THE TREND
(Boursier.com) — This Monday session started quite strongly with the CAC40 up more than 1% to 7,453 points in the first exchanges. This progression has gradually eroded and only +0.4% remains at the end of the morning with a CAC40 which is around 7,400 points.
The morning optimism of investors was comparable to Friday’s record signed by the S&P 500 on Wall Street (4,839 pts), the first in two years, thanks to the performance of the technology sector. While the quarterly and annual results season continues on Wall Street, economic news will also be provided this week including, on Thursday, the first preliminary estimate of GDP for the fourth quarter (consensus at a rate of +2% according to Bloomberg, +2.5% for personal consumption expenditure).
Investors also have an appointment with the ECB this Thursday: if the central bank should maintain its monetary policy at its current level, investors will be attentive to Christine Lagarde’s statements, which could help clarify the date of the first rate cut .
RISING VALUES
* FDJ jumped 6% to 36.4 euros, boosted by the announcement of good annual results and the filing of a public purchase offer for the Swedish Kindred, owner of Unibet. The national lottery operator is offering SEK 130 per Kindred share, a premium of 24% on the target’s closing price on January 19, and an enterprise value of 2.6 billion euros. In terms of results, the FDJ reported 2023 turnover of 2.621 billion euros, up 6.5% (+2.8% on a comparable basis). Current EBITDA came to 675 million euros, representing a current EBITDA margin of 25.1%.
* Worldline (+3.6% to 13.6 euros) welcomed the entry into its capital of Agricultural credit as a long-term shareholder with a 7% stake, in accordance with the announcement made this morning by the banking group. Preparatory work for the creation of the announced joint venture between the Crédit Agricole group and Worldline is taking place in accordance with the announced schedule, with an operational launch in 2024, upon obtaining the regulatory authorizations necessary to start its activity.
* Lectra gains 8% to 32.6 euros. Oddo BHF moved to ‘outperform’ by targeting 36.5 euros.
* Airbus (+0.8%) remains at historic highs above 150 euros. Bernstein increased its target from 150 to 165 euros (‘outperform’) and RBC Capital from 140 to 145 euros (‘sector performance’).
FALLING VALUES
* JCDecaux fell by almost 6% to 17.1 euros. The selling pressure is linked to a rating from UBS which downgraded its recommendation on the advertising street furniture specialist to ‘neutral’.
* Prodways (-4.4% to 0.85 euros) announced today the cessation of its sales activity of small printers for jewelry. “The disappointing performance in 2023, mainly due to weak machine sales, leads the group to take measures to improve its results quickly and structurally,” comments Prodways.
* Only significant drop on the CAC40, Liquid air lost 1% to 171.3 euros. JP Morgan upgraded Air Liquide from 162 to 172 euros (‘neutral’) but Stifel downgraded the group to ‘hold’.