Indices up before ECB; Mib, banks in red

(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets are up in mid-session Thursday, awaiting the BoE and ECB monetary policy decisions to be announced soon and following the words of the Fed's Jerome Powell, who last night spoke of interest rates "close to the peak of the cycle," leading analysts to speculate impending cuts in 2024.

The Mib, however, is underperforming its European peers as lower funding costs affect the interest margins of banks, whose declines are weighing down the main list in Piazza Affari.

The FTSE Mib is up 0.7 percent to 30,492.00, the Mid-Cap gains 2.5 percent to 43,619.99, the Small-Cap rises 1.4 percent to 26,858.60, and Italy Growth is up 0.5 percent to 8,075.53.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is up 2.2 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is up 1.4 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.8 percent.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, the banking sector remains the tail end as it was at the opening, with BPER Banca, Banco BPM, Monte dei Paschi, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo giving up between 5.2 percent and 0.9 percent.

DiSorin leads the list with a 5.1 percent rise followed by Amplifon, which advances 4.8 percent after signing a binding agreement that will allow the company to enter Uruguay through the acquisition of the Audical Group, the leading national player in the hearing care sector.

The Audical network, with the Audical and Centro Auditivo brands, consists of 25 direct outlets and various distributors throughout the country, has annual sales of about EUR10 million, which have been growing steadily in recent years, and about 130 employees and collaborators.

Telecom Italia rises 4.9 percent, recovering after yesterday's decline. However, traders await news on the legal front, with Vivendi - according to rumors - expected to file a lawsuit tomorrow to try to block the sale of the network and Sparkle to the US fund KKR.

Also doing well were Interpump Group, up 3.8 percent, and CNH Industrial, up 3.2 percent after buying back its own ordinary shares for more than EUR47 million.

Saipem, in the green by 1.3%, reported Wednesday that shareholders authorized the convertibility of the equity-linked bond issued in September into ordinary shares of the company.

The loan in question will mature in September 2029 and has a nominal amount of EUR500 million.

On the Mid-Cap, Alerion takes the lead with 9.0 percent followed by Ariston Holding with 8.8 percent.

Also doing well is Brunello Cucinelli, up 5.2 percent after announcing Wednesday that it expects to end the year with positive results, five days before debuting on the FTSE Mib of Borsa Italiana.

"After the very nice results of the nine months and the very interesting growth in October, November and the first part of December, we envision for 2023 a very good growth in revenues, between 22% and 23% at current exchange rates - over EUR1.1 billion -, raising estimates compared to previous expectations of between 20% and 22%, with a very important marginality and profit, within our idea of polite growth and healthy profit," said the founder of the eponymous brand, Brunello Cucinelli.

OVS rises 4.7 percent after it reported last night that net sales for the first nine months of its 2023-2024 fiscal year rose to EUR1.10 billion from EUR1.09 billion year-on-year.

Ebitda in the period ended Oct. 31 showed a slight year-on-year decline to EUR121.5 million from EUR124.1 million.

Operating income fell to EUR73.3 million from EUR79.1 million while pre-tax income fell to EUR60.0 million from EUR68.8 million, impacted by both higher depreciation and amortization of about EUR3 million and higher interest rates, mitigated by the prevalence of the fixed-rate sustainability-linked bond.

It worsens Antares Vision, which after opening down 7.5 percent is now stuck in the red by 24 percent. The company announced Wednesday that it has initiated a review of the soundness of its receivables pertaining to the provision of Government Hubs.

"These hubs are intended to support government authorities in ensuring the implementation of new drug traceability regulations in the United States, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The verification activities focus on rfxcel Corp. a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, giving rise to a deeper monitoring of the status of contracts, recorded revenues and related receivables," reads the company note.

Also on Thursday, Enrico Broli resigned as standing auditor and chairman of the company's board of auditors for health reasons. Alternate auditor Paolo Belleri also left for the same reason. Broli will be replaced on the board of auditors by Ramona Corti while the chairmanship of the body will be in the hands of Giancarlo Germani until the next shareholders' meeting.

Tinexta rises 6.9 percent. The company announced Thursday that it has finalized-through its subsidiary Warrant Hub Spa-the acquisition for 73.9 percent of France's ABF Group SAS.

The enterprise value for 100 percent of ABF Group was valued at EUR155 million.

Sesa, in the green by 5.4 percent, announced on Wednesday that it had acquired through Var Group Spa-a wholly owned subsidiary of Sesa-an additional stake in Essedi Consulting Srl, rising from 19 percent to 60 percent of the share capital, and expanding its expertise in application consulting on the Sap platform to support the digital transformation of Made in Italy districts, the company explained in a note.

On the small-cap, AbitareIn is in the green by 1.1 percent after reporting that revenues for the year ended Sept. 30 fell slightly year-on-year to EUR116.3 million from EUR122.2 million in the previous year.

Pre-tax profit rose to EUR25.1 million from EUR11.2 million, and equivalent profit rose to EUR34.2 million. The latter figure considers the Cadolini Street transaction if it had been concluded as an asset deal instead of a share deal.

doValue advances 5.4 percent. On Monday it reported the purchase of 46,000 shares between Dec. 4 and Dec. 8, at a weighted average price of EUR3.1605, for a total consideration of EUR145,385.

Unidata - in the green by 0.8 percent - made it known that it is part of the Temporary Grouping of Companies - composed of Boldyn Networks, Unidata, IFM Spa and Cecchini Srl - awarded the concession contract with the Municipality of Rome for the implementation, management, operation and maintenance of 5G and Wi-Fi infrastructures in the territory of Roma Capitale. The #Roma5G project was awarded through a Public Private Partnership and the related concession will last for 25 years.

Among the SMEs, ErreDue - in the green by 2.5 percent - on Wednesday announced an agreement with the company Foglia Umberto Srl for the supply of a 1 MW PEM electrolysis plant that will be delivered in 2025 and used for the production and storage of green hydrogen within the Waste Disposal Plant Pole to be built in the Municipality of Guglionesi, in the Molise Region. ErreDue with this contract of more than EUR1.2 million takes part in a highly innovative project in the field of sustainability of production processes.

Deodato.Gallery, after opening up 9.0 percent, is now up 0.9 percent. The company announced this week the start of its collaboration with Langosteria, a fine dining group led by Enrico Buonocore.

Langosteria, the statement said, "is an Italian-born way of understanding catering that constantly aims for excellence, combining tradition with a contemporary and international approach."

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Thursday down 0.7 percent to 32,686.25, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3 percent to 2,958.99, and the Hang Seng closed in the green 0.7 percent to 16,367.00.

In New York, the Dow closed Wednesday up 1.4 percent to 37,090.24, the Nasdaq rose 1.4 percent to 14,733.96 and the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent to 4,707.09.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0907 against USD1.0793 recorded at Wednesday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2657 from USD1.2527 last night.

Brent crude is worth USD75.56 per barrel versus USD73.20 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,034.29 an ounce from USD1,980.52 an ounce last night.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar features Bank of England and European Central Bank monetary policy decisions at 1300 CET and 1415 CET, before U.S. retail sales and jobless claims data, due at 1430 CET. Also, for the ECB, the president, Christine Lagarde, will speak at 1445 CET.

At 1630 CET, focus on U.S. corporate inventories, and at 2230 CET, the focus will be on the balance sheet and reserves at the Fed.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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