Nov 27 ,2024
Synopsis:
European equity markets closed mixed to mostly lower Wednesday, with the CAC 40 among the main underperformers amid ongoing concerns about the French budget/government. It was noted the spread between 10-year French and German borrowing costs was as high as 90bps, a level not reached since the eurozone crisis in 2012.
Broader downbeat tone for European markets pinned on uncertainty relating to Trump tariff plans. While Trump warned of additional 10% tariffs on Chinese goods and 25% levy on products from Mexico and Canada when he enters office, did not specifically mention Europe. Some takeaways have viewed it as a negotiating tactic, but prospect of broader tariffs remains after vowing to address unfair trade practices. Commentary on the European equity market outlook has also remained cautious given the risks to growth outlook and earnings outlook. More on the positive side, morning sees the beginning of a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah following weeks of talks.
In macro developments, BoE deputy governor Lombardelli said in a FT interview more evidence needed before she backs another rate cut. Fits in with likelihood of a pause until February. In contrast, ECB officials continue to back a December cut, but Schnabel warned against squandering valuable policy space. Riksbank deputy chief Jansson hinted at December rate cut.
On data front, German and French consumer confidence data deteriorated and Swiss ZEW sentiment fell for fourth consecutive month. Elsewhere, PwC report said group of largest UK firms saw a 10% jump in tax burden, even before the budget, due to prior government reversing corporation tax cuts. Notable array of economic data due in US ahead of tomorrow's Thanksgiving holiday; the US, headline October durable-goods orders bit below consensus; core capital goods orders weaker. Initial claims bit below consensus and slightly lower w/w. However, continuing claims above forecasts and last week's downwardly revised level. Second estimate of Q3 GDP unchanged at a 2.8% SAAR. Chicago PMI missed. October core PCE in-line; October pending home sales post surprise gain.
In European corporate highlights: Aston Martin (AML.LN) announced £210m capital raise and FY guidance reduction. Broader Autos & Parts sector fell for the second straight day on ongoing worries about Trump tariff threats. EasyJet (EZJ.LN) reported FY PBT in line with expectations. Johnson Matthey (JMAT.LN) H1 earnings missed but FY outlook maintained nevertheless. Most analyst notes published so far agree the sizeable EBIT miss was driven by PGMs while other operating units were in line or ahead. On a positive note, management anticipates a step up in PGM performance for H2 and believes it has good visibility adding that H1 underperformance was due to exceptional factors. Rockwool (ROCK.B.DC) was among the main Stoxx Europe 600 laggards after it posted mixed Q3 earnings; analysts at DNB said maintained margin guidance disappointed.
In M&A, Vistry Group (VTY.LN) traded higher; UK business reporter Dominic Walsh tweeted that the UK homebuilder appears to be attracting bid interest and talk has been of private equity interest at £10 a share or more. Grifols (GRF.SM) shares slumped after Canadian investment fund Brookfield dropped its plan to take over the Spanish pharmaceutical firm. Teleperformance (TEP.FP) announced acquisition of ZP Better Together, a US-based language solutions provider for the deaf and hard of hearing, for $490M.
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers:
Real Estate +1.68%, Personal Care Drug and Grocery Stores +1.06%, Financial Svcs +0.42%, Telecom +0.40%, Food, Beverage and Tobacco +0.36%, Utilities +0.12%, Media (0.01%), Energy(0.11%), Ind Goods & Svcs (0.14%), Basic Resources (0.16%)
Underperformers:
Technology (1.33%), Construct & Mtls (0.78%), Insurance (0.65%), Retail (0.62%), Travel & Leisure (0.54%), Chemicals (0.48%), Consumer Products and Services (0.42%), Autos & Parts (0.37%), Banks (0.25%)
Macro:
EU
Von der Leyen calls for more EU defence spending after narrow election victory -- Guardian
Geopolitics
France
UK
Germany
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+28.8% LBIRD.FP (Lumibird €9.30, +2.08) -- exploring the potential sale of its medical division
+18.3% MARI.AV (Marinomed Biotech €11.00, +1.70) -- signs agreement for sale of Carragelose business to French Unither Pharmaceuticals
+14.2% ATG.LN (Auction Technology Group £5.03, +0.63) -- reports FY adj EPS $0.39 vs FactSet $0.37 [8 est, $0.31-0.38]; guides FY25
+11.6% STOR.B.SS (Storskogen Group SEK10.93, +1.14) -- expects 2025-2027 adj EBITA margin above 10% (LTM) -- CMD
+10.0% MOTR.LN (Motorpoint Group £1.29, +0.12) -- reports H1 pretax income in line with prior release; net income £1.5M ex-items vs year-ago (£2.8M)
+9.0% AT1.GR (Aroundtown €3.15, +0.26) -- reports Q3 EPS €0.09 vs year-ago (€0.07)
+7.8% FARN.LN (Faron Pharmaceuticals £1.73, +0.13) -- positive Phase 2 interim results from BEXMAB trial to Be presented at ASH
+6.5% SYNACT.SS (SynAct Pharma SEK10.00, +0.61) -- receives EU trial approval for the Phase 2B ADVANCE study with resomelagon (AP1189)
+6.2% SBB.B.SS (Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden SEK4.20, +0.24) -- reports Q3 EPRA EPS SEK0.11 vs FactSet SEK0.72 [2 est, SEK0.14-1.30]
+5.8% AGAS.NO (Avance Gas Holding NOK110.00, +6.00) -- reports Q3 EPS ex-gain on sale $0.34 vs FactSet $0.26 [4 est, $0.19-0.36]
+5.7% IDIA.SW (Idorsia CHF0.80, +0.04) -- enters into exclusive negotiations for global rights to aprocitentan
+5.4% GSF.NO (Grieg Seafood NOK60.45, +3.10) -- reports Q3 EPS (NOK0.3) vs FactSet (NOK1.94) [9 est, (NOK2.45)-(1.48)]
+5.0% ARAMI.FP (Aramis Group €7.10, +0.34) -- earnings; CMD strategic update
+4.6% ONT.LN (Oxford Nanopore Technologies £1.42, +0.06) -- collaboration with UK Biobank
+4.1% MSAB.B.SS (Micro Systemation SEK50.80, +2.00) -- order from US government agency
+3.3% VTY.LN (Vistry Group £6.80, +0.22) -- UK business reporter Dominic Walsh tweets that Vistry appears to be attracting bid interest
+2.8% DDRIL.NO (Dolphin Drilling AS NOK3.70, +0.10) -- earnings
+2.8% PNN.LN (Pennon Group £5.97, +0.17) -- earnings
+2.5% EKTA.B.SS (Elekta SEK64.70, +1.55) -- earnings
+2.3% HAFNI.NO (Hafnia NOK61.25, +1.40) -- reports Q3 EPS $0.42 vs FactSet $0.36 [8 est, $0.32-0.41]; announces $100M buyback
+2.3% TUNE.LN (Focusrite £2.65, +0.06) -- earnings
+1.8% GAW.LN (Games Workshop Group £136.70, +2.40) -- Indicative FTSE 100 Addition
+1.4% MAB.LN (Mitchells & Butlers £2.49, +0.03) -- reports FY adj EPS 26.4p vs FactSet 25.5p [9 est, 23.6-28.5p]; strong start to FY25
+1.0% STAN.LN (Standard Chartered £9.69, +0.09) -- exploring the potential sale of its Wealth & Retail Banking (WRB) businesses in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia
+0.9% IAG.LN (International Consolidated Airlines Group £2.55, +0.02) -- Air Europa is negotiating the sale of 20% stake to Air France-KLM; aims to find a potential industrial partner - El Economista
+0.9% JD.LN (JD Sports Fashion £1.02, +0.01) -- completes acquisition of Courir
+0.8% ACAD (Acadia Pharmaceuticals $16.34, +0.13) -- announces exclusive license agreement with Saniona for SAN711
+0.7% AAL.LN (Anglo American £23.90, +0.17) -- Anglo American South Africa (AMS.SJ) selss 17.5M shares of Anglo American Platinum at ZAR548.00/sh
+0.7% EQT.SS (EQT AB SEK315.70, +2.30) -- EQT divests stake in Parcel2Go
+0.3% PROB.SS (Probi SEK347.00, +1.00) -- Symrise has secured ~90.2% of the outstanding capital and votes in Probi (post EU close 26-Nov)
+0.2% INVE.B.SS (Investor SEK297.20, +0.55) -- pgraded to buy from hold at Pareto
Notable Decliners
-15.5% PETS.LN (Pets At Home Group £2.34, -0.43) -- reports H1 underlying EPS 8.4p vs year-ago 7.4p; gives lower profit outlook for FY25
-10.9% JMAT.LN (Johnson Matthey £13.30, -1.63) -- reports H1 Underlying EPS 57.4p vs consensus 59.6p; maintains FY outlook
-10.3% KETL.LN (Strix Group £0.54, -0.06) -- trading update
-10.0% ROCK.B.DC (Rockwool DKK2,622.00, -290.00) -- reports Q3 net income €155M vs consensus €140M; reaffirms FY guidance
-8.7% GOGL.NO (Golden Ocean Group NOK111.75, -10.70) -- reports Q3 EPS $0.33 ex-items vs FactSet $0.29 [8 est, $0.25-0.32]
-8.4% GRF.SM (Grifols €9.76, -0.90) -- Brookfield informs the Grifols Transaction Committee that in the current circumstances it is not in a position to continue with a potential offer for Grifols
-5.5% KNOS.LN (Kainos Group £7.72, -0.45) -- in sympathy with Workday (WDAY) Q3
-5.3% AML.LN (Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings £1.02, -0.06) -- profit warning, placing
-3.8% NHY.NO (Norsk Hydro NOK68.44, -2.74) -- advancing on its 2030 strategy to seize opportunities from the green transition - CMD
-3.3% AF.FP (Air France-KLM €7.24, -0.25) -- Air Europa is negotiating the sale of 20% stake to Air France-KLM; aims to find a potential industrial partner - El Economista
-2.2% G.IM (Assicurazioni Generali €27.08, -0.62) -- downgraded to underperform from market perform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
-1.9% IMMNOV.SS (Immunovia SEK0.62, -0.01) -- earnings
-1.8% TEP.FP (Teleperformance €86.66, -1.60) -- TP announces acquisition of 'ZP Better Together'; price not disclosed
-1.6% TTGT (TechTarget $32.25, -0.53) -- announces shareholder approval for combination with Informa Tech's digital businesses
-1.2% EZJ.LN (EasyJet £5.34, -0.07) -- reports FY HEPS 61.3p vs FactSet 61.5p [20 est, 58.0-68.5p]
-1.1% AVOL.SW (Avolta CHF32.32, -0.36) -- wins significant tender at John F. Kennedy International Airport; confirms medium-term targets and reaffirms positive outlook
-0.9% SAB.SM (Banco de Sabadell €1.77, -0.02) -- European Commission concludes review of BBVA and Banco Sabadell transaction under European Foreign Subsidies Regulation without raising any objections
-0.8% FNAC.FP (Fnac Darty €26.25, -0.20) -- announces that the European Commission has today unconditionally authorized the acquisition of Unieuro
-0.5% EDP.PL (EDP-Energias de Portugal €3.43, -0.02) -- downgraded to hold from buy at Jefferies
-0.3% IDR.SM (Indra Sistemas €16.50, -0.05) -- weighs acquisition of Hispasat - Expansion
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Earnings:
DACHs: IMMOFINANZ (IIA.AV), GK Software (GKS.GR), ADLER Group (ADJ.GR), Deutsche Beteiligungs (DBAN.GR), PharmaSGP Holding (PSG.GR), Carlo Gavazzi Holding (GAV.SW)
France: Remy Cointreau (RCO.FP)
Nordics: Hexagon Purus (HPUR.NO), RTX (RTX.DC)
UK: Loungers (LGRS.LN)
CMD/events: Rational (RAA.GR), Covivio (COV.FP)
Data:
Economics:
Germany Dec GfK Consumer Confidence (23.3) vs consensus (18.6) and prior (18.3)
Switzerland Nov ZEW Expectations (12.4) vs consensus (8.0) and prior (7.7)
Norway Oct Unemployment Rate 4.1% vs consensus 4.0% and prior 4.0%
France Nov Consumer Confidence 90 vs consensus 94 and prior revised 93 from 94x
Markets:
WTI Crude (Jan 25): +$0.11 or +0.16% to $68.88
€-$ +0.0081 or +0.77% to 1.0569
£-$ +0.0104 or +0.83% to 1.2674
€-£ (0.0007) to 0.8339
S&P 500 (0.42%)
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: +7.05%
DAX: +14.98%
CAC: (5.31%)
MIB: +8.95%
Stoxx 600: +5.44%
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