THE TREND
(Boursier.com) — The CAC40 finally lost the ground gained yesterday, falling almost 1% at the end of the morning, back to around 7,120 points.
Wall Street ended quite sharply in the red and short-term US bond yields are now trading at an almost one-month high, the two-year, the most sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations and the inflation, having touched Thursday a highest since January 6 at 4.514%.
The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank, deemed it premature to claim victory in the fight against inflation, estimating that interest rates from the Fed could rise above 5% if high prices persist. The monthly consumer price figures in the United States will be published next Tuesday. In Europe, where the same questions about inflation, the economic situation and rates are fueling the debates, investors will follow this Friday the first estimate of British gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Vivid acceleration of the barrel of oil. Oil prices jumped late morning after Russia said it would cut oil production by 500,000 barrels a day next month in retaliation for Western sanctions. This drop, which is equivalent to about 5% of January production, had been mentioned several times by the Kremlin since the European Union and the G-7 began to discuss the price cap of Russian exports. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea (April deadline) gained 2.4% to $86.5 in London while the WTI (March delivery) gained 2.3% to $79.9 on the Nymex. The two benchmarks are posting a weekly gain of more than 8% at the moment and are thus erasing their losses from the start of the year.
RISING VALUES
* Leading the CAC40, TotalEnergies gained 3.3% to 59.8 euros, driven of course by the rise in barrel prices.
* Thales rises 3% to 122.7 euros, driven in particular by the good results of the Swedish Saab. The new attacks launched today by Russia in Ukraine also seem to have an effect on the defense equipment sector.
* Guerbet (+1.30% to 19.2 euros) published 2022 revenue of 753.3 million euros, up 2.9% compared to the 2021 financial year. This revenue includes a favorable foreign exchange effect mainly linked to the appreciation of the dollar over the period. At constant exchange rates, business was down slightly by -1.1% over the year.
FALLING VALUES
* Up this morning, L’Oreal now loses 2.5% to 369.3 euros. The cosmetics giant has unveiled solid annual results with operating profit up 21% to 7.46 billion euros for a turnover of 38.26 billion euros, up 18.5% as reported and 10.9% like-for-like. The group share of net income came to 5.7 billion euros, up 24.1%. The Board of Directors has decided to propose to the General Meeting of Shareholders on April 21, a dividend of 6 euros, an increase of 25%. “Aware of the current uncertainties, we are nevertheless still ambitious for the future, optimistic about the outlook for the beauty market and confident in our ability to outperform the market again and achieve, in 2023, another year of growth in the number revenue and results,” said Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal.
* Aperam (-5.6% to 34.3 euros) generated in 2022, an EBITDA of 1,076 million euros, including an exceptional loss of -53 million euros, compared to an EBITDA of 1,186 million euros in 2021, including an exceptional gain of 126 million euros. EBITDA reached 129 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 235 million euros in the third half of 2022 and 462 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2021, including an exceptional gain of 117 million euros. Net profit stands at 625 million euros in 2022, compared to 968 million euros in 2021. Basic earnings per share is 8.33 euros in 2022, compared to 12.21 euros in 2021.
* Akwell (-1.7% to 16.1 euros) recorded consolidated revenue for 2022 of 988.5 ME, up 7.1% and 11.3% at constant scope and exchange rates. During the last quarter of 2022, revenue of €249.4 million increased by +11.5% as reported and by +14.6% at constant scope and exchange rates. Akwel specifies that its annual turnover remains however down by around 10% with regard to the year 2019, the last financial year before the health crisis and the fall of the world automobile market.
* Bouygues lost 1.4% to 30.3 euros. The Paris Commercial Court has handed down a judgment which condemns Bouygues Telecom to pay Free Mobile 308 million euros in damages, and indicates that “the provisional execution is by right”, which according to Bouygues Telecom, is inaccurate in the case of proceedings initiated before January 1, 2020. Bouygues Telecom contests this judgment and considers that its bundled offers are legal. The court’s decision is part of a series of litigation launched by Free Mobile against its competitors and their offers grouping smartphones and mobile plans, called “with subsidy”. This case between Free Mobile and Bouygues Telecom concerns former offers from Bouygues Telecom. No amount has been provisioned in the latest accounts closed by Bouygues Telecom as of September 30, 2022. This judgment is not final and Bouygues Telecom is appealing to the Paris Court of Appeal.