Stock indices of Western European countries do not show a single dynamics during trading on Monday.
The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 by 11:27 Moscow time fell by 0.11% and amounted to 389.98 points.
The British stock index FTSE 100 rose by 0.06%, while the German DAX by 0.26%, the French CAC 40 – by 0.33%. The Italian FTSE MIB was up 1.26%, while the Spanish IBEX 35 was down 0.35%.
Concerns about the state of the global economy are intensifying against the backdrop of persistently high inflation and aggressive measures by the largest central banks to contain it, writes CNBC.
The focus is on the elections in Italy.
The Democratic Party of Italy admitted defeat in early parliamentary elections held on Sunday, media reported.
After the announcement of the official results of processing 10% of the ballots in the elections, a coalition of four right-wing parties is in the lead with 44% of the vote. The best results for the party “Brothers of Italy”. This means that its leader, George Meloni, in the event that the center-right comes to power, may become the new Italian prime minister.
Democratic Vice Chair Deborah Serracchiani conceded defeat and said the Democrats were moving into opposition.
The pressure on the market is also exerted by the ongoing geopolitical tensions in connection with the ongoing referendums in a number of regions of Ukraine on joining Russia.
Meanwhile, the level of business confidence in the German economy in September fell to 84.3 points from 88.6 points in August, according to a report by the IFO research organization. The indicator is at a minimum since May 2020 and turned out to be worse than analysts’ forecast at the level of 87 points, writes Trading Economics.
Shares of the British financial company Virgin Money UK PLC are among the leaders of the fall among the components of the Stoxx Europe 600 index, losing 6.7%.
Meanwhile, the papers of the German Uniper SE, which add 23.2%, turned out to be the growth leaders.
Shares of the Swiss HVAC maker rose 8.4% as Berenberg experts improved the company’s stock recommendation and raised its price target.
Agro-industrial group “Kernel”, the largest producer of vegetable oil in Ukraine, will publish a consolidated report for fiscal year 2022 (FY, July-2021 – June-2022) on October 31, 2022 due to the unstable situation in Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion.
As stated in the message of the holding on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the management of Kernel in this fiscal year will not hold a regular conference call on the day the report is published, since “no information in addition to that presented in the report should be presented during such a conference.”
“The management does not intend to make any recommendations or forecasts regarding the future activities of the company, given the uncertainty prevailing in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. The company will return to the usual practice of arranging quarterly calls after the lifting of martial law in Ukraine,” the agricultural holding emphasized in an exchange message. .
In addition, the group of companies will continue to analyze the consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine and inform all parties interested in the company’s activities about updates and changes in the work of Kernel.
Before the war, Kernel ranked first in the world in the production of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%), and was also the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. In addition, the company was engaged in the cultivation of other agricultural products and their sale.
The largest co-owner of Kernel through Namsen Ltd. is Ukrainian businessman Andrey Verevsky with a share of 39.3%.
The agricultural holding in fiscal year 2021 (FY, July 2020 – June 2021), increased its net profit by 4.3 times compared to FY 2020 – up to $513 million, its EBITDA increased 2.1 times – up to $929 million, revenue – by 38%, to $5.65 billion.
The meeting of shareholders of the tobacco company “JTI Ukraine” (JT International Company Ukraine, Kyiv) decided to satisfy the application for resignation from the post after September 30 of its current CEO Paul Holloway, instead of him Svetlana will be appointed for two years Sharamok.
The shareholders made the corresponding decision on September 20, follows from the company’s message on the information disclosure system of the National Central Design Bureau of Financial Markets.
It is specified that Holloway took office as CEO of JTI Ukraine on January 1, 2018 and will leave it on September 30. In turn, Sharamok was accepted to the specified position for a period of two years – from October 1, 2022 to October 1, 2024.
According to JTI, from April 2021 to September 2022, Sharamok worked as the marketing director of JT International Company Ukraine, and she also held the position of country manager for the Caribbean region at JTI Corporation.
“JTI Company Ukraine” is part of the international group of companies Japan Tabacco Inc. (JTI). In Ukraine, she owns the Kremenchug tobacco factory (Poltava region).
The most famous brands of “JT International Ukraine” are Sobranie, Winston, Camel, Glamor and LD.
Products are sold in Ukraine and were exported to 22 countries before the war.
European producers, faced with a surge in energy prices, are shifting operations to the United States, hoping to take advantage of both greater stability in the US energy market and government incentives, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Experts warn of the possibility of a new wave of deindustrialization in Europe amid wild energy price fluctuations and persistent problems in supply chains. The operating environment in the US looks much more favorable, especially for chemical manufacturers and companies in other energy-intensive industries. In August, US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides, in particular, tax incentives for industrial companies and representatives of the green energy sector.
Earlier this month, the WSJ reported, citing sources, that American electric car maker Tesla Inc. paused a plan to manufacture batteries in Germany in connection with the possibility of obtaining tax benefits in the United States. Sources told the paper that Tesla is considering shipping battery manufacturing equipment to the States for its Berlin facility.
European companies that have announced expansions in the US this year include automaker Volkswagen AG, as well as, for example, the Dutch chemical company OCI NV, which owns an ammonia plant in Texas.
European steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA earlier this month announced it was cutting production at two plants in Germany. At the same time, the results of her Texas enterprise turned out to be better than expected, which the head of the company, Aditya Mittal, explained by the low cost of energy in the region.
Experts note that the US economy has weathered the pandemic fairly well and is more attractive for business than Europe and China, despite record inflation, continued problems in supply chains and the risks of a recession as a result of tightening monetary policy by the Federal Reserve System (Fed). China is still under lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, and Europe is destabilized by the energy crisis due to the conflict in Ukraine.
It will be difficult for European manufacturers to remain competitive without lower energy prices or government subsidies, said Svein Tore Holseter, chief executive officer of Norwegian chemical company Yara International ASA.
“Some industries will have to relocate production on a permanent basis as a result,” he said.
Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine rose to $737.8 million last week compared to $510.7 million a week earlier and $475.0 million two weeks earlier.
According to the information of the National Bank on its website, from September 19 to 23, it purchased $7.1 million, which corresponds to the usual purchase volumes during the war, while it sold $744.9 million compared to $528.2 million a week earlier.
This week, on the cash market, the hryvnia again weakened by about 70 kopecks, and its rate came close to the level of UAH 43/$1, while the official rate of UAH 36.57/$1 was fixed since July 21, but by the end of the week it strengthened to UAH 42.7/$1. $1.
Since the beginning of September, the volume of interventions of the National Bank in the market has already exceeded $1.8 billion compared to $1.33 billion in August and $1.2 billion in July, but still remains much less than in June ($3.96 billion) and May ( $3.4 billion).
Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said that in August the volume of foreign aid to Ukraine amounted to a record $4.6 billion since the beginning of the war, compared with $1.7 billion in July and $4.4 billion in June.
In general, from the beginning of the year to September 23 inclusive, the NBU purchased $3 billion 121.3 million and EUR111.0 million on the market, and sold $18 billion 607.7 million and EUR1 billion 789.1 million.
Including since the beginning of the war, the purchase of foreign currency has reached $2 billion 464.4 million and EUR111.0 million, and the sale – $15 billion 837.5 million and EUR1 billion 789.1 million.
The international reserves of Ukraine as of September 1, 2022, according to the NBU, amounted to $25.436 billion (in equivalent), which is 13.6% or $2.679 billion more than at the beginning of August. In July, the fall in reserves amounted to 1.6%, or $371.5 million, in June – 9.3%, or $2 billion 343.8 million.
