Euronext Brussels: the deep water between Meuzegem and Kortrijk
The beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of development.
The Bel20
is the outperformer in Europe on Wednesday. The Brussels index gains 0.62 percent to 4,226 points and outperforms the Euro Stoxx 50 by more than 0.1 percent.
AB InBev
is the pacesetter. The beer giant is rebounding from a multi-year low and after a miserable fortnight, it is back to 49 euros, still more than a third below its pre-corona level. On Wednesday, a profit of 2 percent to 48.7 euros succeeds.
The first lady of honor is WDP
, which, despite an excellent climb and a solid valuation, is still able to capitalize on results. This year alone, the logistics real estate player recorded a latent capital gain of 590 million euros on its portfolio. That’s more than the stock market value of the entire company about eight years ago. That revenue stems from strong production, which has been a turbo set up since the pandemic.
“The value of the portfolio is now 5.6 and shows the strength of the portfolio, especially Belgium in the Netherlands,” said Francesca Ferragina, analyst at ING. ‘The loan-to-value’ (ratio between the current loans and the value of the real estate, ed.) 37.9 percent is also extremely solid.’
Rent growth was 1.4 percent in the quarter, somewhat flat due to low rent indexation, says Charles Boissier of UBS. ‘But as the growth starts, the rents charged by WDP will also start to rise.’
WDP charges with 1.1 percent to 38.74 euros. Minus the debts, the net asset value now amounts to 17.40 euros per share. And so the share price carries a premium of more than 120 percent. “That high valuation has to do with the high return on equity,” tweets real estate analyst Gert De Mesure. ‘No regulated real estate company does better.’
In Kortrijk, they can only dream of the tailwind that will hit the real estate company from the Wolvertem hamlet of Meuzegem. barco
can finally announce a recovery in demand after the coronavirus had paralyzed end markets. But that recovery in demand is being nipped in the bud by a new troublemaker: a pressing shortage of materials. A shortage of microchips in particular makes deliveries difficult and takes a substantial part of the quarterly turnover.
Barco booked in the Third quarter 187 million euros in turnover (+12%) and 225 million euros in new orders (+43%). It scores the tech company well below analyst forecasts. they aimed average on 200 million quarterly sales and 237 million orders.
Still, analysts see a silver lining. ‘Barco’s wireless meeting tool Clickshare is making a comeback’, Kepler learns from the results. While the sales figures are disappointing, the underlying trends seem to confirm that the ‘back-to-cinema and back-to-office recovery’ is intact. However, Covid lasts longer than expected in Asia and creates supply chain problems.” Kepler gives a buy recommendation with a price target of 25 euros.
‘For us, the biggest disappointment lies in Healthcare,’ says Guy Sips, analyst at KBC Securities. ‘The typical effects’ due to shortages for diagnostic systems. Based on those shortages, KBCS corrected the price target to 20 euros with a hold advice.
‘The results are weak, the prospects encouraging’, writes Marc Hesselink of ING. “To meet the forecast of mid-digit sales growth, Barco will need to reach sales of 250 million in the fourth quarter.” That means growth of 35% on a quarterly basis and 30% on an annual basis. “We believe that is possible, supported by an order book that is at an all-time high, but supply shortages pose risks.” ING gives a hold advice with a price target of 20 euros.
Day and swing traders were able to take advantage of the imaging group on Wednesday. Barco was able to penalize a strong loss opening (-7%) in a profit of 0.6 percent to 18.6 euros. That is still a light year away from its pre-corona price of more than 33 euros.
ontex
can participate. The diaper manufacturer has to face stiff cost inflation. In the run-up to the quarterly update of next Thursday, the stock exchange house Jefferies (again) cuts the profit forecasts for the East Flemish multinational. Analyst Martin Deboo expected a profit of 0.59 euros per share involved. Previously, the bar was set at 0.67 euros. Profit forecast for 2022 from 0.90 to 0.83 euros.
Still, there is good news, notes Deboo. ‘The settlement that Ontex made for Hypermarcas (the unprofitable Brazilian takeover, red.) received, was deposited in the payment on October 1, and has come very welcome to receive the high debt’.
Ontex comes 1.7 percent to 8.9 euros.
EYE-CATCHER
The European stock exchanges on the spot are disappointed in the results of the luxury group Kering and the chip machine maker ASML. The Bel20 is on the winning side of a recovering AB InBev. WDP’s results are also positively received. Barco manages to convert a solid opening loss into limited price gain.
The medtech company Onward makes its debut on Euronext Brussels. Also on the agenda are European consumer confidence and the Turkish bank’s interest rate decision. And a series of results: among others the truck builder Volvo, Akzo Nobel and SAP in Europe, and Sipef, Orange Belgium and MDxHealth in Brussels.