Αρνητικό το κλίμα στα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια

Με απώλειες ολοκλήρωσαν την σημερινή συνεδρίαση τα περισσότερα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια, με τις μετοχές του κλάδου ενέργειας να σημειώνουν τα μεγαλύτερα κέρδη, κι αυτές του κλάδου εξόρυξης τις μεγαλύτερες απώλειες.

Η αύξηση του γεωπολιτικού κινδύνου, καθώς και τα μικτά εταιρικά νέα που ανακοινώθηκαν από τις ευρωπαϊκές εταιρείες επηρέασαν αρνητικά το κλίμα στα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια, με την απόδοση του αμερικανικού δεκαετούς ομολόγου να κινείται σήμερα πάνω από το 4,9% για πρώτη φορά από το 2007, στο 4,911%.

Ο βρετανικός Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή (πληθωρισμός) σε ετήσια βάση παρέμεινε αμετάβλητος στο 6,7% τον Σεπτέμβριο, διατηρώντας το χαμηλό 18 μηνών του Αυγούστου, σύμφωνα με τα επίσημα στοιχεία της Τετάρτης.(περισσότερα εδώ)

Στα κυριότερα μακροοικονομικά νέα:

Στην Βρετανία, ο Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή για τον μήνα Σεπτέμβριο ενισχύθηκε 0,5% (σύμφωνα με τις εκτιμήσεις) έναντι αύξησης 0,3% τον προηγούμενο μήνα, ενώ σε ετήσια βάση πραγματοποίησε αύξηση 6,7% έναντι εκτιμήσεων για αύξηση 6,6% και αύξησης 6,7% το προηγούμενο έτος.

Στην ευρωζώνη, ο Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή για τον μήνα Σεπτέμβριο ενισχύθηκε 0,3% (σύμφωνα με τις εκτιμήσεις) έναντι αύξησης 0,5% τον προηγούμενο μήνα, ενώ σε ετήσια βάση πραγματοποίησε αύξηση 4,3% (σύμφωνα με τις εκτιμήσεις) έναντι αύξησης 5,2% το προηγούμενο έτος. Ο Δομικός Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή για τον μήνα Σεπτέμβριο σε ετήσια βάση αυξήθηκε 4,5% (σύμφωνα με τις εκτιμήσεις) έναντι αύξησης 5,3% το προηγούμενο έτος.

Η γερμανική κυβέρνηση προέβη σήμερα στην έκδοση δεκαετούς ομολόγους με το κουπόνι να διαμορφώνεται στο 2,9% έναντι 2,78% της αντίστοιχης προηγούμενης έκδοσης.

Ο δείκτης Stoxx 600 έκλεισε στις 445,16 μονάδες με πτώση 1,02%.

Στην Φρανκφούρτη ο δείκτης DAX έκλεισε στις 15.097,05 μονάδες με πτώση 1,01%, παραμένοντας με σήμα strong sell, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 15.547 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 15.083 μονάδες.

Μεγαλύτερη άνοδος

Μεγαλύτερη πτώση

Στο Λονδίνο ο δείκτης FTSE 100 έκλεισε στις 7.587,02 μονάδες με πτώση 1,15%, παραμένοντας με σήμα strong buy, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 7.705 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 7.527 μονάδες.

Μεγαλύτερη άνοδος

Μεγαλύτερη πτώση

Στο Παρίσι ο δείκτης CAC 40 έκλεισε στις 6.964,36 μονάδες με πτώση 0,93%, παραμένοντας με σήμα strong sell, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 7.231 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 6.955 μονάδες.

Μεγαλύτερη άνοδος

Μεγαλύτερη πτώση

Recommendations

Freenet: Usman Ghazi from Berenberg retains his positive opinion on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price has been raised from EUR 28 to EUR 30.

Adidas: In a research note, JP Morgan analyst Olivia Townsend has maintained his recommendation on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price is unchanged at EUR 195.

DHL: JP Morgan reiterate its Sell rating.

Adidas: Zuzanna Pusz from UBS retains his positive opinion on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price is unchanged and still at EUR 210.

Rio Tinto: RBC confirms his opinion on the stock and remains Neutral. The target price is revised upwards from GBX 5100 to GBX 4800.

Adidas: Initially Neutral on the company, Jefferies’s analyst James Grzinic maintained his recommendation. The target price is unchanged at EUR 175.

Adidas: RBC analyst Piral Dadhania maintains his Neutral opinion on the stock. The target price continues to be set at EUR 165.

Rio Tinto: Analyst Myles Allsop from UBS research gives the stock a Neutral rating. The target price remains unchanged at GBX 5200.

Rio Tinto: In his latest research note, analyst Patrick Jones confirms his recommendation. The broker JP Morgan is keeping its Neutral rating. The target price has been modified and is now set at GBX 6170 compared to GBX 6200.

Εταιρικά νέα

Η Ryanair στοχεύει να διπλασιάσει τις δραστηριότητές της στην ταχέως αναπτυσσόμενη πολωνική αγορά και να επεκταθεί σε ολόκληρη την ανατολική Ευρώπη κατά την επόμενη δεκαετία, δήλωσαν στελέχη της, αναμετρώντας την αντίπαλη Wizz Air και ανοίγοντας ένα νέο μέτωπο στη μάχη των οικονομικών αεροπορικών εταιρειών.(περισσότερα εδώ)

Η Adidas αύξησε την Τρίτη τις ετήσιες προβλέψεις της και ανακοίνωσε ισχυρότερα από τα αναμενόμενα κέρδη τρίτου τριμήνου, υποβοηθούμενη από τις πωλήσεις του αποθέματος Yeezy.(περισσότερα εδώ)

ASML Holding said it expects revenue next year to be similar to 2023 given uncertainty around demand recovery in the semiconductor industry, but posted better-than-expected net income for the third quarter. “The semiconductor industry is currently working through the bottom of the cycle and our customers expect the inflection point to be visible by the end of this year,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Wennink said, adding that 2024 is seen as a transition year.

The Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ASML, on Wednesday posted a net income for the third quarter of 1.89 billion euros ($2.0 billion) compared with EUR1.94 billion for the second quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected EUR1.82 billion. Net sales for the three-month period were EUR6.67 billion, driven by its deep ultraviolet product mix and one-off cost effects, it said. This compares with EUR6.90 billion for the previous quarter, consensus’ EUR6.75 billion and was within its EUR6.5 billion to EUR7.0 billion guided range.

Gross margin for the third quarter was 51.9% compared with 51.3%, while guidance had been around 50%, it said. For the fourth quarter, ASML said it expects to report net sales of between EUR6.7 billion and EUR7.1 billion with a gross margin between 50% and 51%. The Amsterdam-listed group confirmed it expects net sales to grow 30% on year in 2023, with a slight improvement in gross relative margin. It had posted EUR13.6 billion in net sales and a 49.1% gross margin for 2022.

Quilter said its assets under management were stable over its third quarter given steady markets and its usual slower summer activity. The wealth management company on Wednesday said its assets under management stood at 101.4 billion pounds ($123.55 billion) at Sept. 30, slightly lighter than the GBP101.7 billion it reported three months prior and ahead of the GBP96.9 billion a year prior. The London-listed group posted GBP1 million in core net inflows for the period, compared with GBP324 million in the third quarter of 2022. On a reported basis, it had net outflows of GBP118 million, compared with inflows of GBP236 million, it added. “Our open and unbundled business model positions us well from both a competitive and consumer duty perspective,” Chief Executive Steven Levin said.

Marshalls maintained its full-year expectations though revenue slipped slightly in the nine months to date. The concrete-products company said Wednesday that it delivered revenue of 528 million pounds ($643.3 million) in the nine months to Sept. 30, down from GBP544 million. On a like-for-like basis, revenue contracted 12%. The company said it took decisive actions to right-size the business and improve its agility, as summarized in its half-year results. These required the closure of a factory, reduced shifts and capacity in other facilities, and a reorganization of its commercial team, focused on simplifying the business. These actions were largely concluded by the end of the quarter and are projected to deliver annualized savings of around GBP9 million. “The board does not expect any material changes in current trading patterns during the fourth quarter of the year and therefore remains confident of achieving a result that is in-line with its expectations for 2023,” Marshalls said. It didn’t provide a specific figure.

Supreme PLC expects to report a record performance for the first half of its fiscal year and backed its recently upgraded full-year guidance. The U.K. consumer-products manufacturer said Wednesday that it expects to report revenue for the half year ended Sept. 30 of more than 100 million pounds ($121.8 million) compared with GBP67.6 million for the comparable period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization–which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–is expected to be not less than GBP15 million, compared with GBP8.1 million. The company attributed its performance to the distribution of Elf vaping products which has exceeded the board’s expectations and contributed about half of reported revenue and gross profit growth. The rest of its four other categories have all reported strong revenue and gross profit growth, it said. The company reiterated guidance given on Sept. 26 for revenue of between GBP195 million and GBP205 million for the year ending March 31 and for adjusted Ebitda of GBP28 million to GBP30 to million.

Town Centre Securities said Wednesday that it swung to a pretax loss, driven by property valuation falls and impairments on car parking assets. The property investment company reported a pretax loss for the year ended June 30 of 29.5 million pounds ($35.9 million) compared with a profit of GBP11.0 million a year ago. This principally reflects the adverse macroeconomic outlook driving a swing to a GBP21.0 million loss on investment property valuations, from a GBP3.5 million gain a year before. Gross revenue including service charges rose to GBP30.4 million from GBP28.1 million. The board declared a final dividend of 2.50 pence a share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 5.0 pence, flat on year. The company said following the success of its disposal program over the last few years, its attention has now turned to opportunities to selectively acquire assets and invest in its own development program. “The outlook for the business is positive, and we are confident that our approach to adapting and innovating positions us well to move with the changing times,” the company said.

Whitbread said pretax profit rose for the first half of fiscal 2024 as revenue increased on higher occupancy levels and food & beverage sales, and that it will conduct an additional 300 million pounds ($365.5 million) buyback program. The FTSE 100-listed hotel-and-restaurant company said that for the six months ended Sept. 1, pretax profit was GBP395.1 million pounds compared with a pretax profit of GBP307.4 million the year before. Adjusted pretax profit –a key metric that strips out exceptional and other one-off items–was GBP391.4 million compared with GBP271.9 million. Revenue rose to GBP1.57 billion from GBP1.35 billion and compared with consensus of GBP1.59 billion, taken from FactSet and based on three analysts forecasts. The board declared an interim dividend of 34.1 pence a share, up from 24.4 pence the year prior. The company, which owns the budget Premier Inn hotel chain, said first-half total U.K. accommodation sales were 15% ahead of the year-prior period. Whitbread raised its gross capital expenditure guidance for the year to GBP500 million to GBP550 million from a previous GBP400 million to GBP450 million range. It added this will be partially funded by expected disposal proceeds related to property transaction of between GBP50 million and GBP100 million.

Kin & Carta has agreed to a 203 million pound ($247.3 million) takeover by Kelvin UK Bidco, a new company indirectly owned by Apax Partners funds. The London-listed digital-transformation consultancy company said Wednesday that accepting shareholders will get 110 pence in cash for each share held. The price is a 41% premium to Tuesday’s closing price of 78.0 pence. “We believe the offer to acquire Kin and Carta by Apax Funds represents an excellent opportunity for the company to accelerate ambitious growth plans and scale the business, building on the acquisition and integration of leading data and technology companies, the development of valuable technology partnerships, and the creation of a strong portfolio of enterprise clients,” Chairman John Kerr said.

Segro said its contracted rental income fell in the third quarter of 2023 but that it is on track for a strong year of rent roll growth given demand for its products and its active asset management. The U.K. real-estate investment trust contracted 14 million pounds ($17.1 million) of new headline rent for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with GBP20 million a year earlier, it said on Wednesday. Total new contracted headline rent for the nine months to Sept. 30 came in at GBP58 million, down from GBP76 million the year before. The London-listed group said its occupancy rate during the nine first months of the year slipped to 95.3% compared with 96.7% for the same period the previous year, while customer retention rose to 81% from 76%. “Occupier market conditions remain supportive with demand in line with longer-term trends and supply constrained in our chosen sub-markets,” Chief Executive David Sleath said. “This is resulting in continued rental growth,” he added.

Svenska Handelsbanken posted a third-quarter net profit that beat expectations, driven by a sharp rise in net interest income. The Swedish bank reported Wednesday net profit of 7.95 billion Swedish kronor ($728.6 million) compared with SEK5.79 billion a year earlier and a FactSet consensus forecast of SEK6.75 billion. Net interest income rose to SEK12.18 billion from SEK9.58 billion, against a forecast of SEK11.93 billion. The bank said the slowdown in the economy and higher interest rates caused growth in deposit and lending volumes to level off, while competition for both deposits and lending business has become even stiffer as a result of higher interest rates. “Income has risen, despite the economic slowdown, and we have seen continued growth in both net interest income and our savings business,” Chief Executive Carina Akerstrom said. “Cost-efficiency measures have spurred further improvements in the cost-to-income ratio, and credit losses are extremely limited…the bank is in a good position to be able to continue reporting robust, stable growth and profitability,” Akerstrom added. Handelsbanken’s common equity Tier 1 ratio–a measure of financial strength–was 19.4%, up from 19.0%.

Infineon Technologies said it has signed a multi-year supply agreement for power semiconductors with Hyundai Motor and Kia lasting until 2030. The German chipmaker said Wednesday that it will build manufacturing capacity to supply silicon carbide and silicon semiconductors, and that the South Korean automakers will support it with financial contributions. The partnership will allow Hyundai and Kia to stabilize their supply of semiconductors while also consolidating their position in the global electric-vehicle market, said Heung-soo Kim, executive vice president and head of global strategy office at Hyundai.

Antofagasta backed its full-year copper production forecast after output rose sequentially in the third quarter. The Chilean copper miner said Wednesday that copper production was 173,600 metric tons in the quarter, up 16% from the preceding quarter. This was boosted by a 17% and 24% increase in output at its two main mine, Los Pelambres and Centinela, respectively. Gold production increased 31% on quarter to 57,400 ounces, while molybdenum production increased 33% to 3,200 tons. Net cash costs improved to $1.47 a pound from $1.96 a pound in the second quarter. Antofagasta continues to expect a full-year copper production of 640,000-670,000 tons. Its full-year estimates for cash cost and capital expenditure were also maintained.

Barratt Developments said its private reservation rate fell 10% at the start of fiscal 2024 in a difficult business environment, though it still expects to meet home completions guidance for the full year. The house builder said Wednesday that its order book stood at 2.36 billion pounds ($2.88 billion) as of Oct. 8, down from GBP3.60 billion a year earlier, representing 9,221 homes compared with 13,314. Net private reservations averaged 169 a week between July 1 and Oct. 8. This compares with 188 a year earlier, reflecting mortgage challenges faced by potential home buyers, as well as the absence of reservation activity driven by the U.K. government’s Help to Buy program, the FTSE 100 company said. The company said it has forward-sold 60% of its expected private-home completions for fiscal 2024, from 70% at the same time a year prior. The company said its full-year outlook remains uncertain, with availability and pricing of mortgages critical the market’s long-term health. “Against this backdrop, we are focused on driving revenue whilst continuing to manage build activity and carefully control our cost base,” Chief Executive David Thomas said. Based upon its completions to date, order book and market conditions, Barratt said it expects wholly-owned completions for fiscal 2024 to be meet prior guidance of 13,250-14,250 homes, below fiscal 2023’s 17,206 including joint ventures.