(Boursier.com) — The CAC40 ends this week marked by multiple monetary policy decisions without much change: over five sessions, the index lost 0.15% to 8,152 points after reaching a new historic high on Thursday at 8,229 .25 points. The main event of the last few days was logically the Fed’s FOMC meeting. Unsurprisingly, the Federal Reserve opted for the status quo on its rates but it also maintained its ‘accommodative’ stance regarding further rate cuts this year, despite recent data being a little less positive than expected regarding inflation. The Fed therefore still anticipates three rate cuts of a quarter of a point later in 2024, to the delight of investors.
In Europe, the Swiss National Bank, for its part, surprised by reducing its rates by 25 points, the SNB thus becoming the first of the G10 CBs to reduce its rates in 2024. The Central Bank of Norway and the Bank of England have, They have hinted at a relaxation of their monetary policy in the coming months.
The week was also marked by the clear consolidation of Bitcoin after its meteoric rise. The famous cryptocurrency is moving around $63,450 on CoinDesk, and thus displays a decline of more than 10% compared to its record last week, at $73,798. The ounce of gold, for its part, reached a new high at more than $2,200. On the oil market, black gold prices are stabilizing with a barrel of Brent at $85.6. Finally, on the currency front, the euro fell back below $1.085 against the greenback.
On the values front, Atos continued to generate a lot of ink, Beneteau’s results were praised while Kering issued a warning on its sales, far from going unnoticed.
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VALUES
* Vallourec jumped 9%, still sought after the announcement of the arrival ofArcelorMittal around the table. The steel giant concluded an agreement last week to purchase the stake of 28.4% of the voting rights and 27.5% of the capital held by Apollo in Vallourec (65,243,206 shares), at a price of 14 .64 euros per share, for a total purchase amount of 955 million euros.
* Beneteau rose 8.6%, investors having welcomed the boater’s fine publication. The nautical group achieved 246.1 million euros in current operating profit (+56%) and a double-digit net margin in 2023. The value growth strategy is bearing fruit. It strengthens the Group’s resilience and allows it to place operational profitability in a range well above what it was before Covid. Net profit, group share, amounted to €185 million for the 2023 financial year, an increase of +79%. Free Cash Flow generated by the Group before application of IFRS5 standards amounted to 81.6 ME (including 9.5 ME for the Housing division) compared to 28.3 ME in 2022.
* Covivio climbs 7.7%, supported by several analyst notes. HSBC moved to ‘buy’ on the real estate group, targeting 52 euros and Kepler Cheuvreux raised its recommendation to ‘buy’ with a target raised from 47 to 50 euros.
* Eramet advance of 7.2%. A push to be linked to the difficulties encountered by GEMCO, the group’s main competitor in manganese, and to the presentation of the first measures for the nickel industry in New Caledonia. The French government has urged authorities and three ailing nickel plant operators on the Pacific island to agree on a recovery plan by the end of the month, the finance minister said on Thursday Bruno Le Maire.
* Alstom takes 6.5% despite its exit from the CAC40 on Monday. Deutsche Bank raised its recommendation on the issue to ‘buy’, estimating that “the worst is now behind the group”. Management will provide more details in May on its debt reduction program, which could create a ‘short squeeze’ while the stock is one of the most sold in Europe, says the broker.
* Renault gains 6.2%. Further strong growth in the European automobile market in February. Sales of new cars in the EU rose 10.1% to 883,608 units, data from the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers showed. Among the region’s four main markets, France (+13%) and Italy (+12.8%) experienced double-digit growth, followed by Spain (+9.9%) and Germany (+5.4%).
Conversely, * Atos collapses by 22.7%. As feared by some, the digital services company announced the end of discussions with Airbus concerning the sale of its BDS (Big Data & Security) activity. Atos is now “actively” evaluating strategic alternatives which will take into account the sovereignty imperatives of the French State. Airbus, for its part, indicated that it had made the decision to stop negotiations “after carefully examining all aspects of a potential acquisition”. Atos announced in January that it was in talks with the European aircraft manufacturer with a view to selling its big data and cybersecurity activities for an amount of up to 1.8 billion euros. The French Ministry of Economy and Finance declared Tuesday evening that the State would build in the coming weeks a national solution to protect Atos’ strategic activities, in particular Big Data & Security. The State’s priority is to “support the group and find solutions to stabilize its financial situation”, Bercy said in a press release, assuring that “all of France’s interests will be preserved”.
* Kering fall of 16%, sanctioned after its income warning. The luxury group indicated that current market trends lead it to an estimate of a drop in consolidated turnover of around 10% on a comparable basis in the 1st quarter of 2024. Sales of Gucci, the company’s flagship brand , are notably expected to decline by around 20% due to a stronger decline than expected in the Asia-Pacific region. Management nevertheless welcomed the success of the Ancora collection prepared by Gucci’s new artistic director, Sabato de Sarno, on sale in certain stores since mid-February.
* Wallix stumbled by 12.1% after widening its losses last year despite record turnover. The group nevertheless explains that it has reached critical size and benefits from a solid base of nearly 3,000 active contracts with significant recurrence of its revenues. This new dimension allows it to enter a new phase of its development combining ‘ramp-up’ and return on investment, with the objective of generating strong, recurring and profitable growth under the effect of a 5-step performance plan points. The 2023 accounts, more heavily in deficit than expected, mainly bear the trace of the accelerated switch to subscription mode and the weight of expenses relating to the overhaul of the commercial organization, underlines TP ICAP Midcap. In terms of outlook, management reaffirms its confidence in the Group’s ability to maintain high growth rates in its recurring revenues and in achieving positive operating income from the second half of 2024.
* CGG falls by 9.7%. The selling pressure on the oil services group is linked to a note from SocGen which downgraded the file from ‘buy’ to ‘sell’ while cutting its target from 0.92 to 0.26 euros.
* LVMH returns 3.9%, penalized by the fall of Kering. RBC Capital also affirms that the luxury giant’s growth will probably be moderate in the first quarter. The “reality of a quarter with stagnant revenue growth” as well as a sequential slowdown has been “well signaled” for months, the analyst writes, to ‘outperform’ on the record. Nonetheless, the demand environment suggests “limited upside risk” and “few near-term challenges.” In addition, LVMH announced Thursday evening that Antonio Belloni would leave his position as Deputy CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee in April. After discussions with the Governance and Compensation Committee, Bernard Arnault decided to entrust Stéphane Bianchi with the operational functions carried out by Toni Belloni; consequently, he will chair the Group’s Executive Committee and will exercise, alongside Bernard Arnault, the strategic and operational supervision of the Group’s Houses. He will also supervise the Presidents of the Regions and the Group’s Digital and Data transformation. Toni Belloni retains positions within the Group. He will be responsible for strategic missions with Bernard Arnault and will be named President of LVMH Italy.
* Capgemini loses 3.3% in the wake ofAccenture. The consulting giant issued a small warning on its annual results due to weak demand for its IT and consulting services. The group now only expects growth of 1 to 3% for the financial year, compared to 2 to 5% previously. Adjusted EPS is anticipated between $11.97 and $12.20 versus a previous range of between $11.97 and $12.32. The consensus was positioned at $12.22. New bookings, a key indicator of revenue prospects, fell 2% to $21.58 billion in the second quarter.