persnl & HHold Goods (0.79%), Insurance (0.77%), Ind Goods & Svcs (0.71%),
Macro/Peripheral markets:
EU
ECB
ECB to write a letter to the Italian government objecting to the windfall tax on banks' profits - Corriere della Sera
Lane sees a number of reasons to believe EU economy will grow over the next couple of years - ECB Podcast
Kazaks reluctant to hike in September; says any additional rate hikes would be small - Bloomberg
UK
Retail sales drop in July as rain dampens demand - BBC
Spain
Germany
Sweden
Sweden raises national terror threat level - The Local
Austria
Sebastian Kurz charged with giving false testimony to Austrian parliament - FT
Hungary
Hungary will receive LNG from Qatar starting in 2027, minister - Reuters
Greece
Eris subvariant of Covid virus gaining ground - ekathimerini
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+59.9% SUSE.GR (SUSE SA €15.36, +5.76) -- enters transaction framework agreement with Marcel for public purchase offer and delisting
+10.4% NLFSK.DC (Nilfisk Holding DKK131.40, +12.40) -- Q2 earnings; interim CEO
+7.5% NTEK.B.SS (Novotek SEK52.60, +3.65) -- Q2 earnings
+6.9% VOLUE.NO (Volue NOK22.35, +1.45) -- Q2 earnings
+5.8% FSNT.GR (Fashionette €6.22, +0.34) -- preliminary H1 earnings
+4.4% EMMN.SW (Emmi CHF918.00, +39.00) -- H1 earnings
+3.0% BTS.B.SS (BTS Group SEK275.00, +8.00) -- Q2 earnings
+2.2% BOOZT.SS (Boozt Fashion SEK101.40, +2.20) -- Q2 earnings
+2.0% DJUR.DC (Djurslands Bank DKK400.00, +8.00) -- H1 earnings
+1.7% DFCH.LN (Distribution Finance Capital Holdings £0.30, +0.01) -- increases in ENABLE Guarantee commitment
+0.5% LUS1.GR (Lang & Schwarz €8.70, +0.04) -- Q2 earnings
Notable Decliners
-19.2% UBXN.SW (u-blox Holding CHF75.00, -17.80) -- H1 earnings
-12.3% ROU.BB (Roularta Media Group €14.55, -2.05) -- H1 earnings
-7.7% PROXI.NO (Proximar Seafood NOK6.00, -0.50) -- Q2 earnings
-7.0% ABLI.SS (Abliva SEK0.24, -0.02) -- Q2 earnings
-6.4% ACE.SS (Ascelia Pharma SEK3.24, -0.22) -- Q2 earnings
-6.2% MOZN.SW (mobilezone holding CHF12.74, -0.84) -- H1 earnings
-4.8% AFAGR.FH (Afarak Group €0.44, -0.02) -- H1 earnings
-3.9% MEGP.LN (ME Group International £1.55, -0.06) -- shareholders approve share buyback
-3.9% BMPS.IM (Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena €2.60, -0.11) -- ECB Christine Lagarde's to send letter to Italian govt objecting windfall tax on banks' profits -- Corriere
-3.6% RS1.LN (RS Group plc £6.96, -0.26) -- UBS downgrade
-3.6% TCELL.E.TI (Turkcell TRY51.70, -1.95) -- Q2 earnings
-3.1% EXL1V.FH (Exel Composites €3.39, -0.11) -- Q2 earnings
-2.9% ADYEN.NA (Adyen €872.10, -26.50) -- Autonomous Research, Berenberg, Bryan Garnier and Equita downgrades
-2.5% TFBANK.SS (TF Bank SEK145.80, -3.80) -- Jul update
-2.1% CAT.B.SS (Catella SEK27.40, -0.60) -- Q2 earnings
-1.6% SBX.NO (Seabird Exploration NOK4.63, -0.08) -- Q2 earnings
-1.6% PHC.LN (Plant Health Care £0.09, -0.00) -- Brazil approves PHC279 to Control Diseases of Sugar Cane and Coffee
-1.5% DURC.B.SS (Duroc SEK19.65, -0.30) -- Q4 earnings
EU companies reporting on Monday:
Earnings:
Benelux: B&S Group (BSGR.NA)
DACH: fashionette (FSNT.GR)
Nordics: Investment AB Latour (LATO.B.SS), Self Storage Group (SSG.NO)
Data:
Economics:
UK Jul Retail Sales (3.2%) y/y vs consensus (2.1%) and prior revised (1.6%) from (1.0%)
Austria Jul CPI +7.0% y/y vs preliminary +7.0%; +0.1% m/m vs preliminary +0.1%
Eurozone
Jul CPI +5.3% y/y vs preliminary +5.3%; (0.1%) m/m vs preliminary (0.1%)
Jun Construction Output (0.3%) y/y vs consensus +0.9% and prior revised +0.3% from +0.1%
Markets:
€-$ +0.0002 or +0.02% to 1.0875
£-$ (0.0010) or (0.08%) to 1.2736
€-£ +0.0007 to 0.8538
S&P 500 (0.20%)
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: (2.54%)
DAX: +11.86%
CAC: +10.66%
MIB: +17.10%
Stoxx 600: +5.54%
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