Σε στάση αναμονής οι επενδυτές στα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια

Με αρνητικό πρόσημο ολοκλήρωσαν την συνεδρίαση τα περισσότερα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια, με τις μετοχές του κλάδου λιανικού εμπορίου να πραγματοποιούν τα μεγαλύτερα κέρδη και αυτές του κλάδου της αυτοκινητοβιομηχανίας τις μεγαλύτερες απώλειες.

Πτωτικές τάσεις επικράτησαν σήμερα στα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια, με τους επενδυτές να τηρούν στάση αναμονής ενόψει της δημοσίευσης των πρακτικών της Fed από την τελευταία της συνεδρίαση στις αρχές του μήνα, αλλά και της ομιλίας της προέδρου της ΕΚΤ κ. Κριστίν Λαγκάρντ.

Η Γαλλία κινδυνεύει να παραβιάσει τις δημοσιονομικές κατευθύνσεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, ενώ η Γερμανία και η Ιταλία δεν φαίνεται να συμμορφώνονται πλήρως, ανέφεραν άτομα που γνωρίζουν το θέμα ενόψει της ετήσιας βαθμολογίας των Βρυξελλών.

Το προσχέδιο του καταλόγου των χωρών -που αναμένεται να δημοσιοποιηθεί την Τρίτη- αποτελεί μέρος της γνωμοδότησης της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής σχετικά με τους εθνικούς προϋπολογισμούς για το 2024, έτος κατά το οποίο το μπλοκ πρόκειται να επαναφέρει τους κανόνες για το χρέος και το έλλειμμα που ανεστάλησαν κατά τη διάρκεια της πανδημίας.(περισσότερα εδώ)

Η Γερμανία επέβαλε έκτακτο πάγωμα των δαπανών ως απάντηση στην απόφαση που εξέδωσε την περασμένη εβδομάδα το ανώτατο δικαστήριο της χώρας, βαθαίνοντας μια πρωτοφανή δημοσιονομική κρίση που έχει συγκλονίσει τη μεγαλύτερη οικονομία της Ευρώπης.

Η κυβέρνηση του καγκελάριου Όλαφ Σολτς αγωνίζεται να επεξεργαστεί τις συνέπειες της απόφασης του Συνταγματικού Δικαστηρίου, η οποία έθεσε υπό αμφισβήτηση εκατοντάδες δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ χρηματοδότησης σε ειδικά ταμεία που δεν αποτελούν μέρος του τακτικού ομοσπονδιακού προϋπολογισμού.(περισσότερα εδώ)

Εν μέσω των πρόσφατων στοιχείων που δείχνουν μείωση του πληθωρισμού σε χαμηλό διετίας, στο 4,6%, ο διοικητής της Τράπεζας της Αγγλίας Andrew Bailey εξέδωσε ένα προειδοποιητικό σημείωμα σχετικά με την κατάσταση της οικονομίας. Στις τελευταίες του δηλώσεις σήμερα, ο Bailey προειδοποίησε κατά των πρόωρων πανηγυρισμών για τη μείωση του πληθωρισμού, τονίζοντας ότι το τρέχον ποσοστό εξακολουθεί να υπερβαίνει τον στόχο της Τράπεζας του 2%.

Παρά τη θετική τάση που ευθυγραμμίζεται με τη δέσμευση του πρωθυπουργού Ρίσι Σουνάκ να μειώσει κατά το ήμισυ το αρχικό ποσοστό πληθωρισμού κοντά στο 11%, ο Μπέιλι επιμένει ότι τα υψηλά επιτόκια είναι ζωτικής σημασίας να διατηρηθούν προκειμένου να διατηρηθεί ο πληθωρισμός υπό έλεγχο. Η πιθανότητα περαιτέρω αυξήσεων των επιτοκίων ελλοχεύει, με το τρέχον επιτόκιο να βρίσκεται στο 5,25%, μια σημαντική αύξηση από το περσινό 0,1%.(περισσότερα εδώ)

Η αγορά εμπορικών ακινήτων της ευρωζώνης θα μπορούσε να αγωνιστεί για χρόνια, αφήνοντας εκτεθειμένα τα βιβλία τραπεζικών δανείων, τα επενδυτικά κεφάλαια και τους ασφαλιστές, δήλωσε την Τρίτη η Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα (ΕΚΤ).

Η οικονομική αδυναμία και τα υψηλά επιτόκια έχουν συμπιέσει τις τιμές των ακινήτων το τελευταίο έτος, μειώνοντας την κερδοφορία των κτηματομεσιτικών εταιρειών και αμφισβητώντας ακόμη και το επιχειρηματικό μοντέλο της αγοράς εμπορικών ακινήτων.(περισσότερα εδώ)

Οι πωλήσεις νέων αυτοκινήτων στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση αυξήθηκαν κατά 14,6% τον Οκτώβριο, εν μέρει χάρη στο μεγάλο άλμα στις πωλήσεις πλήρως ηλεκτρικών αυτοκινήτων, ενώ τα υβριδικά ηλεκτρικά οχήματα αντιστοιχούσαν σχεδόν σε τρία από τα 10 οχήματα που πωλούνται στο οικονομικό μπλοκ.

Οι πωλήσεις πλήρως ηλεκτρικών αυτοκινήτων αυξήθηκαν κατά 36,3% σε σχέση με το προηγούμενο έτος και οι πωλήσεις πλήρως υβριδικών αυτοκινήτων αυξήθηκαν σχεδόν κατά 39%, καθώς η ΕΕ κατέγραψε τον 15ο συνεχή μήνα αύξησης των πωλήσεων, ανακοίνωσε την Τρίτη η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση Κατασκευαστών Αυτοκινήτων (ACEA).(περισσότερα εδώ)

Ο δείκτης Stoxx 600 έκλεισε στις 455,86 μονάδες με οριακές απώλειες 0,09%.

Στην Φρανκφούρτη ο δείκτης DAX έκλεισε στις 15.907,15 μονάδες με οριακή άνοδο 0,04%, διατηρώντας το σήμα σε strong buy, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 15.996 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 15.640 μονάδες.

Μεγαλύτερη άνοδος

Μεγαλύτερη πτώση

Στο Λονδίνο ο δείκτης FTSE 100 έκλεισε στις 7.480 μονάδες με πτώση 0,22%, παραμένοντας με σήμα strong buy, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 7.528 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 7.263 μονάδες.

Μεγαλύτερη άνοδος

Μεγαλύτερη πτώση

Στο Παρίσι ο δείκτης CAC 40 έκλεισε στις 7.229,45 μονάδες με πτώση 0,24%, διατηρώντας το σήμα σε strong buy, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 7.371 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 7.173 μονάδες.

Μεγαλύτερη άνοδος

Μεγαλύτερη πτώση

Recommendations

Morphosys: Goldman Sachs’s research confirms his advice and maintains his neutral opinion on the stock. The target price remains unchanged at EUR 33.50.

Morphosys: James Gordon from JP Morgan retains his positive opinion on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price is still set at EUR 36.

Morphosys: Xian Deng from UBS retains his positive opinion on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price remains unchanged at EUR 47.

Bayer: Already positive, the research from UBS and its analyst Colin White still consider the stock as a Buy opportunity. The target price is unchanged and still at EUR 90.

Bayer: Analyst firm Jefferies has downgraded Bayer from “Buy” to “Hold” and lowered its price target from 60 to 37 euros. The stop of the most important test series of Asundexian makes divestments necessary, analyst Charlie Bentley wrote on Monday evening after the bad news on the anticoagulant. Strategically, this only buys time, but not enough resources to solve the pharmaceutical problem with the patent.

Bayer: Already positive, the research from Bernstein and its analyst Gunther Zechmann still consider the stock as a Buy opportunity. The target price remains set at EUR 60.

Εταιρικά νέα

Avon Protection said it swung to a pretax loss in its fiscal year, mainly dragged by impairment charges and a fall in revenue. The London-listed manufacturer of gas masks, helmets and body armor said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax loss of $20.2 million in the 52 weeks to Sept. 30 from a pretax profit of $6.0 million in fiscal 2022. The negative swing was driven impairments of $24.6 million, including $23.4 million charged to its head protection cash-generation unit, which also drove an operating loss of $12.6 million from a profit of $11.0 million. Revenue fell 7.5% to $243.8 million, in line with the company’s expectations, as weaker demand for respiratory protection offset growth in head protection demand. Orders received in the period fell 3.4% to $258.7 million, while the closing order book stood 12% higher at $135.8 million. Looking ahead, Avon targets high single-digit revenue growth, an operating margin close to 10%, net debt reduction, and a rebased dividend as part of its revised capital allocation policy. The company declared a final dividend of 15.3 cents, down from 30.6 cents, and in line with its policy.

AO World has raised profit expectations for fiscal 2024 and reported a swing to pretax profit in first half. The electrical retailer on Tuesday said that it currently expects pretax profit for the year to between 28 million pounds and 33 million pounds ($35 million and $41.3 million), compared with previous guidance of GBP28 million. Revenue, however, is expected to fall 10%. “Whilst mindful of the ongoing cost of living crisis and geopolitical events that give rise to uncertainty and volatility, we continue to optimise for profit outturn,” the company said. For the six months ended Sept. 30, AO reported a swing to pretax profit of GBP13.2 million compared with a loss of GBP11.6 million the same period a year ago. The company also reported an improvement of gross margin to 23.5% from 19.5%, as a result of the removal of unprofitable sales, the introduction of delivery charges on all deliveries and tight control on advertising and marketing costs. Revenue fell to GBP481.7 million from GBP546.3 million. “We look forward with cautious optimism, given the macro challenges, as we turn our attention back to delivering profitable revenue growth to drive our operational gearing,” founder and Chief Executive John Roberts added.

Knights Group Holdings said revenue and underlying pretax profit are expected to rise for the first half of its fiscal year, and that its performance in the period was in line with the board’s expectations. The U.K. legal and professional services business said Tuesday that this performance was supported by a return to low-single-digit organic growth despite a challenging backdrop in the housing and merger-and-acquisitions markets. The company said that for the half year ended Oct. 31, revenue was expected to be around 75.3 million pounds ($94.2 million), compared with GBP71.2 million the year before. Underlying pretax profit–a metric that strips out exceptional and other one-off items–was expected to rise 28% to around GBP11.5 million, it said. “Entering the second half, we are encouraged by the group’s strong performance, as we continue to attract high quality, talented professionals, and monitor an attractive and growing pipeline of potential acquisitions for the group,” Chief Executive David Beech said.

Air Liquide (Paris:AI) and Sasol have signed new Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with the global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power, for the long-term supply of a capacity of 97.5 MW of renewable power to Sasol’s Secunda site, in South Africa, where Air Liquide operates the biggest oxygen production site in the world. This is the third set of PPAs signed by Air Liquide and Sasol, after those announced in the first quarter of 2023 with Enel Green Power and TotalEnergies with its partner Mulilo. Together, these PPAs represent a total renewable power capacity of around 580 MW. For Air Liquide, these contracts will contribute to the targeted reduction by 30% to 40% of the CO(2) emissions associated with oxygen production in Secunda by 2031.

Within the framework of these PPAs with Air Liquide and Sasol, Mainstream will create a local company with strong socio-economic development commitments which will build a solar farm located in the Free State province. This renewable energy production facility is scheduled to be operational in 2025.

Nicolas Poirot, Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Middle East & India hub, said: “Together with our long-term partner Sasol, we have secured massive amounts of renewable energy generation capacity. This will significantly contribute to the decarbonisation of our operations in Secunda and actively support the development of renewable energies in South Africa, for the benefit of the South African electrical system and ultimately of the South African society in the context of a Just Transition. In line with Air Liquide’s ADVANCE strategic plan, these PPAs also demonstrate the Group’s capacity to collaborate with its customers to provide solutions which contribute to the decarbonization of its assets as well as of its clients.”

Air Liquide acquired Sasol’s 16 oxygen production units in Secunda and has been operating them since June 2021, in the framework of a long-term supply contract with its partner. Including another Air Separation Unit (ASU) it already operated for Sasol, Air Liquide operates a total of 17 ASUs in Secunda, with a total capacity of 47,000 tonnes/day of oxygen. Air Liquide plans to reduce by 30% to 40% the CO(2) emissions (Scope 2) arising from the 16 oxygen production units it acquired from Sasol through a multi-year investment and modernization plan and a steep increase of the site’s procurement of renewable energies.

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 73 countries with approximately 67,100 employees and serves more than 3.9 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902.

Taking action today while preparing the future is at the heart of Air Liquide’s strategy. With ADVANCE, its strategic plan for 2025, Air Liquide is targeting a global performance, combining financial and extra-financial dimensions. Positioned on new markets, the Group benefits from major assets such as its business model combining resilience and strength, its ability to innovate and its technological expertise. The Group develops solutions contributing to climate and the energy transition–particularly with hydrogen–and takes action to progress in areas of healthcare, digital and high technologies.

Air Liquide’s revenue amounted to more than 29.9 billion euros in 2022. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, CAC 40 ESG, EURO STOXX 50, FTSE4Good and DJSI Europe indexes.

Airbus received an order for 60 A320neo family aircraft from SMBC Aviation Capital for an undisclosed sum. The order brings the Ireland-based leasing company’s total number of aircraft purchased directly from Airbus to nearly 340, the European plane maker said Tuesday. “This transaction…comes amidst the continuing strong recovery in air travel worldwide,” SMBC Aviation Capital’s Chief Executive Peter Barrett said. Barrett said he anticipates even greater demand for aircraft such as the A320neo and the A321neo in the years ahead. SMBC Aviation Capital’s shareholders include Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

Telecom Plus said pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2024 rose on the back of double-digit customer growth, that it remains confident of meeting full year expectations, and will launch an initial 10 million-pound ($12.5 million) share buyback in second half. The U.K. utility company–trading as Utility Warehouse–said Tuesday that pretax profit for the six months ended Sept. 30 was GBP35.7 million compared with GBP29.1 million for the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 57% to GBP883.6 million, driven by a strong partnership strategy and 62,500 additional customers for UW during the first half, the company said. The board lifted its interim dividend to 36 pence from 34 pence. Meanwhile, Andrew Lindsay will step down as Co-CEO after serving the company for 16 years, Telecom Plus said. Stuart Burnett will become sole CEO from the annual general meeting next summer. “We are fast approaching the 1 million-customer milestone, and our current rate of growth places us firmly on track to double the size of the business by welcoming a further million customers to UW over the medium term,” Co-Chief Executive Officer Stuart Burnett said.

Workspace Group swung to a pretax loss after property valuation losses, though trading profit and revenue rose. The office-rental company said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax loss of 147.9 million pounds ($185 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30, from a profit of GBP35.8 million a year earlier. The company recorded a property valuation deficit of GBP170.8 million, from a benefit of GBP8.1 million a year prior. Revenue was GBP90.7 million, up from GBP82.3 million. Net rental income increased 9% to GBP61.0 million on strong demand and improved pricing, it said. Trading profit–one of the company’s preferred metrics–rose to GBP49.4 million from GBP44.7 million. Property valuation was GBP2.505 billion, a fall of 8.6% from the end of March and 12.5% on year. EPRA net tangible assets a share slipped 10% from the end of fiscal 2023 to 832 pence. “We go into the second half of the year with good momentum. Our scalable operating platform gives us a competitive advantage and we have a clear pathway to unlock near and long-term income growth,” Chief Executive Graham Clemett said. The company declared an interim dividend of 9.0 pence a share, up from 8.4 pence a year before.

CRH lifted its outlook after delivering earnings and sales growth in the third quarter of the year. The building-materials supplier said Tuesday that it now expects to deliver earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $6.3 billion for 2023, up from $5.6 billion a year before and prior guidance at the half-year point of $6.2 billion. The company also said it will increase its dividend by 5% for the full year to $1.33, and expects pretax profit to be well ahead of 2022’s $3.5 billion. CRH expects strong underlying demand in its key end-use markets in 2024, underpinned by significant infrastructure investment and increased re-industrialization activity, notwithstanding some macroeconomic uncertainty. For the third quarter, the company delivered an 8% increase in sales to $26.3 billion, and Ebitda improved by 14% to $4.8 billion. CRH said this reflects positive momentum and strong commercial progress across its key markets. “Our integrated solutions strategy continues to deliver superior growth, while our strong cash generation and disciplined approach to capital allocation enables us to create additional value for our shareholders,” Chief Executive Albert Manifold said.