(Boursier.com) — Despite a nice rebound this Friday, the CAC40 ended this shortened week with a decline of 1.67%, to 7,958 points this Friday evening. If the Fed deplored on Wednesday, at the end of its monetary policy meeting, a too slow reduction in inflation, while leaving the door open to rate cuts this year, the monthly employment report revealed this day has given new relief to the hearts of investors. Job creation was indeed significantly lower than expected in April, the unemployment rate increased and growth in average hourly wages continued to slow. Enough to once again hope for two rate reductions from the Federal Reserve this year, including the first in September.
“This report is probably the most favorable to the Fed in a long time, which should help investors regain confidence in the Fed’s ability to remain in control of inflation,” summarizes Florian Ielpo, head of macroeconomic research at Lombard Odier IM. “For those who want rates to be cut as soon as possible, this deceleration in the jobs market is good news, and the lower wage growth figure makes it even better news,” Bloomberg told Bloomberg. Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings. “However, one month does not constitute a trend, so the Fed will likely need a few months of this type of moderation coupled with better inflation numbers to bring rate cuts back into play sooner rather than later.”
In addition to the sixth consecutive status quo from the Fed and these data on American employment, the last few days have been marked by a new avalanche of corporate publications on both sides of the Atlantic. Apple made headlines by revealing slightly better than expected accounts and giving hope for a return to growth in the quarter started, but also and above all by announcing a disproportionate share buyback program of 110 billion dollars. Amazon also delivered results higher than the market consensus, thanks in particular to its cloud computing division which benefited from the enthusiasm around AI. In France, the accounts of Teleperformanceof Agricultural credit or even ArcelorMittal were praised. Conversely, Stellantis, Rexel were heckled. SES announced its merger with Intelsat while speculation around Atos is rife.
The week was also marked by the decline in oil prices. The global benchmark index, Brent (contract for July delivery) lost more than 6% to 83.4 dollars in London. An ounce of gold fell below $2,300. Finally, on the currency front, the euro rises to $1.0775 against the greenback and Bitcoin is trading around $61,500.
VALUES
* Atos takes up 13.7%. A few hours before the deadline for submitting 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. 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.
* Imerys jumped 13.1%, sought after a quarterly publication deemed reassuring by operators. Perceiving the first signs of recovery in demand, the world leader in mineral specialties for industry revealed a turnover of 926 ME in the first quarter, down 5.3% at constant scope and exchange rates, but higher than levels of the third and fourth quarter 2023. Adjusted EBITDA is 188 ME, +9.2% compared to last year, reflecting the positive contribution of commercial actions, savings measures and lower costs inputs as well as the good performance of joint ventures. The net current result, Group share, amounts to 83 ME, an increase of 23.6% over one year. Imerys anticipates a “sequential improvement in sales volumes over the coming quarters”.
* JC Decaux surge of 10.1%. The group revealed quarterly turnover up +11.1% (+11% organically) to €801.6 million, driven by continued strong growth in digital turnover in all segments. activity… JP Morgan sees the results of the outdoor communications specialist as a good start to the year, highlighting that organic turnover came in above expectations, while the outlook for the second quarter is also positive.
* Teleperformance progressed by 7.6%, driven by its quarterly publication and the maintenance of its 2024 objectives. The specialist in customer relationship outsourcing reported a turnover of €2.542 billion in the first quarter, an increase of +26.7% based on published data and +0.9% based on pro forma data compared to the same period last year. Performance superior to market expectations. Building on this 1st quarter well underway, the group confirmed its annual financial objectives with pro forma growth of between +2% and +4% and an increase in recurring EBITA margin of between +10 bps and +20 bps, on a pro forma basis, excluding Majorel integration costs.
* ArcelorMittal advance of 2.4%, sought after a good start to the year. Over the first three months of the year, the world’s second largest steelmaker recorded EBITDA of $1.96 billion, down 8.6%, against a consensus of $1.71 billion. Net profit fell 14% to $838 million for revenues down 12% to $16.28 billion. Crude steel production reached 14.4 million tonnes, +5.1%, against 13.56 million expected. Oddo BHF considers this publication very solid, particularly in North America and Brazil, two regions which allow the group to stand out from its European peers which are much more oriented towards a sluggish European market.
* Agricultural credit gained 1.5%, with operators welcoming the solid results of the green bank, driven by the performance of its corporate and investment banking activity, and particularly commercial banking. The group published a quarterly net profit of 1.9 billion euros, up 55% year-on-year, for revenues up 11.2% to 6.81 billion euros. The market was expecting a profit of €1.5 billion for revenues of €6.46 billion. 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.
Conversely, * HIS plunges 17.4% as the satellite operator moves closer to Intelsat. The Luxembourg-based group is offering $3.1 billion (2.8 billion euros) in cash and certain contingent value rights to take over its entire target. The combination will create a stronger multi-orbit operator with greater coverage, improved resilience, an expanded suite of solutions, enhanced resources to profitably invest in innovation and benefit from talent, expertise and history of the two companies, indicates SES.
* Stellantis drops by 11.5%. The manufacturer is suffering after cautious comments from management during the first quarter results presentation conference. Natalie Knight notably warned of pressure on margins in the first half due to weak automobile demand in Europe. “It is fair to say that the European market is one of the most difficult and I believe that to win you have to find the right balance between profitability and market share,” said the financial director. The group anticipates an adjusted operating margin of 10 to 11% for the half-year with industrial free cash flow clearly below the level of last year at the same time due to support for the transition to new products. Stellantis will take further cost-saving measures, notably on R&D, outbound logistics and labor to improve profitability in the second half as the company prepares to deploy new models, the executive stressed.
* AXA loses 7.5% after its quarterly publication. The insurer reported growth in revenue of 6%, on a like-for-like basis, to 33.97 billion euros, driven by the growth in premiums in commercial property and casualty insurance, its flagship activity. Gross premiums written and other income thus amounted to €34 billion, compared to €31.8 billion a year ago. Axa’s solvency ratio, a key measure of its financial health, stood at 229% at the end of March, two percentage points higher than at the end of 2023. Asked On the impact of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Chief Financial Officer Alban de Mailly Nesle said he expected the impact before tax and after reinsurance would not exceed $0.1 billion euros, based on a total impact of 1.5 billion euros for industry.
* TotalEnergies returns 4.7%, in the wake of crude oil prices.
* Aperam stumbles by 6.2% after its quarterly point. The steel group reported stable adjusted EBITDA over the first three months of the year at €55 million, compared to a consensus of €52.7 million. The net result, on the other hand, fell into the red at -19 ME, compared to a net profit of 70 ME in the 4th quarter of 2023, for revenues of 1.66 ME. Shipments totaled 585 thousand tonnes, up 8%. Management expects EBITDA in the 2nd quarter to improve compared to the 1st quarter and a lower net financial debt.
* Kering lost another 2.6%, still penalized by its recent profit warning. Given the deterioration in turnover trends, the group now anticipates a decline in its current operating income for the first half of 2024 of around 40 to 45% compared to the first half of 2023.