Apr 15 ,2024
Synopsis:
European equity markets closed mostly higher, but off the session's best levels. UK (0.5%), Greece (0.7%), Finland (0.6%) and Norway (1.2%) bucked the positive trend. Consumer products/services, industrial goods/services and autos led gainers whilst energy and utilities were the main laggards.
Markets bouncing on hopes for some de-escalation of Middle East tensions after Israel and allies largely thwarted the direct attack from Iran over the weekend.
Quiet start to the week for European macro updates. Eurozone industrial production weaker than forecast. Focus on UK inflation and labor market updates and BoE speak from Tuesday. On the weekend, Bank of France chief Villeroy said ECB to decide on the first rate cut at its meeting in June while chief economist Lane pointed to a bumpy disinflation path.
In M&A news, Prysmian (PRY.IM) acquired Encore Wire for $290/sh in cash in deal valued at €3.9B (EV basis) whilst - in the UK - Group 1 Automotive (GPI) acquired Inchcape's UK automotive retailing business for $439M (~£346M) in cash. In the banking sector, BNP Paribas (BNP.FP) signed an agreement with the Fosun Group for the repurchase of its stake in ageas (AGS.BB).
On a light reporting front, Sulzer (SUN.SW), Iberdrola (IBE.SM), Formycon (FYB.GR), PageGroup (PAGE.LN), Kesko (KESKOB.FH) and Mitie Group (MTO.LN) issued their most recent numbers, with the latter also annoucing a further £50M share buyback. Elsewhere, Temenos (TEMN.SW) announced the completion of independent examination into allegations made by Hindenburg Research and Telenor (TEL.NO) appointed a new CFO.
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers:
Consumer Products and Services +1.09%, Ind Goods & Svcs +0.85%, Autos & Parts +0.68%, Retail +0.66%, Insurance +0.64%, Banks +0.29%, Media +0.26%
Underperformers:
Energy(1.46%), Utilities (0.79%), Telecom (0.65%), Food, Beverage and Tobacco (0.56%), Travel & Leisure (0.26%), Basic Resources (0.16%), Construct & Mtls (0.15%), Chemicals +0.03%, Personal Care Drug and Grocery Stores +0.04%, Financial Svcs +0.06%, Real Estate +0.06%, Health Care +0.12%
Macro:
EU
EU needs to deepen economic integration in finance, energy and telecoms to compete with US and China - FT
Geopolitics
G7 leaders condemn Iran attack on Israel as issue expected to top EU agenda - Euractiv
Germany
Germany heavily reliant on China as a trading partner, reducing dependence will be a long process - FT
Ireland
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil promising rax cuts for middle income earners on Oct budget - Business Post
GDP forecast 2024 +2.0% vs prior estimate +1.6%, 2025 +3.4% vs prior +2.9% - Ibec Q1 quarterly economic outlook
Hungary
Hungary to consider fuel price intervention, says economy minister - Reuters
Sovereign credit rating reviews after the close Fri included
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+19.5% TEMN.SW (Temenos CHF73.40, +12.00) -- notes completion of independent examination into Hindenburg Research allegations
+13.0% CLA.FP (Claranova €2.69, +0.31) -- CEO leaves the company
+8.0% GABR.DC (Gabriel Holding DKK270.00, +20.00) -- prelim. H1 earnings
+6.6% MTO.LN (Mitie Group £1.19, +0.07) -- FY trading update; further £50M share buyback
+5.4% ONCO.SS (Oncopeptides SEK5.23, +0.27) -- Pepaxti reimbursement in Spain
+4.5% PRY.IM (Prysmian €50.70, +2.18) -- acquires Encore Wire for EV of €3.9B
+4.2% ADS.GR (Adidas €204.60, +8.20) -- Morgan Stanley upgrade
+4.1% INCH.LN (Inchcape £7.27, +0.28) -- sells its UK automotive retailing business for $439M to Group 1 Automotive
+4.1% ISS.DC (ISS A/S DKK127.10, +5.00) -- Goldman Sachs upgrade
+3.2% AGS.BB (Ageas €43.82, +1.34) -- BNP Paribas acquires Fosun ~9% stake in the company's share
+3.1% ONTEX.BB (Ontex Group €9.04, +0.27) -- Degroof upgrade
+3.0% RNO.LN (Renold £0.42, +0.01) -- FY trading update
+1.9% SIE.GR (Siemens AG €175.90, +3.24) -- BofA upgrade
+1.8% ATCO.A.SS (Atlas Copco SEK186.10, +3.30) -- BofA upgrade
+1.8% LOCAL.FP (Solocal Group €0.04, -0.00) -- resumption of trading post financial restructuring
+1.3% PACT.SS (Proact IT Group SEK107.00, +1.40) -- Affarsvarlden buy recommendation
+1.3% LXS.GR (Lanxess €26.73, +0.33) -- Kepler Cheuvreux upgrade
Notable Decliners
-15.9% TRIN.LN (Trinity Exploration & Production £0.36, -0.07) -- FY23 technical recoverable resources estimates
-9.1% PAGE.LN (PageGroup £4.40, -0.44) -- Q1 trading update
-6.4% LOGN.SW (Logitech International CHF74.64, -5.08) -- Morgan Stanley downgrade
-5.4% BRNK.GR (Branicks Group €1.43, -0.08) -- new Chair
-4.8% BYS.SW (Bystronic CHF442.00, -22.50) -- Q1 sales
-3.2% ASHM.LN (Ashmore Group £1.82, -0.06) -- Q3 AuM
-1.9% TROAX.SS (Troax Group SEK230.50, -4.50) -- Nordea upgrade
-1.2% CWR.LN (Ceres Power Holdings £1.37, -0.02) -- FY earnings
-1.1% SYNT.LN (Synthomer £2.63, -0.03) -- divests its latex compounding operations to Matco NV for ~ €27.5M
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Earnings:
Benelux: B&S Group (BSGR.NA)
DACHs: Nagarro (NA9.GR)
Nordics: Ericsson (ERIC.B.SS), HMS Networks (HMS.SS), TF Bank (TFBANK.SS), Topdanmark (TOP.DC), Magnora (MGN.NO)
UK: Next 15 Group (NFG.LN), Learning Technologies (LTG.LN), Ashtead Technology (AT.LN), Team17 (TM17.LN), Gresham Technologies (GHT.LN)
Trading Update: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (MC.FP), Virbac (VIRP.FP), Esker (ALESK.FP), Thermador Groupe (THEP.FP), Sidetrade (ALBFR.FP), Beiersdorf (BEI.GR), DocMorris Ltd. (DOCM.SW), Cicor Technologies Ltd. (CICN.SW), Pearson (PSON.LN), X5 Retail (FIVE.LN), B&M European Value Retail (BME.LN), QinetiQ (QQ.LN), Integrafin (IHP.LN), Robert Walters (RWA.LN), Petra Diamonds Ltd. (PDL.LN), Fastned (FAST.NA)
Traffic: Aeroports de Paris ADP (ADP.FP)
Events/CMD: Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.GR)
Data:
Economics:
Eurozone Feb Industrial Production (6.4%) y/y vs consensus (4.2%) and prior revised (6.6%) from (6.7%)
Finland Mar CPI +2.2% y/y vs consensus +3.0% and prior +3.0%
Norway Mar Trade Balance NOK64.0B vs consensus NOK58.6B and prior revised NOK51.7B from NOK51.8B
Switzerland Mar PPI (2.1%) y/y vs consensus (1.2%) and prior (2.0%)
Markets:
WTI Crude (May 24): ($0.93) or (1.09%) to $84.73
€-$ +0.0000 or +0.00% to 1.0637
£-$ +0.0013 or +0.10% to 1.2457
€-£ (0.0010) to 0.8540
S&P 500 +0.26%
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: +2.93%
DAX: +7.61%
CAC: +6.65%
MIB: +11.87%
Stoxx 600: +5.62%
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