Jan 15 ,2024
Synopsis:
European equity markets closed broadly lower Monday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 near the worst levels of the session. US markets were shut for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. No change to broader market narrative, still being influenced by growth/inflation outlook and central bank rate cut pricing. Focus on comments from ECB governing council member Holzmann this afternoon who was cited saying no one should count on rate cuts this year. ECB's Nagel meanwhile said discussion on rate cuts can happen perhaps after the summer break.
On the European macro data front, Eurozone industrial production fell as expected. German economy avoided a technical recession after upward revision in Q3 GDP. UK survey showed increase in house prices in line with recent data
A survey of 60-plus economists ahead of the World Economic Forum showed the global economy faces a year of subdued growth, uncertainty from geopolitics and the disruptive impact of Artificial Intelligence (Reuters). Of the 60 survey respondents, 56% said they expect the economy to weaken and ~87% expect geopolitical developments to stoke economic volatility (CNBC).
European Banks were in focus following reports (BBG) late Friday that Deutsche Bank (DBK.GR) has recently stepped up internal deliberations about the possibility of takeovers involving European lenders including Commerzbank (CBK.GR) and ABN Amro Bank (ABN.NA). Reuters meanwhile cited a person familiar with German Finance Minister Christian Lindner's thinking says that he is open to a disposal of the government's remining 15% stake in Commerzbank.
Elsewhere, SoftwareOne (SWON.SW) announced Bain's CHF18.80/sh offer not in the best interest of company; to remain standalone and confirms FY23 guidance. Crest Nicholson (CRST.LN) cut annual profit forecast for third time in six months, citing higher costs related to certain legacy sites and exceptional charge of £13M on a legal claim. Dassault Aviation (AM.FP) released details of its FY23 orders and deliveries late Friday with Falcon performance falling below both order and delivery expectations and prompting Deutsche Bank to downgrade its rating on the shares. PageGroup (PAGE.LN) warned FY23 operating profit expected to be slightly below previous guidance; noted slower exit to the quarter with continued weakness in client and candidate confidence
In UK politics, latest opinion poll by YouGov showed the UK Conservative Party set for a big election defeat on par with its heavy loss to the Labour Party in 1997 (Reuters). Poll predicted Labour was on course to win 385 seats in parliament while the Conservatives will retain just 169, losing more seats than they did in 1997. The Telegraph reported it would represent an 11.5% swing to Keir Starmer's Labour, the biggest collapse in support for a governing party since 1906. Article highlighted that right-wing party Reform UK will be a decisive factor in 96 Tory MP losses - the difference between a Labour majority and a hung parliament. Note that last week there was speculation the election would take place on 14-Nov. Former chancellor Osborne said he was informed it had been worked into Downing Street plans for this year. It came as PM Sunak approved meetings between Labour and the civil service enabling it to discuss its agenda to government. Access talks are held in the run-up to a general election.
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers:
Travel & Leisure +0.89%, Telecom +0.50%, Insurance +0.21%, Utilities (0.20%), Food, Beverage and Tobacco (0.22%), Media (0.35%), Chemicals (0.36%), Technology (0.45%), Financial Svcs (0.47%), Energy(0.47%)
Underperformers:
Consumer Products and Services (1.21%), Basic Resources (1.02%), Retail (0.97%), Ind Goods & Svcs (0.88%), Real Estate (0.74%), Autos & Parts (0.71%), Banks (0.67%), Health Care (0.62%), Construct & Mtls (0.62%)
Macro:
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+15.1% IQG.LN (IQGeo Group £3.20, +0.42) -- trading update
+8.9% AR4.GR (AURELIUS Equity Opportunities €14.89, +1.21) -- €80M shares buyback
+6.8% BAKK.LN (Bakkavor Group £0.91, +0.06) -- change in ownership of 20.1% of its share capital to LongRange from Baupost
+6.7% ITAB.SS (ITAB Shop Concept SEK12.85, +0.80) -- "
+6.4% A28890.GR (CompuGroup Medical €38.26, +2.30) -- Morgan Stanley and Berenberg upgrades
+3.8% ATT.SS (Attendo SEK39.00, +1.45) -- to acquire Team Olivia's Swedish care operations, excluding personal assistance for SEK950M
+2.8% KTN.GR (Kontron €21.86, +0.60) -- FY guidance
+2.2% TIETO.FH (Tietoevry €22.08, +0.48) -- Morgan Stanley upgrade
+1.7% ITM.LN (ITM Power £0.53, +0.01) -- Panmure Gordon upgrade
+1.1% ALCAR.FP (Carmat €5.30, +0.06) -- prellim FY earnings; to launch capital increase in the very near future
Notable Decliners
-20.8% DOV.IM (doValue €2.47, -0.65) -- new IAS 34 compliant 9M results
-15.0% ATO.FP (ATOS SE €4.14, -0.73) -- HSBC downgrade; CFO becomes new CEO; prelim FY earnings / seeks additional €500M towards Tech Foundations price tag - Bloomberg
-13.6% STOR.B.SS (Storskogen Group SEK7.53, -1.18) -- Danske Bank downgrade
-11.5% EG7.SS (Enad Global 7 SEK16.36, -2.12) -- Handelsbanken downgrade
-10.4% SINCH.SS (Sinch SEK27.68, -3.21) -- Morgan Stanley downgrade
-10.0% BOOM.LN (Audioboom Group £2.93, -0.33) -- prelim Q4 earnings
-8.5% VBK.GR (Verbio €21.07, -1.97) -- now expects FY EBITDA of €120M-€150M vs prior guidance €200M-€250M; FactSet €193.5M
-8.4% SWON.SW (SoftwareONE Holding CHF14.64, -1.35) -- announces Bain's CHF18.80/sh offer not in the best interest of company; to remain standalone and confirms FY23 guidance
-7.6% TROAX.SS (Troax Group SEK224.20, -18.40) -- Danske Bank downgrade
-7.4% TKWY.NA (Just Eat Takeaway.com €13.28, -1.06) -- BNP Paribas Exane downgrade
-7.1% CO.FP (Casino Guichard-Perrachon €0.54, -0.04) -- French Ministry of the Economy authorized acquisition of control of the group as part of its financial restructuring by the consortium
-6.8% BUFAB.SS (Bufab SEK363.20, -26.60) -- DnB Markets downgrade
-6.4% SUS.SS (Surgical Science Sweden SEK180.60, -12.30) -- Carnegie Securities downgrade
-6.2% AM.FP (Dassault Aviation €177.90, -11.70) -- Deutsche Bank downgrade
-6.1% SPEX.SW (Spexis CHF0.06, -0.00) -- acquisition of preclinical antibiotics program from Spexis up to a total of CHF 2M plus milestone payment
-5.1% BRBY.LN (Burberry Group £12.22, -0.65) -- Goldman Sachs and Mediobanca downgrades
-4.5% MVIR.SS (Medivir SEK2.65, -0.13) -- to present trial results
-4.3% B3.SS (B3 Consulting Group SEK95.50, -4.30) -- Pareto downgrade
-3.5% RFX.LN (Ramsdens Holdings £2.08, -0.07) -- FY earnings
-3.4% ITECH.SS (I-Tech SEK57.20, -2.00) -- CEO to step down
-3.1% MAB1.LN (Mortgage Advice Bureau £7.94, -0.24) -- CFO to step down
-2.6% ELK.NO (Elkem NOK22.90, -0.62) -- to acquire REC Solar Norway AS from REC Solar Holdings AS
-2.5% WLN.FP (Worldline €13.28, -0.35) -- HSBC downgrade
-2.4% LLOY.LN (Lloyds Banking Group £0.44, -0.01) -- BofA downgrade
-2.3% HSBA.LN (HSBC Holdings £5.96, -0.14) -- BNP Paribas Exane downgrade
-2.1% FUM.LN (Futura Medical £0.33, -0.01) -- extends collaboration with Cooper Consumer Health
-1.9% NB2.GR (Northern Data €27.95, -0.55) -- new CFO
-1.9% BAYN.GR (Bayer AG €33.59, -0.66) -- Bayer AG pharmaceutical boss Stefan Oelrich sticking to the division's medium-term goals despite the Asundexian flop - Handelsblatt
-1.4% PAGE.LN (PageGroup £4.49, -0.07) -- trading update; HSBC downgrade
-1.2% BAMI.IM (Banco BPM €4.74, -0.06) -- Mediobanca downgrade
-1.0% CRST.LN (Crest Nicholson Holdings £2.14, -0.02) -- trading update
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Earnings: AKVA Group (AKVA.NO)
Trading Update: Lindt & Sprüngli (LISN.SW), DocMorris (DOCM.SW), Cairn Homes (C5H.ID), VINCI (DG.FP), Fastned (FAST.NA), Ninety One (N91.LN), CAB Payments (CABP.LN), Experian (EXPN.LN), Ocado (OCDO.LN), Petra Diamonds Ltd. (PDL.LN), Esker (ALESK.FP)
Traffic: Fraport (FRA.GR), Aeroports de Paris (ADP.FP)
Data:
Economics:
Finland Dec CPI +3.6% y/y vs consensus +3.4% and prior +3.3%
Norway Dec Trade Balance NOK77.3B vs consensus NOK89.5B and prior NOK80.1B
Sweden Dec CPI +4.4% y/y vs consensus +4.3% and prior +5.8%
UK Jan house price index +1.3% m/m vs prior (1.9%); (0.7%) y/y - property eye
Italy Nov Trade Balance €3.89B vs consensus €5.2B and prior revised €4.73B from €4.70B
Germany 2023 GDP (0.3%) vs consensus (0.3%)
Eurozone
Nov Trade Balance €20.3B vs consensus €12.5B and prior €11.1B
Nov Industrial Production (6.8%) y/y vs consensus (5.9%) and prior (6.6%); (0.3%) m/m vs consensus (0.3%) and prior (0.7%)
Markets:
WTI Crude (Feb 24): ($0.57) or (0.78%) to $72.11
€-$ +0.0001 or +0.01% to 1.0951
£-$ (0.0014) or (0.11%) to 1.2734
€-£ +0.0011 to 0.8600
S&P 500 +0.00%
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: (1.79%)
DAX: (0.77%)
CAC: (1.74%)
MIB: (0.01%)
Stoxx 600: (1.00%)
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