Live Markets: Binge-buying EuropaCorp shares, Netflix and no chill
01/02/2018 10:03
Feb 1 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real time coverage of European equity markets
brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Danilo Masoni. Reach him on
Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: danilo.masoni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
BINGE-BUYING EUROPACORP SHARES, NETFLIX AND NO CHILL (1003 GMT)
Shares in French film director Luc Besson's EuropaCorp ECP.PA are on fire this morning, up
as much as 40 percent after French business daily Les Echos reported Netflix is in talks - not
clear at this stage exactly about what - with the company which made a hit with "Lucy", staring
Scarlett Johansson, in 2014.
After a box office disappointment for its big budget sci-fi movie "Valerian and the City of
a Thousand Planets" this summer, EuropaCorp has been on the look-out for new partners to bring
in fresh cash or help it restructure its debt.
EuropaCorp is worth currently a bit less than 100 million euros on the Paris stock market,
that's a market cap about 1000 times smaller than Netflix, which plans to spend up to $8 billion
this year on TV shows and movies to fend off rivals such as Amazon Prime AMZN.O . urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PH5C8
Here's Luc Besson and the logo of his company in the background.
(Julien Ponthus)
*****
OPENING SNAPSHOT: TOP MOVERS (0817 GMT)
Return of the melt-up? European stocks are striding into February with strong gains led by
banking and tech stocks.
Among notable movers after results, Bic BICP.PA is down 6.7 percent while NEX Group
NXGN.L is top of the STOXX, up 7.4 percent after revenues rose. The financial technology firm
benefited from markets it said were 'noticeably' more active this year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PR2PS
Meanwhile Shell RDSa.L took a 5 percent dive at the open and is now down 1.8 percent, the
worst-performing on the FTSE 100. It seems the cashflow might be what the market's taking issue
with. "Unfortunately, resilient earnings do not appear to have translated into cash generation
this quarter," write RBC analysts.
Dealmaking is still a feature too with Denmark's TDC TDC.CO tumbling 10.7 percent after
saying it would buy Swedish Modern Times Group's MTGb.ST broadcasting and entertainment
business. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR1J4
(Helen Reid)
*****
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE EUROPE OPENS (0748 GMT)
European shares are expected to open higher on the first day of February with futures up
around 0.4-0.5 percent following a weak end of January, which was marked by jitters over rising
bond yields and a stronger euro.
Earnings will be a key focus with heavyweights such as oil major Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L
and drugmaker Roche having already reported results. Profits at Shell more than doubled,
slightly beating analyst expectations, although traders indicated the stock 1-2 percent lower
citing weak cash flow. Net income at Roche fell as sales growth was broadly in line with
expectations.
Consumer goods maker Unilever UNc.AS delivered better than expected fourth-quarter sales
growth, a possible relief for a sector which has been hit this year by a rotation back into
cyclical stocks. Its shares were indicated 1 percent higher.
Overall fourth-quarter earnings for the STOXX 600 .STOXX are expected to increase by 11.9
percent year on year, the latest Thomson Reuters data showed.
In M&A news, traders mentioned as possibly market-moving a Bloomberg report saying BHP
BLT.L is mulling a split of its US shale unit to speed up the sale of the business it values
at $10 billion.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
EUROPEAN STOCKS HEADLINE ROUND-UP (0733 GMT)
With so many results coming in today, we've rounded up some of the most important we're
watching:
Shell's RDSa.L 2017 profits more than double urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR1FJ
Unilever ULVR.L fourth-quarter sales better than expected urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PR08X
Daimler DAIGn.DE warns spending on new technology to dampen earnings growth urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PR06M
Vodafone's VOD.L growth edges lower in Europe, but still on track for year urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PR08Y
Nokia NOKIA.HE top quarterly expectations, buoyed by patent payment urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR10R
Roche ROG.S expects 2018 profit to grow faster than sales[ urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR0U4
BT's Openreach ramps up fibre broadband rollout urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PR0BT
Microsoft's cloud computing business grows, stock edges up urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PQ6P7
Facebook forecasts rising ad sales despite dip in usage urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PQ6Q1
Novo Nordisk posts Q4 results slightly below expectations, chairman to step down urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR13R
BBVA Q4 net profit falls 90 pct after Telefonica stake writedown urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PQ5LT
Denmark's TDC to buy MTG's Nordic Entertainment and Studios urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR151
Denmark's Orsted beats Q4 forecasts on strong wind operations urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR1IM
DNB Q4 beats forecast despite rise in digital investment urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR0IP
Dassault Systemes posts double-digit growth in new licences revenue urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PQ5I9
Lundin Petroleum launches dividend payments urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PP5OA
Skanska construction order intake just lags expectations urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PR08G
UK's Rank interim profit jumps on strong online business urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PR2A6
Vivendi CEO optimistic about talks with Mediaset over pay-TV dispute urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PQ70N
Oreo maker Mondelez's profit beats on higher demand for key brands urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PQ6Q5
Melrose to publish formal bid document for GKN on Thursday - source urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PQ7B1
Britain's Cranswick says Q3 revenue ahead on strong Christmas urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PR2NX
NEX Group says markets "noticeably" more active since start of 2018 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PQ3JA
British private equity group 3i posts increase in net asset value per share urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR1HU
Ocado promotes Luke Jensen to executive director role urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PR0BW
(Tom Pfeiffer)
*****
FUTURES POINT TO BOUNCEBACK FOR EUROPEAN STOCKS (0717 GMT)
Futures have opened markedly higher this morning, pointing to a convincing bounceback for
the European stock market after a weak end to January. As we pointed out earlier, it's all about
earnings today, and UK companies' results have just hit the wire with heavyweights Unilever
ULVR.L and Shell RDSa.L reporting as well as Vodafone VOD.L .
(Helen Reid)
*****
EARNINGS, EARNINGS, EARNINGS (0642 GMT)
It's going to be another busy day for corporate eanings with some big heavyweights like
drugmaker Roche ROG.S urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1PQ1DW, bank BBVA BBVA.MC urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PQ5LT and Nokia NOKIA.HE
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR0PA having already released their numbers earlier on.
Overall fourth-quarter earnings for the STOXX 600 are expected to increase by 11.9 percent
year on year, the latest Thomson Reuters data showed.
Here's your full list of companies reporting today:
AB SKF Q4 2017 Earnings Release
AcadeMedia AB Q2 2018 Earnings Call
Aptiv PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Call
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA Q4 2017 Earnings Call
CapMan Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Cimpress NV Q2 2018 Earnings Call
Coloplast A/S Q1 2018 Earnings Call
Core Laboratories NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call
Daimler AG Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Dassault Systemes SE FY 2017 Earnings Call
DNB ASA Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Eaton Corporation PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Call
Ferrari NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call
Granges AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Inwido AB (publ) Q4 2017 Earnings Release
JM AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Kesko Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Lemminkainen Oyj FY 2017 Earnings Call
Lundin Petroleum AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Modern Times Group MTG AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Nokia Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Novo Nordisk A/S Q4 2017 Earnings Call
OM Asset Management PLC Q4 & FY 2017 Earnings Call
Orsted A/S Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Panostaja Oyj Annual Shareholders Meeting
Petroleum Geo Services ASA Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Qiagen NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call
Rank Group PLC HY 2018 Earnings Release
Roche Holding AG FY 2017 Earnings Release
Royal Dutch Shell PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Sensata Technologies Holding NV Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Skanska AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Stolt-Nielsen Ltd Q4 & FY 2017 Earnings Call
Unilever PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Release
Yit Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
MORNING CALL: EUROPE SEEN HIGHER (0617 GMT)
Good morning and welcome to Live Markets.
European stocks are set for a positive open on the first day of February, recovering the
slight losses seen in the previous session when the broader STOXX 600 .STOXX index fell for a
third straight session to its lowest level in almost four weeks. The STOXX ended January up 1.6
percent.
Overnight Asian shares eked out modest gains, clawing back sharp losses from earlier this
week, however, rising U.S. bond yields and interest rates could dampen investors' optimism
toward the global economic outlook. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PR1PS
Here are your opening calls, courtesy of CMC Markets.
FTSE100 is expected to open 23 points higher at 7,556
DAX is expected to open 41 points higher at 13,230
CAC40 is expected to open 14 points higher at 5,495
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
headshot http://reut.rs/2DQkTqc
Feb 1 futures http://reut.rs/2DN7yif
besson http://reut.rs/2Ev8BEH
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Helen Reid, Kit Rees and Julien Ponthus)
((Helen.Reid@TR.com; +44)(0)(275420402; Reuters Messaging:
helen.reid.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; On Twitter https://twitter.com/helenmariareid))
Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/