Επέστρεψε η ευφορία στα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια

Ανοδικές τάσεις επικράτησαν σήμερα στα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια, στον απόηχο της χθεσινής ανακοίνωσης των επιτοκίων στις ΗΠΑ, αλλά και της σημερινής απόφασης της ΕΚΤ να αυξήσει τα επιτόκια της κατά 0,25%, με τους επενδυτές να προεξοφλούν τερματισμό της αύξησης των επιτοκίων από τον ερχόμενο Σεπτέμβριο και στις δύο πλευρές του ατλαντικού, παραβλέποντας τα μικτά εταιρικά αποτελέσματα που ανακοινώθηκαν σήμερα, αλλά και τις δηλώσεις της επικεφαλής της ΕΚΤ κ. Κριστίν Λαγκάρντ, ότι η οικονομία της ευρωζώνης σε βραχυπρόθεσμο ορίζοντα θα παραμείνει αδύναμη.

Ο δείκτης Eurostoxx 600 έκλεισε στις 471,64 μονάδες με άνοδο 1,33%.

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Στην Φρανκφούρτη ο δείκτης DAX έκλεισε στις 16.407,45 μονάδες με άνοδο 1,71%, διατηρώντας το σήμα strong buy, πραγματοποιώντας νέο ιστορικό ρεκόρ, ενδοσυνεδριακό υψηλό στις 16.411,45 μονάδες, με την στήριξη να βρίσκεται στις 15.143 μονάδες.

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Στο Λονδίνο ο δείκτης FTSE 100 έκλεισε στις 7.698,21 μονάδες με άνοδο 0,28%, παραμένοντας με σήμα strong buy, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 7.911 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 6.972 μονάδες.

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Στο Παρίσι ο δείκτης CAC 40 έκλεισε στις 7.465,24 μονάδες με άνοδο 2,05%, μετατρέποντας το σήμα από neutral σε strong buy, με την αντίσταση να βρίσκεται στις 7.599 μονάδες και την στήριξη στις 6.931 μονάδες.

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Εταιρικά νέα

BT Group on Thursday backed its full-year guidance and said revenue and adjusted Ebitda in its fiscal first quarter rose as the flow through from revenue and continued strong cost control more than offset cost inflation. The British telecommunications group said pretax profit for the three months to June 30 was 536 million pounds ($693.7 million) compared with GBP482 million for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization–which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–for the quarter was GBP2.03 billion compared with GBP1.95 billion a year before. Analysts had forecast an adjusted Ebitda of GBP2.0 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus. Adjusted revenue for the quarter was GBP5.16 billion compared with GBP4.98 billion. Analysts had forecast revenue for the period of GBP5.12 billion. “We’ve made a strong start to the year, in what remains a very competitive market,” Chief Executive Philip Jansen said. “While there remains much to do it’s clear that our strategy is working,” he added. The company still sees revenue and Ebitda growth in its fiscal full year on a pro-forma basis, capital expenditure excluding spectrum of GBP5.0 billion-GBP5.1 billion, and normalized free cash flow of GBP1.0 billion-GBP1.2 billion.

Centrica on Thursday reported a swing to net profit on a strong operational performance for the first half, and extended its share buyback program by a further 450 million pounds ($582.4 million). The U.K. energy company, which owns British Gas, made a net profit of GBP4.15 billion pounds in the six-month period, compared with a net loss of GBP864 million a year before. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to GBP2.30 billion from GBP1.18 billion. Revenue rose to GBP16.515 billion from GBP10.32 billion. The board declared an interim dividend of 1.33 pence, up on 1.0 pence a year prior. Centrica extended its share buyback program by GBP450 million, to GBP1.0 billion, to be completed over the next 12 months. The company expects its 2023 full-year adjusted earnings and free cash flow to be heavily weighted toward the first half, with seasonality driving lower underlying profits in the second half.

Airtel Africa said Thursday that it swung to a pretax loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 after booking higher costs, and that their results had been affected by foreign exchange headwinds stemming from the devaluation of the Nigerian naira in June. The London-listed, Africa-focused telecom and mobile money-services provider said it expected the foreign exchange reforms to improve liquidity over time, and that continuing to reduce its foreign exchange exposure will remain a focus area for the group. The company said that this will limit the effect of any future devaluation. For the quarter ended June 30 pretax loss was $221 million compared with a pretax profit of $276 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2023, the company said. Airtel also reported a swing to a loss after tax of $151 million, from a profit after tax figure of $175 million. Airtel said this was driven by a foreign exchange loss of $471 million recorded in finance cost before tax, and $371 million after tax due to the devaluation of Nigeria’s currency. Revenue rose to $1.38 billion compared with $1.26 billion a year prior.

TotalEnergies posted a profit below analysts’ expectations in a second quarter marked by a softening oil and gas environment, and said it plans to buy back $2 billion worth of shares in the third quarter. The French oil major said Thursday that its net profit had slipped to $4.09 billion from $5.69 billion in last year’s second quarter. Adjusted net profit–one of TotalEnergies’ most closely watched metrics by analysts and investors–plunged 49% to $4.96 billion. Analysts had forecast an adjusted net profit of $5.12 billion, according to FactSet. TotalEnergies said its board of directors had approved a second interim dividend of EUR0.74 a share, up 7.25% on year. Sales fell to $56.27 billion from $74.77 billion. Hydrocarbon production increased 2% on year to 2.47 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, in line with TotalEnergies’ forecast of around 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. For the current quarter, the group is forecasting hydrocarbon production of around 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. For the year, TotalEnergies confirmed its guidance for net investments between $16 billion and $18 billion.

Schroders on Thursday reported a fall in pretax profit for the first half of 2023 as its assets under management declined over the period given negative market performance. The asset manager posted pretax profit of 275.6 million pounds ($356.7 million) for the six months ended June 30, down from GBP312.8 million in the same period the previous year. Its revenue rose to GBP1.48 billion from GBP1.43 billion, it said. The London-listed company’s total assets under management stood at GBP726.1 billion at June 30 given negative markets, foreign exchange and investment performance, compared with GBP737.5 billion six months prior. It generated GBP5.7 billion in net new business excluding joint ventures and associates in the period, it added. The group declared an interim dividend of 6.5 pence a share, in line with the previous year. “Our resilient strategy, diversified capabilities and global footprint give us continued confidence in the long-term outlook for the business,” Chief Executive Peter Harrison said.

VAT Group on Thursday said it has appointed Urs Gantner as new chief executive, replacing Mike Allison, and reported lower first-half net profit and sales due to weaker demand in the semiconductor industry. The Swiss vacuum-valves manufacturer said Gantner, currently executive vice president of VAT’s semiconductor business, will become CEO at the beginning of 2024. Allison in February said he planned to step down by the end of 2023. VAT posted first-half net profit of 84.2 million Swiss francs ($97.8 million), compared with CHF147.6 million in the year-earlier period. Earnings before interest and taxes declined to CHF111.7 million from CHF172.1 million. The company reported sales for the second quarter of CHF221 million, down from CHF285.9 million during the same months of 2022. This was in line with VAT’s expectations, it said.

A slowdown in the semiconductor industry, which is the company’s largest end market, led to lower orders, sales and profitability, it said. For 2023 as a whole, VAT maintains its outlook and sees sales and Ebitda below the previous year. Ebitda margin is seen below the range of 32% to 37%. Both net profit and free cash flow are also estimated to be lower than in 2022.

Air Liquide said Thursday that first-half profit beat expectations, despite revenue dipping on year, including at its key gas-and-services business. The French industrial-gases company said net profit for the first six months of the year was EUR1.72 billion ($1.91 billion), up from the EUR1.30 billion it posted in the same period of last year. Revenue, however, declined by 1.6% to EUR13.98 billion, with gas-and-services revenue, which counts 96% of group revenue, slipping 1.4% to EUR13.41 billion. Overall revenue for the second quarter fell 7.0% on year to EUR6.81 billion. The results nevertheless topped first-half expectations of EUR1.59 billion in net profit and EUR13.95 billion in revenue, according to consensus provided by the company. Meanwhile, the Paris-based company said its investment momentum was strong, with a EUR3.5 billion project backlog.

Casino Guichard-Perrachon said its debt pile had grown in the second quarter of the year as talks between the embattled French grocer and a consortium led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky to restructure its finances continue. Casino said Thursday that net debt had come in at 6.1 billion euros ($6.76 billion) at the end of June, up from EUR5.1 billion at the end of March. For months, Casino has been grappling with stubbornly high debt and sliding market share in its home country. Earlier this year, the group entered talks with creditors to ensure it had enough liquidity to keep operations running. In the second quarter, net sales fell 6.6% to EUR5.53 billion. In the first half, Casino’s net loss widened to EUR2.23 billion, while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization came in at EUR369 million compared with EUR781 million in last year’s first half. The company reiterated that it could be in default under its revolving credit line by the end of August, “which would result in a cross-default under part of its financial indebtedness at the level of its operating subsidiaries.”

Volkswagen Group on Thursday reported higher revenue but lower aftertax earnings for the second quarter, and confirmed its 2023 outlook. The German car maker said aftertax profit was 3.79 billion euros ($4.20 billion), compared with EUR3.91 billion in the second quarter of last year. Pretax earnings were EUR5.45 billion, up from EUR5.14 billion, and revenue grew to EUR80.06 billion from EUR69.50 billion. Operating profit reached EUR5.60 billion, up EUR4.49 billion from a year before, with a margin of 7%. The company’s margin was 6.8% in the second quarter of 2022. Volkswagen confirmed its overall guidance for the full year, but lowered its deliveries target to between 9 million and 9.5 million vehicles from 9.5 million. The car giant is aiming for revenue growth between 10% and 15% and an operating return on sales between 7.5% and 8.5% “As anticipated, supply chain disruptions have continued to ease in H1 2023, with pressure shifting from semiconductor shortages to transportation and logistics delays,” the company said. “[The second half] should be supported by lower raw material costs and gradually easing logistical bottlenecks.”

ArcelorMittal reported lower second-quarter earnings Thursday after a decline in steel shipments and lower average steel selling prices. The Luxembourg-based steelmaker made $1.86 billion in net profit for the quarter, compared with $3.92 billion in the prior year, on revenue that fell 16% to $18.61 billion. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came to $2.60 billion, a 49% decrease on year. The result compares with analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion in net profit and $2.49 billion in Ebitda for the quarter, according to a company-provided consensus. ArcelorMittal’s sales were affected by lower steel shipment volumes and by lower average steel selling prices which fell 16% in the quarter compared with the prior year, it said. The company shipped 14.2 million metric tons of steel in the quarter, compared with 14.5 million tons in the first quarter of the year, and produced 14.7 million tons of crude steel compared with 14.5 million tons in the first quarter. Steel shipments fell 1.2% compared with the second quarter of last year, the company said.

Anglo American said Thursday that earnings slipped in the first half of the year as macro headwinds weighed on the results, but it remains on track to meet full-year production views. The multinational mining company achieved underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $5.11 billion in the half year, down from $8.70 billion in the first half of 2022, largely due to weaker product prices and a 1% unit cost increase. This missed market views of $5.28 billion, based on an analyst poll taken from FactSet. Revenue fell to $15.67 billion from $18.11 billion, beating the $15.45 billion consensus. Net profit fell 66% to $1.26 billion, compared with consensus’ $1.455 billion, while earnings per share fell to $1.04 from $3.30, compared with consensus of $1.30. The FTSE 100-listed company declared an interim dividend of $0.55, in line with its payout policy. The company’s new Peruvian copper mine Quellaveco is ramping up strongly and is on track to produce 310,000-350,000 metric tons of copper in 2023, the mining group said. “We are on track to deliver on our full year production guidance, which includes a significant anticipated step-up in volumes in the second half,” Chief Executive Duncan Wanblad said.

Electricite de France swung to a profit in the first half of the year as earnings were helped by higher electricity selling prices. The French state-owned utility company said Thursday that it made 5.81 billion euros ($6.44 billion) in profit for the six months of the year compared with a loss of EUR5.29 billion in the same period of 2022, on sales that rose 14% to EUR75.5 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to EUR16.11 billion from EUR2.67 billion in the same period last year. The company said its increase in Ebitda was supported by higher electricity sale prices in the first half of 2023, though it said that costs to cover network losses were driven higher by market prices and that its operating expenses also increased due to inflation. The company said favorable pricing in France had a estimated pricing effect estimated at EUR10 billion. “The first half of 2023 marks the company’s return to a good operational performance in a favourable context of price, after a year 2022 impacted by industrial difficulties and unfavourable effects of an exceptional regulation,” Chief Executive Luc Remont said.

Iberdrola on Thursday raised its profit outlook for 2023 and said that net profit grew in the first half of the year on the back of higher revenue that allowed it to offset a rise in operating costs. The Spanish utility company said it now expects full-year net profit growth in a range of high single percentage digits, having previously expected an increase of mid-to-high percentage digits. The company said it sees additional upside in the second half after what it called a strong performance in the first half. For the first half of the year, Iberdrola’s net profit came in at 2.52 billion euros ($2.79 billion), up from EUR2.08 billion a year earlier, it said. Revenue grew to EUR26.26 billion from the EUR24.43 billion in the same period last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 17% to EUR7.56 billion, which the company attributed to strong performances in the U.K. and Europe.

Shell said Thursday that second-quarter earnings fell, and launched a $3 billion share buyback program. The multinational energy major said adjusted earnings fell to $5.07 billion in the quarter, down from the record-high $11.47 billion in the same period a year prior, and missing market consensus of $5.58 billion, polled from 23 analyst-estimates by Vara Research. Cash flow from operations–measure of the cash a company generates from normal business operations–rose 7% to $15.13 billion, above market consensus’ $14.62 billion. Net income dropped 64% to $3.13 billion. The FTSE 100 group said it has launched a $3 billion buyback program set to complete by the third-quarter results announcement. Shell’s second-quarter integrated gas production was 985,000 oil-equivalent barrels a day, while liquefied natural gas volumes were 7.2 million tons, and upstream production was 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. This was in line with Shell’s expectations.

Nestle on Thursday slightly raised its outlook for sales growth this year, after first-half revenue grew on pricing effects. The Swiss consumer-goods giant booked sales of 46.29 billion Swiss francs ($53.78 billion) in the first six months of the year, 8.7% higher organically than in the same period last year. This was just shy of analysts’ expectations of CHF46.68 billion, according to a consensus compiled by the company. Higher pricing was behind the sales growth, which slowed only slightly in the second quarter from the first, as the company raised prices to offset higher costs. The group made a trading operating profit of CHF7.90 billion, 2.9% higher on year, with a margin that rose to 17.1%. Looking ahead, the maker of Kit-Kat chocolate bars and Nespresso coffee said it now expects organic sales growth of 7%-8% this year compared with a previous range of 6%-8%. Nestle still expects an underlying trading operating margin of 17%-17.5%. The company expects volume growth to add to the top line as well as pricing in the second half, Chief Executive Mark Schneider said. “At-home consumption post-Covid has now normalized, removing a growth drag on some of our categories,” Schneider said, adding that out-of-home channels continue to grow apace.

Mercedes-Benz on Thursday reported higher earnings and sales in the second quarter after raising its guidance late Wednesday. The German luxury-vehicle company said revenue rose to 38.24 billion euros ($42.39 billion) in the quarter from EUR36.44 billion in the second quarter of last year. Earnings before interest and taxes was EUR4.99 billion compared with EUR4.62 billion a year prior. Mercedes-Benz’s cars division reported a return on sales of 13.5% compared with 14.2% last year, while the vans business had a return on sales of 15.5%, up from 10.1%. On Wednesday, the company raised its group EBIT guidance to be level with last year, compared with a previous forecast of a slight decline. The company’s van business now expects to see an adjusted return on sales of 13% to 15%, up from a prior forecast for 11% to 13% growth. The company said it expects the economy to remain somewhat subdued in the second half with above-average inflation in some regions, which will weigh on consumers. But energy prices are expected to remain lower, and the supply chain situation has improved, Mercedes-Benz said.

Renault maintained guidance for the year that it raised last month after profit and revenue jumped in the first half. The French car maker on Thursday posted revenue of 26.85 billion euros ($29.76 billion), up 27% on year. “These results are the outcome of our continuous efforts to reduce costs over the last three years and of our strategy focused on value combined with the first benefits of an unprecedented product offensive. Our fundamentals have never been as sound and robust,” said Chief Executive Luca de Meo. The group reported a net profit of EUR2.09 billion compared with a EUR1.37 billion loss in last year’s first half. Renault’s operating margin as a percentage of revenue–its preferred measure of profitability–climbed to 7.6% from 4.6%. Free cash flow–another closely watched metric that shows how much cash comes into or goes out of a business–surged to EUR1.78 billion from EUR956 million. Renault had expected an operating margin above 7%, and free cash flow of about EUR1.5 billion for the first half. For the year, the group is still targeting an operating margin between 7% and 8%, and free cash flow of at least EUR2.5 billion.

BNP Paribas posted lower reported second-quarter earnings Thursday and said it will buy back shares starting next month. The French bank said it made 2.81 billion euros ($3.12 billion) in reported quarterly net profit, compared with profit of EUR3.09 billion in the year-earlier period, which the bank restated in May after the sale of Bank of the West. It said reported revenue fell 1.5% to EUR11.36 billion. The result compared with expectations of EUR11.2 billion in quarterly revenue and EUR2.42 billion in quarterly net profit, according to analysts polled by FactSet. The bank said its quarterly result was weighed by EUR786 million of pretax exceptional and extraordinary items, composed of provisions for litigation, restructuring costs and adjustments related to changes enacted by the European Central Bank to targeted longer-term refinancing operations. Excluding these items, quarterly net profit rose 11% to EUR3.53 billion and revenue increased 3.3% to EUR11.92 billion, BNP said. The bank also said it received authorization to launch its second EUR2.5 billion share buyback tranche beginning in August.

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