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StreetAccount Summary - Europe Pre-Open: FTSE (0.18%), DAX (0.07%), CAC40 (0.09%); focus on central bank decisions

Mar 20 ,2025

  • Synopsis

    • European equity markets set to open mixed amidst Asian equities trading mixed Thursday. Hang Seng starting its afternoon session under fresh pressure, mainland China markets also lower. Gains elsewhere, including in Taiwan and South Korea on read through to Wall Street's positive close.

    • Dovish initial takeaways from Fed's hold decision with particular focus on statement noting ramp in uncertainty due to tariffs, policymakers downgrading US GDP growth forecasts (though Powell said recession odds not high), Fed moving to slow QT, and Powell's view inflation impact from tariffs may be 'transitory' (after SEP upgraded CPI forecasts). Treasury curve bull steepened in aftermath with markets continuing to price in Fed two rate cuts in 2025 (and around a 50% chance of a third).

    • In central banks, ECB's Lagarde before EP's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affair at 9:00CET (livestream). SNB interest rate decision at 9:30CET with news conf, whilst seen as a close call, a cut in the benchmark interest rate of (25bps) to 0.25% expected. Riksbank's interest rate decision at 9:30CET, press conf. 11:00. The benchmark interest rate is expected to be left unchanged at 2.25%. BOE interest rate decision, MPC minutes published at 12noon GMT, with the benchmark rate expected to be left unchanged at 4.5%. ECB publishes Economic Bulletin at 12:00CET. Estonia central bank's Müller panelist at 12:00CET at the Nordic Real Estate Forum panel title 'Baltics as an Extension of Nordic Markets'. ECB's Lane lecture at 13:00CET at UCC Economics Society's Conf. Bank of France's Villeroy speech at 14:00CET in Paris. Bank of Austria's Holzmann speaks at 14:30GMT at event hosted by European Institute and OMFIF title Unconventional monetary policy - quo vadis?. Portugal central bank publishes its latest economic bulletin at 11:00CET with updated economic forecasts, press conf with governor Centeno. Estonia central bank's Tali participates board meeting of ECB's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) in Frankfurt.

    • In politics, Germany's Ministry of Finance publishes latest monthly report. EU leaders summit (through Fri). The main topics will be the situation in Ukraine, strengthening European security and defense capabilities, the EU's competitiveness, migration, and the situation in the Middle East. There'll be a planned exchange if views with UN's Secretary-General. In UK, there's MP questions on environment, food and rural affairs at 9:30GMT with committee topics including the decommissioning Sellafield at 10:00. EU's Virkkunen speech at the Nordic Financial Ecosystem Forum. EU's Tzitzikostas speech at the European Shipping Summit (Wed/Thu). Bruegel hosts event at 13:00CET title 'The one promise and many perils of resurgent industrial policy'. FT hosts event at at 15:30GMT title 'Tackling Europe's red tape challenge'.

    • European macro data releases due today include UK Feb claimant count, Jan unemployment rate, Mar industrial trends orders - CBI, Germany Feb PPI, Eurozone Jan construction output, Switzerland Feb trade balance (watch export data), Netherlands Feb unemployment rate.

    • In earnings news, French companies kicked off the session with Valneva (VLA.FP) and Sodexo (SW.FP) reporting FY earnings with the latter lowering FY Organic revenue growth guidance to +3-4% vs prior +5.5-6.5%. In DACHs, Lanxess (LXS.GR), Nemetschek (NEM.GR), SAF-HOLLAND (SFQ.GR), Hapag-Lloyd (HLAG.GR) and RWE (RWE.GR) are amongst others in the region to update investors with their latest numbers. Elsewhere, Jeronimo Martins (JMT.PL) release its FY earnings report and proposed a dividend of €0.59/share (gross value) vs consensus €0.60/share.

  • Politics/Macro/World News

    • Consumer confidence stabilises as Gen Z prepares to spend - msn

    • EU rifts open even before Trump trade war gets rolling - Politico

    • Rachel Reeves not expected to raise taxes in spring statement - The Times

    • Zelenskiy says he had substantive call with Trump discussing partial ceasefire, air defences - Reuters

    • UK First-Time Buyers Surge Amid Cheaper Borrowing, Halifax Says - Bloomberg

  • Top company news

    • Earnings/updates

      • DACHs

        • RWE.GR (RWE) -- reports FY adjusted net income €2.32B vs consensus €2.22B; guides 2025 adjusted net income €1.3B-€1.8B vs FactSet €1.56B; will invest less in the coming years than previously planned; total of €35B net is now planned for the years from 2025 to 2030

        • LXS.GR (Lanxess) -- reports Q4 net income (€64M) vs FactSet (€45M) [1 est]

        • NEM.GR (Nemetschek) -- reports FY EPS €1.52 vs FactSet €1.54 [17 est, €1.42-1.81]

        • SBO.AV (Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment) -- reports FY EPS €2.88 vs FactSet €2.92 [3 est, €2.87-3.01]

        • DWNI.GR (Deutsche Wohnen) -- reports preliminary FY NAVPS €41.8

        • SFQ.GR (SAF-HOLLAND) -- reports FY EPS €2.43 ex-items vs FactSet €1.93 [6 est, €1.68-2.38]

        • SGL.GR (SGL Carbon) -- reports FY net income (€80.3M) vs year-ago €41.0M

        • DMRE.GR (DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate) -- reports FY FFO €0.22 vs year-ago €0.35

        • SEM.AV (Semperit Holding) -- reports FY EPS €0.56 vs FactSet €0.64 [3 est, €0.43-0.83]

        • HLAG.GR (Hapag-Lloyd) -- reports final FY net income €2.39B vs FactSet €2.41B [10 est, €1.76-2.78B]; cuts divi by 11% and guides FY25

        • MXHN.GR (MAX Automation) -- reports FY EPS €1.47 vs FactSet €0.72 [2 est, €0.13-1.30]

      • France

        • SW.FP (Sodexo) -- reports H1 Underlying EPS €3.08 vs FactSet €3.12 [1 est]; lowers FY Organic revenue growth guidance to +3-4% vs prior +5.5-6.5%

        • VLA.FP (Valneva) -- reports FY net income (€12.2M) vs FactSet €1.6M [7 est, (€17)-27M]; confirms FY25 outlook as per 18-Feb update

        • SIGHT.FP (GenSight Biologics) -- confirms FY24 results; issues Financial Outlook and Mitigation Plans

      • Southern Europe

        • OPAP.GA (Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics) -- reports Q4 adjusted net income €143.5M vs FactSet €146M

        • JMT.PL (Jeronimo Martins) -- reports FY net income attributable €599M (post EU close 19-Mar)

      • Benelux

        • IBAB.BB (Ion Beam Applications) -- reports FY net income €9.3M vs year-ago (€9.1M)

        • ENVI.NA (Envipco Holding) -- reports Q4 EPS €0.01 vs FactSet €0.02 [3 est, €0.01-0.03]

      • UK

        • PRU.LN (Prudential) -- reports FY IFRS profit after tax $2.42B, +41% vs year-ago $1.71B

      • Also due to report today includes:

        • Earnings:

          • Austria: Verbund (VER.AV)

          • Benelux: CVC Capital Partners (CVC.NA), Hyloris Pharmaceuticals (HYL.BB)

          • DACHs: RTL Group (RRTL.GR), DMG MORI (GIL.GR), OHB (OHB.GR), Deutz (DEZ.GR), init innovation in traffic systems (IXX.GR)

          • France: Vetoquinol (VETO.FP), Touax (TOUP.FP), Balyo (BALYO.FP), Wallix Group (ALLIX.FP)

          • Nordics: OrderYOYO (YOYO.DC), Flugger Group (FLUG.B.DC)

          • Southern Europe: A2A (A2A.IM), Piovan (PVN.IM), Datalogic (DAL.IM), Altri (ALTR.PL)

          • Switzerland: The Swatch Group (UHR.SW), Swissquote Group Holding (SQN.SW),

          • UK: Energean (ENOG.LN), James Fisher & Sons (FSJ.LN), Hostelworld Group (HSW.LN)

        • Trading Update: Investec (INVP.LN), Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY.LN), Hydrogene de France (HDF.FP)

        • CMD/events: HelloFresh (HFG.GR), Equinor (EQNR.NO) investor update on company's energy transition plan 2025, The Gym Group (GYM.LN), 3i Group (III.LN), Distribuidora Internacional De Alimentacion (DIA.SM)

    • M&A

      • SAN.FP (Sanofi) -- to acquire Dren Bio's DR-0201 a bispecific myeloid cell engager for upfront payment of $600M and potential future payments totaling $1.3B

      • NEXI.IM (Nexi) -- TPG set to offer ~ €850M for Nexi Digital Banking Solution division - Corriere della Sera

      • BAM (Brookfield Asset Management) -- reportedly leading contender to acquire Colonial Pipeline -- Bloomberg

      • SHC.LN (Shaftesbury Capital) -- confirms in discussion with Norges Bank Investment Mgmt. regarding sale of a stake in the Covent Garden portfolio

      • ENTRA.NO (Entra ASA) -- Castellum announces final result of mandatory offer to acquire Entra and purchase of additional shares in Entra; will own ~34.03%

      • RTX (RTX Corp.) -- Safran offers sale of North American unit agreed in December as remedy to address EU concerns about acquisition of Collins Aerospace's flight controls business - Reuters (15:14 ET/20:14 CET)

      • CVC.NA (CVC Capital Partners) -- reportedly interested in acquiring Fortress Investment Group - Bloomberg

      • ARCAD.NA (ARCADIS) -- acquires WSP Infrastructure Engineering GmbH

      • EWIND.NO (Edda Wind) -- ASA subsidiary West Energy AS enters sale and purchase agreement regarding sale of all outstanding shares in Puerto de Llafranc S.L., the registered owner of the vessel Mistral Enabler

      • Kraken nearing $1.5B deal to acquire NinjaTrader - media report

      • TARGO Deutschland to acquire Oldenburgische Landesbank; terms undisclosed

    • Healthcare

      • 13.HK (Hutchmed) -- to present updated data from Savolitinib SAVANNAH Phase II at European Lung Cancer Congress 2025

      • GALD.SW (Galderma Group) -- Galderma Pushes the Innovation Frontier With Updates From Its Unparalleled Portfolio Designed to Meet the Needs of the Aesthetic Community

      • PHO.NO (PhotoCure) -- ASA initiates buyback of up to 200,000 of its own shares for a total maximum amount of NOK 20M

    • Other

      • IBE.SM (Iberdrola) -- warns power prices in Spain could jump by over 25% if the country shuts down nuclear power plants - FT, citing chair

      • ENX.FP (Euronext) -- announces results of the quarterly review for the CAC Family indices; No changes in the composition of the CAC 40 index

  • Key rating changes

    • Upgrades

      • BNZL.LN (Bunzl) -- to buy from hold at HSBC

      • LLOY.LN (Lloyds Banking Group) -- to buy from hold at HSBC

    • Downgrades

      • VOLV.B.SS (Volvo) -- to sell from hold at DnB Markets

      • PUM.GR (Puma) -- Puma resumed hold at Kepler Cheuvreux; prior rating was buy

      • DNR.IM (Industrie De Nora) -- to hold from buy at Kepler Cheuvreux

      • BMW.GR (Bayerische Motoren Werke) -- to hold from buy at HSBC

      • ASY.FP (Assystem) -- to hold from buy at Stifel

      • BRE.IM (Brembo) -- to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank

    • Initiations

      • BIOV.SW (BioVersys) -- buy at UBS

      • WCH.GR (Wacker Chemie) -- buy at Kepler Cheuvreux

      • BIOV.SW (BioVersys) -- buy at Stifel

  • Data

    • Nikkei +0.00% to 37751.88

    • Hang Seng (1.85%) to 24311.68

    • Shanghai Composite (0.38%) to 3413.33

    • S&P futures +21.5 vs prior close of 5729.8

    • €-$ (0.0011) or (0.10%) to 1.0893

    • $-¥ (0.35) or (0.24%) to 148.34

    • €-¥ (0.55) or (0.34%) to 161.59

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