(Boursier.com) — Small weekly consolidation for the Parisian market. Although still very close to its historic highs, the CAC40 lost 0.41% over five sessions, to 7,934 points this Friday evening. Unlike the German Dax which is setting records, the French index is having great difficulty breaking the psychological bar of 8,000 points.
After a week once again marked by multiple company publications, generally well received for those of the CAC40, the coming days will see the return to the forefront of Central Banks with the ECB on the program on Thursday and two hearings from the President of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, before Congress and the Senate. After the publication of a PCE index in line with expectations on Thursday, the next big meeting on the macro agenda is scheduled for Friday 8 with the American employment figures for the month of February.
To return to the micro, GTT, Bouygues, Fnac Darty and even Clariane stood out this week. Conversely, Euroapi and Nexity foundered while Air France KLM and Edenred were disrupted.
On the oil market, black gold prices are rising, with a barrel of Brent (+3%) back at $84 as a highly anticipated OPEC+ meeting approaches. Finally, on the currency front, the euro remains around $1.08 against the greenback and Bitcoin jumps, close to $61,500 on Coindesk.
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VALUES
* GTT soars by 13.5%, driven by very solid results. At the end of December 2023, the group has very strong visibility on its turnover thanks to the order book for its main activity. This corresponds to a cumulative future turnover which stands at a record level of 1.815 billion euros over the period 2024-2029 (516 ME in 2024, 628 ME in 2025, 464 ME in 2026 and 206 ME of 2027 to 2029). In the absence of significant postponements or cancellations of orders, GTT is targeting this year: a consolidated turnover within a range of 600 to 640 ME; a consolidated Ebitda of between 345 and 385 ME; a distribution objective, for the financial year, of a dividend corresponding to a minimum distribution rate of 80% of the consolidated net income. In addition, the Board of Directors is proposing the distribution of a dividend of 4.36 euros per share for the 2023 financial year, an increase of 40.6%.
* Clariane takes up 7.3%. Despite the absence of a dividend this year, the stock has stood out in recent days. The operator of retirement homes and clinics reported a net loss of 63 million euros in 2023, compared to a profit of 52 ME a year earlier, despite organic growth in turnover of 8, 4% to 5.05 billion euros. EBITDA, excluding IFRS16, came to €614 million, up slightly. As the leverage ratio is greater than 3.5x as of December 31, 2023, Clariane will not pay a dividend for the 2023 financial year. In 2024, Clariane expects continued organic growth in its turnover at a level above +5%, supported by the regular increase in activity volumes and the continued readjustment of prices. Given the absence of an expected contribution from real estate development activities in 2024, the level of EBITDA excluding IFRS 16 on a pro forma basis of expected disposals should remain stable in amount.
* Bouygues jumped 5.4% after its annual publication. The conglomerate recorded a current operating profit from activities of 2.41 billion euros in 2023, up 19%, driven by the contribution of Equasens. Turnover jumped 26% to 56.02 billion euros (+4% at constant exchange rates and scope). “In an uncertain economic and geopolitical environment, and after a year of strong growth, Bouygues is targeting a slight increase in turnover and current operating income from activities (ROCA) in 2024 compared to 2023,” Bouygues said. The group also announces the payment of a dividend of 1.90 euros per share for the year 2023, an increase of 10 euro cents compared to 2022.
* Fnac Darty advance of 4% after its annual update… Taking note of this publication, Bryan Garnier raises his advice to ‘neutral’ and his objective from 21 to 25 euros. After lowering his recommendation in September 2023 due to a deteriorating consumer environment and an overly optimistic consensus, Bryan Garnier now believes that the downside risk is limited (the FCF surprised everyone and gives a floor ). Despite a still low valuation, at around 9x EV/EBIT and a 2024 PE of around 7x, uncertainties over the timetable for a stabilization/rebound in consumption remain a significant brake and prevent the broker from being more optimistic.
* Sopra Steria progresses by 3.5%, on historic highs on the stock market, further driven by the announcement of good annual results and the planned sale to Axway of most of Sopra Banking Software’s activities for an enterprise value of €330 million. Many analysts revised their position on the file after these announcements, like Morgan Stanley which raised its target from 204 to 212 euros.
* Airbus takes 3.2% as Airbus Helicopters closed the 2024 edition of Heli-Expo, held this year in California, with 155 commitments, including 40 firm orders, for a variety of its multi-mission helicopters. Highlights of the show include a landmark contract with THC for up to 120 helicopters of various types, with a firm order for 8 H125s and 10 H145s as part of the agreement. Airbus Helicopters continues to position itself as a market leader in helicopter emergency medical services with the H145 for THC and up to 10 H145 for DRF Luftrettung. The American operator HealthNet Aeromedical Services has added four H135s to its all-Airbus fleet.
* Renault (+2.9%). The diamond group took advantage of the Geneva Motor Show to announce the launch of the electric R5 and won the “Car of the Year” prize with its Scenic. Oddo BHF (‘outperform’) is reinforced by the commercial potential of the group’s product offensive. Indeed, if he does not anticipate growth in the European market this year (or even in 2025), the appeal of the group’s new models, whether at Renault or Dacia, in electric or thermal, should enable it to gain market share. Beyond the commercial aspect, these models also stand out in terms of costs, taking advantage of the manufacturer’s new platforms but also the more frugal approach to engineering, and should therefore contribute to the financial performance of the company. ‘business.
Conversely, * Euroapi collapsed by 41.3%, abandoned after a new massive warning on its results and a heavy annual loss. Weighed down by significant asset depreciation, the manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) suffered a net deficit of 189.7 ME in 2023 for a turnover of 1.013 billion euros, an increase of 3.8 % over one year, and +3.1% at constant exchange rate. Gross margin recorded a decline of 190 basis points year-on-year, reaching 16.2%, including the negative impact of decreasing volumes and rising energy and raw material prices. The company spun off from Sanofi expects this year to see a decline in its turnover of between 4% and 7% on a comparable basis due in particular to a drop in sales to Sanofi, a Core Ebitda margin of between 6% and 9%, and a material impact of transformation and start of restructuring costs, including industrial sub-activity resulting from the implementation of the Focus-27 project.
* Nexity plunges 29%, heavily sanctioned after disappointing results, the announcement of a restructuring plan and the absence of a dividend for 2023. This is quite simply the biggest drop in the stock over a session since its IPO. Over the past financial year, the real estate group generated an operating profit of €246 million compared to €367 million a year earlier for a turnover of €4.273 billion, down 9%. The Group’s share of net income as of December 31, 2023 amounts to €19 million (-90%). For 2024, Nexity forecasts a positive operating result marking a financial low point, taking into account capital gains from disposals, the costs of adjusting the offering to the new market situation and the costs linked to reorganization.
* Teleperformance fall of 16.4%, caught up by fears around AI after Klarna communicated about its AI assistant. The fintech claims that it, powered by OpenAI, did the equivalent of the work of 700 full-time agents and had 2.3 million conversations, or the equivalent of two-thirds of customer service chats, over the course of the year. first month following deployment. The tool also helped reduce repeat requests by 25% and resolve customer issues faster. Financially, the AI assistant should lead to an improvement in the firm’s profits of $40 million in 2024. In a press release, the world’s number 1 provider of outsourced services and business consulting dedicated to relationship management customer indicated that the group’s current activity in no way reflects the negative conclusions that could be drawn from the technological developments mentioned in Klarna’s communication. He also specifies that artificial intelligence is already widely deployed in the solutions offered by Teleperformance, mainly to manage simple processes on behalf of its clients.
* Air France KLM falls by almost 10%. The Franco-Dutch company suffered a substantial net loss at the end of 2023, penalized by the geopolitical situation in Africa and the Middle East and an increase in unit costs, although partially offset by the drop in the price of kerosene. Supply chain issues that forced some engines to remain in repair shops also weighed on the final three months of the year. Operating profit thus fell by 190 ME compared to the previous year, with a loss of 56 ME, despite a turnover up 6.7% (at constant exchange rate) to 7.4 MdsE. The Group’s unit cost per ASK, at constant fuel prices and currencies, is up 3.5% compared to the previous year due to an increase in costs linked to operational disruptions for 70 ME and the non-profit impact -cash linked to the employee shareholding plan according to IFRS 2 for 30 ME. Over the whole of 2023, AF-KLM nevertheless managed to improve its operating margin by 1.2 points to 5.7% while its turnover stood at a record level of €30 billion, an increase of €14 % over one year, driven by ticket sales. The group has also reduced its net debt by 1.3 billion euros in 2023 to 5 billion euros.
* Worldline yields 5.3%, sanctioned after its annual publication. Accounts marked by a net loss, group share of 817 million euros, mainly due to a depreciation for goodwill worth E1.15 billion linked to its customer service activities. tradespeople. The adjusted EBITDA (previously EBO) was stable at 1.110 billion euros, for a turnover up 6% to 4.61 billion euros. Free cash flow from continuing operations was €355 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA conversion rate of 32.0%. A few weeks ago, Worldline announced the launch of its ‘Power24’ plan under which it will cut around 8% of its global workforce, or around 1,400 positions, in order to reduce its cost base by around 200 million euros from next year. The total cost of implementing the plan is expected to amount to around 250 million euros.
* Edenred drops 4.8% despite record results. The group confirmed its objectives for 2024, set in its Beyond 2022-2025 strategic plan, namely like-for-like Ebitda growth of more than 12%, and said it expects continued strong growth in revenue. activity in all regions and all business lines. The ‘Bloomberg Intelligence’ teams believe that investors are still worried about the threat of a fine in Italy. Management confirmed that it expects regulation in France this year, “it is relaxed about the outcome, the market is less so”.