(Boursier.com) — Second week of decline for the Paris market with a CAC40 which lost 1.17% to 6,930 points this Friday evening. A decline nevertheless limited given the still very strong tension in Ukraine and fears of a Russian invasion despite the multiple denials of the Putin camp. Hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis prevented a steeper decline as the US State Department announced that US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken had accepted an invitation to meet his Russian counterpart next week. , Sergei Lavrov, on condition that Russia does not invade Ukraine.
Apart from this dispute, investors are still speculating on the timing of Fed monetary tightening as St. Louis Fed President James Bullard reiterated his support for a 100 basis point rate hike. July to stem inflation and her Cleveland counterpart, Loretta Mester, said the pace of increases should be faster than in previous cycles of monetary tightening.
In this context, the euro/dollar parity is $1.133 this Friday evening, while bitcoin is trading around $40,000 on Coindesk. The barrel of Brent is consolidating slightly this week (-2%), at around $93.
Publications also continued at a sustained pace with, overall, solid results like those of Kering, Klépierre, Nexans and Carrefour. Hermès, which is struggling to meet the demand for its products, has on the other hand been sanctioned, as has Capgemini, which has all the difficulties in the world to retain its talents. The confirmation of Sophie Bellon, daughter of the founder of Sodexo, to the general management of the company was also little appreciated by investors.
VALUES
* Klepierre flames by almost 10%. The European leader in shopping centers has unveiled solid results for the 2021 financial year: Net current cash flow reached 2.18 euros per share (+10.6% compared to 2020), 9% higher than objective communicated in October 2021, with a strong recovery in retailer turnover since the reopening, at a level almost equivalent to that before the pandemic (95% of the 2019 level), up 10% compared to 2020. Klepierre proposes a cash distribution to shareholders of 1.70 euros per share, up 70% compared to 2020. The target net current cash flow per share for 2022 is between 2.30 euros and 2 .35 euros, an increase of between 9.5% and 11.9% compared to 2021.
* Kering jumped 7.6%, boosted by a very good performance in the fourth quarter. Over the period, the luxury group recorded organic growth of 31.9% with revenues of 5.4 billion euros. The organic growth of Gucci, the company’s flagship brand, notably reached 31.6%, where the market expected 18%, after rising only 3.8% in the third quarter due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 outbreak in Asia. Yves Saint Laurent also had an excellent quarter with growth of 47%, well above analysts’ expectations. For the full year 2021, Kering recorded record sales of 17.64 billion euros, up 35.2% like-for-like, while its current operating income also reached an unprecedented level , to 5.02 billion (+60%), showing a margin of 28.4%. Kering did not give forecasts for the 2022 financial year but said it was “perfectly positioned” to benefit from the recovery and confident in its medium and long-term growth potential…
* crossroads climbed 6% after a year 2021 marked by net free cash flow of a record amount of nearly 1.23 billion euros. Alexandre Bompard’s group, in the process of successfully reorganizing the business, generated current operating income last year up 7.7% (at constant exchange rates) to 2.272 billion euros, for turnover up by 2.3% (on a like-for-like basis), to 81.25 billion euros. In France, where Alexandre Bompard has made the revitalization of hypermarkets a priority, current operating income increased by 20% to 757 ME, for a turnover up by 1.8%. In an inflationary context, Carrefour has also announced that it will raise its cost reduction target to 2.7 billion euros for the period 2021-2023, against an initial target of 2.4 billion euros, after achieving savings of 930 million euros in 2021.
* Mercialys wins 5% after a convincing annual publication. The commercial real estate specialist generated a profit from operations (FFO) of 101.8 million euros last year, up 6.5% (+5% per share), well above the objective of at least a stable result. Organic rental growth was +3% in 2021, reflecting the contrasting impacts of the health crisis with a very strong recovery in EBITDA margin, from 74.8% in 2020 to 84.0% for 2021. Finally, triple net revalued net assets (NAV) according to EPRA standards fell by 4.5% to 17.6 euros per share but rose by +2.5% in the second half.
* Nexans gains 4.8%. The future ‘pure player’ of electrification has unveiled annual accounts that exceed its forecasts and analysts’ estimates as well as a solid guidance for 2022. For the current financial year, the cable manufacturer is targeting an Ebitda of between 500 and 540 million euros and a normative cash generation ranging from 150 to 200 ME. The group doubled its net income in 2021, to 164 ME, for a “standard” turnover (at constant copper and aluminum prices) of 6.054 billion euros, organic growth of + 8.3% . EBITDA came out at 463 ME and the EBITDA margin reached 7.6%, up 157 basis points compared to 2020. Management is proposing the payment of a dividend of 1.2 euros per share against 0.7 euros in 2020.
* Lagardere advance of 4.3% after having unveiled 2021 accounts in marked improvement even if the net result remains negative. Operating profit reached 249 million euros, an improvement of +404 ME over one year, for a turnover of 5.130 MdsE, up 15.6% on a consolidated basis and 18.6% on a like-for-like basis. Net income – Group share amounted to -101 ME, compared to -660 ME in 2020. Net debt was down to 1.535 MdE as of December 31, 2021, compared to an amount of 1.733 MdE a year earlier. In addition, Vivendi said Friday to consider raising the price of its takeover bid for Lagardère. The media giant announced in mid-December that it intended to file a takeover bid in February resulting from the acquisition of the shares sold by Amber Capital at a price of 24.10 euros per share.
* Societe Generale lost 10% on profit taking, after a favorable sequence linked to the excellent publication of the red and black bank.
* Ubisoft stumbles 9.4% after a very complicated start to the week. The video game publisher saw its IFRS15 revenue for the third quarter 2021-2022 fall by 31% (31.8% at constant exchange rates) to 665.9 ME, but it confirmed its objectives for the exercise which will end at the end of March. It is thus still targeting stable or slightly declining net sales as well as an annual non-IFRS operating profit of between 420 and 500 ME. “The fourth quarter will see very strong growth with very dynamic ‘back-catalog’ trends, high-quality new products, partnerships and substantial ‘post-launch’ content for many brands”, declared Frédérick Duguet, Director finance from Ubisoft.
* Michelin fell 8.5% after an annual publication broadly in line with market expectations. The Clermont group recorded operating income for the sectors of 2.97 billion euros (+58%) for the 2021 financial year for a turnover of 23.80 billion euros (+16.3%). Michelin expects its profit in 2022 to exceed “pre-pandemic” levels, i.e. operating profit from the sectors above 3.2 billion euros, against 3.01 billion euros made in 2019. “Some markets will be above 2019, but the original equipment market for vehicles may not yet return to 2019 levels,” said Yves Chapot, Michelin’s chief financial officer. The group is also aiming for structural free cash flow of more than €1.2 billion. Michelin will also propose the payment of a dividend of 4.5 euros per share against 2.3 euros for the previous year.
* Air France-KLM loses 8% after its annual publication. The airline nevertheless raised the bar in the fourth quarter while clearly exceeding analysts’ expectations. But the lack of visibility given a still uncertain health situation, particularly in Japan and China, and the uncertainty around the next strengthening of the group’s balance sheet weigh heavily on the title. High tensions in Ukraine also weighed on the airline industry this week.
* Sodexo gives up 6.3%. The group’s decision to confirm Sophie Bellon, daughter of the founder, as general manager, a position she had held on a provisional basis since last October, caused a stir on the stock market. Despite several external candidates, the Board believes that Sophie Bellon is best placed to lead Sodexo through this new stage in its history. Her in-depth knowledge of the activities of the Group, which she joined in 1994, was judged by the Board as a major asset. For Yi Zhong, analyst of Alphavalue, “the market reacts unfavorably because the direction of the group will remain under the influence of the family”. The Bellon family controls more than 75% of the Bellon SA holding company, which holds 42.8% of Sodexo’s capital and 57.2% of the voting rights.
* Capgemini fell back by 5.7% after the announcement of record annual results that exceeded its objectives. A decline which brings the decline of the title since January 1 to around 15, the rise in bond rates weighing heavily on the technology compartment for several weeks. In 2021, the SSII achieved an operating margin of 2.34 billion euros, up 25%, i.e. a rate of 12.9%, significantly higher than the minimum rate noted last October (12.7%), for a figure of business of 18.160 billion euros, up 14.6% in published data and 15.1% at constant exchange rates, slightly above the range revised upwards from +14.5% to +15%. Net income, Group share jumped 21% over one year to €1.157 billion. Despite these robust accounts, some observers note that the market was expecting even better on the back of Accenture’s stellar performance. The rise in the attrition rate is also of some concern.