(Boursier.com) — THE TREND
The CAC 40 regained some ground this Friday (+0.54% to 7,957 points) after three sessions of decline, in the wake of the increase recorded in New York, helped by US employment indicators weaker than expected which could revive expectations of a rate cut by the Fed…
ECO AND CURRENCIES
The creation of non-agricultural jobs in the United States for the month of April 2024 thus stood at only 175,000, compared to a market consensus of 235,000 measured by FactSet, a Bloomberg consensus of 243,000 and a level of 315,000 one month previously. The previous reading for March was 303,000. The unemployment rate stood at 3.9%, compared to the consensus 3.8% and 3.8% a month earlier. The average hourly wage increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month, against +0.3% of consensus and +0.3% a month earlier – or +3.9% over one year against +4% of consensus. Job creation in the manufacturing sector was 8,000, compared to the FactSet consensus of 10,000. Job creation in the private sector stood at 167,000 against a consensus of 180,000. The labor force participation rate in April was in line with expectations at 62.7%.
The ISM US Services Index for April came in at 49.4, compared to a market consensus of 52 and a reading of 51.4 in March. The new orders index declined to 52.2 from 54.4 in March.
The euro climbs this evening to 1.0780/$. Oil is close to $83 per Brent. Bitcoin rises to $61,600.
RISING VALUES
JC Decaux (+9.5%): JCDecaux’s turnover in the 1st quarter of 2024 increased by +11.1%, +11% organically to reach €801.6 million, driven by continued strong growth in turnover digital business in all our business segments…
Atos : +7.7%. A surprise guest in the race for Atos assets? A few hours before the ‘deadline’ for the submission of offers for the former IT flagship, Bain Capital is reportedly monitoring the situation very closely. According to information from our colleagues at ‘Echos’, the private equity company, which controls Inetum (formerly GFI Informatique), could make an offer, alone or with a partner. An alliance with Daniel Kretinsky is notably mentioned, even if the daily specifies that it would “not be relevant at this stage”.
Signs of interest are becoming clearer around Atos, in great financial difficulty, since the State proposed last Sunday to protect the strategic activities of the digital services group. Once a French technological flagship integrated into the CAC 40, and led by the current European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, Atos has grown through acquisitions but has made a series of strategic errors against a backdrop of unstable governance. The group, which has been in discussions with its banks for several weeks to negotiate refinancing, said on Monday that it needed 1.1 billion euros in liquidity to finance its activity over the 2024-2025 period.
SMCP : +7% with Nanobiotix
Ayvens (+6%): margins on rental contracts and services amounted to €706.6 million in Q1, up 30.6% compared to Q1 2023, driven by the consolidation of LeasePlan and up 16% compared to Q4 2023, driven by the stabilization of underlying margins; the materialization in the income statement of synergies with LeasePlan and limited non-recurring items. The result of used vehicle sales per unit at 1,661 Euros in Q1 2024 excluding the impact of the reduction in depreciation costs and the Purchase Price Allocation (PPA), stable compared to Q4 2023 (1 706 EUR). The used vehicle sales result per unit amounts to EUR 626, including the impact of reduced depreciation costs and PPP. The cost/income ratio stands at 67.7%, an improvement compared to 68.4% in Q4 2023. The cost of risk is at 25 bps compared to 19 bps in Q4 2023. Net income (group share) at 187 .8 million euros, is up significantly compared to 28.2 million euros in Q4 2023, which was impacted by various non-recurring items. The return on tangible equity (ROTE) reached 9.6%. And the profit per share is 0.20 Euros.
Inventive : +5% followed by Altarea, Voltalia (+4%) with S30, Nexity and Planisware
Exail : +3.5% with Rexel, X-Fab, Cie des Alpes, Thermador, McPhy, Alten and Saint-Gobain
FNAC Darty : +2.5%, STM, Cie des Alpes, Edenred
Interparfums : Virbac, SopraSteria, K&B
Hermes : +2% followed by LVMH, Kering, Teleperformance, Neoen, Stellantis, Amundi, Wavestone
Maurel & Prom (+2%) announces the increase in the dividend proposal made by its Board of Directors and which will be submitted to the vote of shareholders at the General Meeting of May 28. During the publication of the annual results for the 2023 financial year on March 1, 2024, it was announced the proposal by the Board of Directors of a dividend of 0.23EUR per share for a total distributed amount of approximately $50 million. . This dividend proposal was similar to the dividend paid in July 2023 for the 2022 financial year. “Given the excellent financial health of the Group, as demonstrated by the positive net cash position at the end of March 2024, and the maintenance crude oil prices at a sustained level”, the Board of Directors decided to increase the dividend proposal to 0.30EUR per share, for a total distributed amount of approximately $64 million. “This remains compatible with the Group’s growth and acquisition strategy, which is once again confirmed by the Board of Directors,” indicates Maurel & Prom.
Remy Cointreau : +1.8% with Safran, OVH, URW
Agricultural credit (+1%) published a quarterly net profit higher than market expectations, up 55% year-on-year, to €1.9 billion, while the market consensus expected an amount close to €1.5 billion. The banking group’s revenues increased by 11.2% over the period to 6.81 billion euros, here also higher than the expectations of analysts who targeted 6.47 billion euros. Crédit Agricole also exceeded market expectations on its cost of credit risk, at 400 ME, or 105 ME less than expected. The capital and liquidity positions therefore appear very solid. The green bank announces annual results prospects one year ahead of its objectives for 2025, with an expected underlying group net profit of more than 6 billion euros in 2024.
FALLING VALUES
Clariane suffers profit taking, down -?5% after a good week of rebound
Societe Generale : The gain of more than 5% in the morning quickly turned into a loss of 5% for the stock! Investors initially welcomed the financial institution’s quarterly results, which were down but higher than market expectations, before concerns about the net interest margin in France took over.
Société Générale, whose financial health is largely dependent on the results of its retail banking activity in France, and which no longer publishes the figures for its activity in the country separately, underlined in the press release presenting the accounts that the hedges at short term and the transfer of part of demand deposits to financial savings and interest-bearing deposits weighed on the first quarter. Then, during the conference call organized with analysts, the financial director, Claire Dumas, mentioned a level of net interest margin in France at the bottom of the forecast range. Societe Generale had said it expected a net interest margin for 2024 at least equivalent to that of 2022 for France. “Indeed, the forecast was to rebound or to be at the 2022 level (…) We are today at the bottom of the range of this forecast and our projections,” declared the manager.
“The market was a little concerned about the net interest margin forecast which was fair but bullish before. I think that’s probably what caused the weakness,” Johann Scholtz told ‘Reuters’. analyst at Morningstar. Net interest margin – which measures the difference between interest received and interest paid on deposits – is a key indicator of bank profitability.
Jérôme Legras, managing partner and head of research at Axiome Investissements Alternatives, tells ‘Bloomberg’ that two problems emerged during the conference call. “The question relating to net interest income hedges is obviously not completely resolved… And the trajectory of the group’s capital is not clear and management has been reluctant to give precise indications on this subject “.
Great (-2.5%) revealed sales in decline and below analysts’ expectations in the first quarter, penalized by a shrinking construction market, as expected. The specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures thus revealed a turnover of 2.03 billion euros over the period, down 5.6% (-5.4% organically vs. 3.65% of consensus). The operating margin stands at 20.5% compared to 22.2% a year ago and a consensus of 20.8%. This level of profitability once again demonstrates Legrand’s ability to protect its margins in a context of falling turnover, with intact pricing power and solid cost control, underlines the group. Net profit fell by 16.5% to €275.9 million.
Nexans : -1.5% followed by CGG
AXA (-1.5%) published quarterly growth of 6% in its revenues, driven by the growth in commercial property and casualty insurance premiums, its flagship activity. Gross premiums written and other income thus amounted to 34 billion euros, after 31.8 billion euros a year ago. Commercial property and casualty insurance activity increased by 7% on a comparable basis, to 12.1 billion euros, helped by the dynamism of the American subsidiary AXA XL Insurance and positive price effects in Turkey and Europe. The two other main businesses of the number two insurance company in Europe, life and health insurance as well as personal insurance, also posted increased revenues. Axa’s solvency ratio stood at 229% at the end of March, or 2 percentage points more than at the end of 2023.
Bastide : -1% followed by Forvia, Chargeurs, Vetoquinol, Ubisoft, Scor, M6
Bonduelle (-0.6%): the turnover for the 3rd quarter (from January 1 to March 31, 2024) of the 2023-2024 financial year of the Group stood at 564.9 million euros, a decline compared to the previous financial year (572.2 million euros) of -1.3% in published data and -1% in comparable data. Over the first 9 months of the financial year, turnover stood at 1,778 million euros, down -2.1% in published data and up +2.8% in comparable data after taking taking into account exchange rate variations (significant depreciation of the ruble and weakening of the US dollar against the euro compared to the same period of the previous financial year).