Mar 05 ,2025
Synopsis:
European equity markets ended mostly higher Wednesday with notable outperformance in the German Dax +3.4% after Germany's CDU/CSU and SPD announced ground breaking agreement to boost defense and infrastructure spending ahead of official coalition talks. Key proposals are new €500B special infrastructure fund to be established over 10 years, defense spending exceeding 1% of GDP to be exempted from constitutional debt brake and increase in structural deficit allowed for states from 0.0% of GDP to 0.35%. Parliamentary votes on measures expected next week, utilizing current Bundestag's majority ratios.
Among European sectors, Construction & Materials strongly outperformed, closing up 6%. Stocks such as Heidelberg Materials (HEI.GR) stand to benefit from Germany's plan (see above) to boost construction infrastructure spending. Banks also outperformed as stronger European/German defense and infrastructure plans boosted bond yields. Conversely, Real Estate was main laggard today. Defensives also underperformed.
Among stocks that saw double digit gains today on the supportive German macro dynamics: KGX.GR +21.8%, HEI.GR +19.0%, HOT.GR +17.0%, LXS.GR +15.9%, BAS.GR +12.1%
Elsewhere, European Union grappling with unprecedented security challenges as leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday (Politico). With concerns over US support waning under Trump's presidency, EU urgently seeking to bolster defense capabilities and support Ukraine. EU Commission President von der Leyen proposed significant increase in defense spending, but internal disagreements, particularly with Hungary, complicate efforts to provide military aid to Ukraine (EurActiv)
Other supportive news includes China NPC reaffirming aim of GDP growth ~5% and guidance for other policy-support measures, such as boost in bond issuance to support consumers goods trade-in program, RRR and other cuts at an appropriate time, stabilization in property market and new instruments to strengthen stock market.
In the US, Commerce Secretary Lutnick said this morning Canada, Mexico tariff decisions expected this afternoon. Noted rate will be 25% but some categories including autos could be left out.
On European macro data front, Eurozone final composite PMI confirmed economy largely stagnant with services activity offset by manufacturing contraction. UK update also showed very modest growth as service sector loses momentum. Eurozone PPI surprised on the upside. Swiss CPI eased further in February, reinforcing SNB rate cut expectations. Italian Q4 2024 GDP firmer-than-forecast with 0.1% expansion. French industrial production missed.
Busy day for earnings/updates. Bayer AG (BAYN.GR) Q4 beat viewed as low quality; guidance broadly in-line; CEO on litigation said tangible steps toward containment on horizon this year. Adidas shares were (3%) lower as disappointing F25 guidance weighed. Sandoz (SDZ.SW) results with mixed takeaways, and shares ended down (1.5%) after being firmly higher this morning.
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers:
Construct & Mtls +5.96%, Banks +3.74%, Ind Goods & Svcs +3.30%, Basic Resources +2.86%, Chemicals +2.63%, Autos & Parts +2.35%, Technology +2.60%,
Underperformers:
Real Estate (3.33%), Food, Beverage and Tobacco (2.34%), Utilities (2.16%), Personal Care Drug and Grocery Stores (2.01%), Telecom (1.57%), Media (1.43%), Health Care (0.51%), Energy(0.26%), Consumer Products and Services (0.14%), Financial Svcs +0.38%, Retail +0.59%, Insurance +0.79%
Macro:
Germany
German bond yields rise sharply due to debt plans -- Handelsblatt
Germany Urges EU to Ease Fiscal Rules to Boost Defense Funds -- Bloomberg
Germany's Greens withhold backing for debt brake reforms for now -- Reuters
Geopolitics
European leaders brace for their 'five-minutes-to-midnight' nightmare summit -- POLITICO
UK
France
Macron to speak about Ukraine, trade wars, in address to the nation -- Reuters
Greenland
Greenland PM rebuffs Trump: We do not want to be Americans -- Reuters
Portugal
Portugal's Minority Government Plans to Seek a Confidence Vote -- Bloomberg
Autos
Commission boosts European automotive industry's global competitiveness -- link
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+34.5% S92.GR (SMA Solar Technology €18.31, +4.72) -- reports FY revenue €1.53B vs FactSet €1.48B [7 est, €1.45-1.50B]
+20.6% ATO.FP (ATOS SE €0.00, -0.00) -- reports FY operating margin €199M vs FactSet €237.3M [2 est, €229-245.5M]
+19.6% SAVE.LN (Savannah Energy £0.13, +0.02) -- CEO increases stake and voting rights in the company to 8.83% from 3.7%
+15.2% COK.GR (CANCOM €27.72, +3.70) -- extends CEO contract
+12.7% SVITZR.DC (Svitzer Group DKK232.10, +26.10) -- reports FY EPS DKK11.94 vs FactSet DKK16.87 [5 est, DKK14.10-20.68]
+11.3% BREE.LN (Breedon Group £4.74, +0.48) -- reports FY underlying EPS 34.3p vs FactSet 33.1p [12 est, 31.9-34.1p]
+11.3% BREE.LN (Breedon Group £4.74, +0.48) -- PLC acquires Lionmark Construction Companies LLC for an enterprise value of $238M (£187M)
+10.7% EVK.GR (Evonik Industries €20.67, +2.02) -- reports Q4 adj. EPS €0.16 vs consensus €0.15; Q1 2025 adj. EBITDA expected above prior-year level
+10.3% GFRD.LN (Galliford Try Holdings £3.80, +0.36) -- reports H1 EPS 15.8p ex-items vs year-ago 14.2p
+10.0% ORY.SM (Oryzon Genomics €2.91, +0.26) -- publication of study on Phelan-McDermid Syndrome patients
+9.0% CPI.LN (Capita £0.14, +0.01) -- reports FY adj EPS 2.1p vs FactSet 2.0p [5 est, 1.9-2.2p]; guides FY25
+8.9% IBST.LN (Ibstock £1.65, +0.14) -- reports FY adjusted EPS 7.7p vs FactSet 7.7p [9 est, 7.2-8.6p]
+8.3% A5G.ID (AIB Group €6.94, +0.54) -- reports FY EPS €0.93 vs FactSet €0.85 [14 est, €0.76-0.90]
+7.3% ECOR.LN (Ecora Resources £0.60, +0.04) -- completes acquisition of copper stream from Moxico Resources
+6.8% CPR.IM (Davide Campari-Milano €6.21, +0.40) -- reports FY net income €367M vs FactSet €341.7M [20 est, €291-373M]
+6.8% QLT.LN (Quilter £1.60, +0.10) -- reports FY Adjusted EPS 10.6p vs FactSet 9.8p [12 est, 8.9-10.7p]
+6.2% GFG.GR (Global Fashion Group €0.30, +0.02) -- reports Q4 adjusted EBITDA €8.8M vs year-ago €0.5M
+5.9% FNTN.GR (Freenet €34.04, +1.88) -- reports FY revenue €2.48B vs FactSet €2.46B [10 est, €2.43-2.51B]
+5.8% HOC.LN (Hochschild Mining £1.94, +0.11) -- closes sale of Arcata and Azuca to Sierra Caraz; terms undisclosed
+5.3% DWL.LN (Dowlais Group Plc £0.69, +0.03) -- reports FY adjusted EPS 11.4p vs FactSet 10.9p [6 est, 9.2-14.0p]
+4.5% BAYN.GR (Bayer AG €24.47, +1.05) -- reports Q4 core EPS €1.05 vs consensus €0.95; keeps divi unchanged and guides FY25 sales roughly at prior-year level
+4.5% AM.FP (Dassault Aviation €286.60, +12.40) -- reports FY adj net income €1.06B vs FactSet €947.1M; hikes divi by 40% and guides FY25
+3.6% AZA.SS (Avanza Bank Holding SEK329.20, +11.50) -- reports Feb preliminary net inflow SEK 5.21B vs year-ago SEK 6.21B and prior SEK10.6B
+3.6% SDSD.NO (S.D. Standard ETC NOK1.83, +0.06) -- Saga Pure ASA acquires an additional 2M shares in S.D. Standard ETC
+3.1% GAW.LN (Games Workshop Group £142.50, +4.20) -- trading update: trading in January and February has been ahead of expectations
+2.7% BAVA.DC (Bavarian Nordic A/S DKK167.90, +4.40) -- Bavarian Nordic confirms prelim FY earnings and FY25 outlook as per 3-Feb update
+2.4% SHI.LN (SIG £0.12, -0.00) -- reports FY underlying EPS (1.7p) vs FactSet (1.9p) [7 est, (2.3)-(1.6p)]
+1.9% DNB.NO (DNB Bank NOK261.10, +4.90) -- ASA announces fulfillment of conditions for DNB Bank ASA's acquisition of Carnegie
+1.4% SAVE.SS (Nordnet SEK239.00, +3.20) -- statistics Feb: 5.30M trades in listed financial instruments vs year-ago 5.29M
+1.3% BOL.SS (Boliden SEK372.30, +4.90) -- now expects Q1 production rate from Aitik mine just over 9 Mtonnes; FY25 production is estimated at close to 40 Mtonnes
+1.0% G.IM (Assicurazioni Generali €32.19, +0.33) -- UniCredit set to raise its stake in Generali close to 10% -- Il Sole24Ore
+0.9% IPX.LN (Impax Asset Management Group £1.74, +0.02) -- reports AUM £28.5B as of 28-Feb vs £34.1B as of 31-Dec
+0.9% LWAY (Lifeway Foods $21.45, +0.18) -- comments on Danone lawsuit; says expects to file counterclaim
+0.8% DLAR.LN (De La Rue £1.23, +0.01) -- PLC trading update; expects growth for Currency division in FY26 to be significantly higher than previous guidance; continues to be in discussions that may or may not result in possible cash offers for the company
+0.8% DLAR.LN (De La Rue £1.23, +0.01) -- PLC trading update; expects growth for Currency division in FY26 to be significantly higher than previous guidance; continues to be in discussions that may or may not result in possible cash offers for the company
+0.7% FOXT.LN (Foxtons Group £0.62, -0.00) -- reports FY EPS 5.0p ex-items vs FactSet 4.0p [6 est, 3.7-4.6p]; trading year to date in-line with expectations
+0.6% AFP.SW (Aluflexpack CHF15.70, +0.10) -- Constantia Flexibles completes acquisition of a majority of shares of Aluflexpack AG
+0.5% ADS.GR (Adidas €238.50, +1.10) -- reports final Q4 earnings: EPS (€0.26) vs FactSet (€0.25) [8 est, (€0.61)-0.27]; proposes dividend payment of €2.00/sh
+0.4% SCR.FP (SCOR SE €26.68, +0.10) -- reports Q4 net income €235M ex-items vs consensus €190M; keeps divi unchanged
+0.4% ANIM.IM (Anima Holding SpA €6.95, +0.03) -- Bank of Italy approves Banco Bpm and Banco Bpm Vita indirect acquisition of control in Anima Group
+0.3% IDS.LN (International Distribution Services £3.63, +0.01) -- EP Corporate Group updates on conditions and offer timetable
+0.2% SDZ.SW (Sandoz Group CHF39.56, +0.08) -- reports FY Core EPS $2.71 vs FactSet $2.70 [16 est, $1.87-2.95]; gives outlook 2025 and Reaffirming its mid-term outlook to 2028x
Notable Decliners
-15.7% BVC.LN (BATM Advanced Communications £0.15, -0.03) -- FY Trading Update: revenue from cont'd ops at least $117M vs FactSet $143.0M
-7.2% SHA0.GR (Schaeffler €4.31, -0.33) -- reports final FY results: net income before special items €93M vs year-ago €623M
-5.8% CCEP.NA (Coca-Cola Europacific Partners €77.60, -4.80) -- ~9M share block being shopped in range of $83.50-$84.50 through BofA, we're told
-5.3% SHUR.BB (Shurgard Self Storage €31.90, -1.80) -- acquires full ownership of one of its first Paris facilitie
-4.6% SVT.LN (Severn Trent £23.94, -1.16) -- guiding to net operational outperformance in AMP8 of over £300M in nominal prices -- CMD
-3.9% CMBT.BB (CMB.TECH €8.31, -0.34) -- acquires 81.4M Golden Ocean shares from Hemen Holding
-3.8% BBY.LN (Balfour Beatty £4.39, -0.17) -- CEO Leo Quinn to step down later this year; Philip Hoare appointed new CEO in Sep
-3.1% TXGN.SW (TX Group CHF198.60, -6.40) -- reports FY net income CHF31.1M vs FactSet CHF24.0M [1 est]
-3.0% IMCD.NA (IMCD €138.45, -4.25) -- reports FY cash EPS €6.34 vs consensus €5.82; cuts divi by 9%
-2.4% INW.IM (Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane €9.69, -0.24) -- reports FY net income €353.8M vs FactSet €371.6M [13 est, €355.9-386.8M]; issues 2025-30 Business Plan Targets
-2.3% SUY1V.FH (Suominen €2.05, -0.05) -- reports Q4 EPS €0.01 vs FactSet €0.02 [3 est, €0.01-0.03]; no divi for FY24 and guides FY25
-1.7% RCDO.LN (Ricardo £2.29, -0.04) -- reports H1 underlying EPS from cont ops 4.7p vs year-ago (4.0p); sees double digit underlying operating profit growth for FY 2024/25
-0.6% DNO.NO (DNO ASA NOK11.19, -0.07) -- confirms gas/condensate discovery in the range of 19-44M boe on the Mistral prospect in the Norwegian Sea license PL1119
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Earnings:
Austria: Andritz (ANDR.AV), Zumtobel Group (ZAG.AV)
Benelux: Solvay (SOLB.BB), Jensen-Group (JEN.BB), Viohalco (VIO.BB), Universal Music Group (UMG.NA), FL Entertainment (BNJ.NA)
France: Vivendi (VIV.FP), Air France-KLM (AF.FP), Bouygues (EN.FP), JCDecaux (DEC.FP), Eurazeo (RF.FP), La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ.FP), Maurel & Prom (MAU.FP), Elis (ELIS.FP), SPIE (SPIE.FP), Savencia (SAVE.FP), Societe de la Tour Eiffel (EIFF.FP), Prodware (ALPRO.FP), GFT Technologies (GFT.FP), Getlink (GET.FP)
Germany: Deutsche Lufthansa (LGA.GR), Deutsche Post (DHL.GR), Merck KGaA (MRK.GR), ProSiebenSat.1 Media (PSN.GR), Zalando (ZAL.GR), Siltronic (WAF.GR), CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. (COP.GR), Durr (DUE.GR), Stroer SE & Co. (SAX.GR)
Nordics: Cambi (CAMBI.NO), Schouw & Co (SCHO.DC), TORM (TRMD.A.DC), Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG.DC), Lamor Corporation (LAMOR.FH), Systemair (SYSR.SS)
Russia: Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS (MOEX.RU)
Southern Europe: Salvatore Ferragamo (SFER,IM), Amplifon (AMP.IM), Azimut Holding (AZM.IM), Italmobiliare (ITM.IM), IGD SIIQ (IGD.IM), Tinexta (TNXT.IM), Ascopiave (ASC.IM)
Switzerland: Geberit (GEBN.SW), Galderma Group (GALD.SW), COMET Holding (COTN.SW), Helvetia Holding (HELN.SW), Cicor Technologies (CICN.SW), Cosmo Pharmaceuticals (COPN.SW), Kardex Holding (KARN.SW), Molecular Partners (MOLN.SW),
UK/Ireland: Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT.LN), Entain (ENT.LN), Admiral Group (ADM.LN), Schroders (SDR.LN), Melrose Industries (MRO.LN), Informa (INF.LN), Grafton Group (GFTU.LN), ITV (ITV.LN), Elementis (ELM.LN), Harbour Energy (HBR.LN), Vistry Group (VTY.LN), Rentokil Initial (RTO.LN), Coats Group (COA.LN), Hunting (HTG.LN), PageGroup (PAGE.LN), Robert Walters (RWA.LN), Funding Circle Holdings (FCH.LN), Hansard Global (HSD.LN), Dalata Hotel Group (DHG.ID)
Trading Update: R&S Group Holding (RSGN.SW)
Traffic: Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS.NO), Finnair (FIA1S.FH)
CMD/events: ROCKWOOL (ROCK.B.DC) ESG
Data:
Economics:
Feb Services PMI
UK 51.0 vs preliminary 51.1
Eurozone 50.6 vs preliminary 50.7
Germany 51.1 vs preliminary 52.2
France 45.3 vs preliminary 44.5
Spain 56.2 vs consensus 55.3 and prior 54.9
Italy 53.0 vs consensus 50.9 and prior 50.4
Sweden 50.8 vs consensus 51 and prior revised to 50.2 from 50.1
Eurozone Jan PPI +1.8% y/y vs consensus +1.4% and prior revised +0.1% from 0.0%; +0.8% m/m vs consensus +0.3% and and prior revised +0.5% from +0.4%
Italy
Q4 Preliminary GDP +0.6% y/y vs preliminary +0.5%; +0.1% q/q vs preliminary 0.0%
Jan Retail Sales +0.9% y/y vs consensus +0.9% and prior +0.6%; (0.4%) m/m vs consensus +0.1% and prior +0.6%
Switzerland Feb CPI +0.3% y/y vs consensus +0.2% and prior +0.4%; +0.6% m/m vs consensus +0.5% and prior (0.1%)
Markets:
WTI Crude (Apr 25): ($2.86) or (4.19%) to $65.40
€-$ +0.0138 or +1.30% to 1.0765
£-$ +0.0069 or +0.54% to 1.2862
€-£ +0.0067 to 0.8372
S&P 500 (0.38%)
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: +7.13%
DAX: +15.93%
CAC: +10.74%
MIB: +12.65%
Stoxx 600: +9.55%
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