Business news from Ukraine

The majority of stock indices of the largest countries in Western Europe are down at the beginning of trading as investors are evaluating companies’ quarterly reports.
In addition, bidders are waiting for news from the U.S., where the midterm elections in Congress will be held on Tuesday and the latest data on inflation will be published on Thursday, according to Trading Economics.
The Stoxx Europe 600 composite index of the region’s largest companies was down 0.22% at 417.41 points by 10:25 a.m. A day earlier it hit a seven-week high.
Germany’s DAX indicator fell 0.1% from market opening, Britain’s FTSE 100, France’s CAC 40 and Italy’s FTSE MIB – 0.5%, Spain’s IBEX 35 – 0.4%.
Retail sales in Britain rose 1.2% in October compared with the same month last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The pace of growth slowed from a 1.8 percent rise in September as consumers continued to struggle with rising costs of living.
BRC head Helen Dickinson notes that Britons are struggling to make ends meet, especially as mortgage payments rise. Paul Martin, head of retail at KPMG, also noted that the increase in retail sales in October was due to higher prices and “does not reflect the true picture of falling volumes, although consumers are buying fewer items in-store.”
Persimmon’s stock price plunged 8 percent after the British construction company said it expects sales to fall in 2023. They are the fall leader among Stoxx 600 components.
German chemical and pharmaceutical concern Bayer AG boosted its net profit 6.4 times in the third quarter, confirming its financial outlook for the full year 2022. Nevertheless, the profit was worse than market forecasts, and stock quotes of the company decreased by 0.8%.
Volvo Car stock price is down 0.3%. The Swedish carmaker said it will sell China’s Geely Automobile its 33% stake in their joint venture that makes Aurobay powertrains.
Renault’s value fell 4.3 percent. The French carmaker announced its intention to increase operating profitability by spinning off its electric car business into a separate company.
At the same time, the stock price of Associated British Foods Plc is up 3.4%. The retailer announced the launch of a £500 million ($576 million) buyback program for its shares, as well as a dividend increase.
The value of Pandora jumped 6.3%. The chain of jewelry stores increased its net income in the third quarter to 734 million Danish kroner ($99 million) from 635 million kroner in the same period a year earlier while revenues rose 11% to 5.26 billion kroner. The company also reaffirmed its key financials forecast for the full year.
Pandora shares show the highest growth rate among the companies included in the Stoxx 600 calculation.

Stock indices of Western European countries are growing steadily at the beginning of trading on Tuesday after the release of quarterly reports of companies.
Investors are also waiting for the results of the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England meetings this week. Market participants hope that central banks will signal a slowdown in monetary tightening, writes Trading Economics.
The composite index of the largest companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 region rose by 1.26% by 11:00 a.m. to 417.4 points.
The British stock index FTSE 100 grows by 1.48%, the German DAX – by 1.02%, the French CAC 40 – by 1.74%. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 added 1.64% and 1.07% respectively.
British oil and gas company BP Plc (SPB: BP) in the third quarter increased its profit by 2.5 times in annual terms, announced a $2.5 billion buyback program for its shares. BP shares are rising by 0.5% at the beginning of the session.
Shares of British IT company Osirium Technologies jumped 30% after it reported growth in its customer base and revenue in the past quarter.
Shares of British online supermarket owner Ocado Group jumped 30% on news of a partnership with South Korea’s Lotte Shopping Co. As part of the agreement, Lotte will develop its online business on the Ocado platform.
The value of the Naspers Ltd. holding, which owns various Internet assets, rises by 7%. The company said that media reports about the sale of its stake in China’s Tencent (SPB: 700) Holdings Ltd. are speculative and false.
British automaker Aston Martin Lagonda Global has appointed two members of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as directors on its Supervisory Board. Aston Martin Lagonda shares are up 3%.
Switzerland-based IWG, which provides office space rental services, increased revenue by 34% in July-September amid strong demand for offices due to the adoption of a hybrid mode of operation. Paper IWG nevertheless become cheaper by 1.7%.
Among the Stoxx 600 components, Ocado was the top performer, along with German food delivery service Delivery Hero SE (+9.1%) and Dutch Prosus N.V. (+7.6%), which is the parent company of Naspers.

Investors evaluate the reporting of large companies and macroeconomic statistics.
The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 by 11:07 a.m. CST fell by 0.77% and amounted to 407.03 points. Since the beginning of the week, the indicator has risen by about 2%, the highest rate since the end of July, writes Trading Economics.
The British stock index FTSE 100 fell by 0.82%, the German DAX – by 0.92%, the French CAC 40 – by 0.59%. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 lost 1.1% and 0.8% respectively.
The German economy in the third quarter grew by 0.3% compared with the previous three months and by 1.2% in annual terms. Analysts on average expected the first indicator to decrease by 0.2% and the second to increase by 0.8%.
French GDP in July-September increased by 0.2% qoq and 1.2% y/y, which coincided with market expectations.
Meanwhile, consumer prices in France, harmonized with European Union standards, jumped 7.1% year-on-year in October after rising 6.2% in September, according to preliminary data. Analysts polled by Trading Economics expected, on average, a much more moderate acceleration of inflation – up to 6.4%.
The Spanish economy grew 0.2% qoq and 3.8% yoy last quarter. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal expected growth of 0.3% and 4%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Spain’s October inflation stood at 7.3% year-on-year, falling to its lowest level since January from 9% in September, preliminary data showed. Growth was much weaker than the 8.4% rise expected by analysts.
Airbus SE shares are down 0.3%. The European Aerospace Corporation in the third quarter increased its net profit by 65%, earnings before taxes and interest payments (EBIT) – by 37%, revenue – by 27%.
Airbus confirmed its forecast that it expects to deliver about 700 aircraft to customers this year. Adjusted EBIT for 2022 is expected to be around EUR 5.5 billion.
Porsche AG is down 2.9%, although the German luxury car maker reported strong growth in operating profit and revenue in the first nine months of this year.
Capitalization of NatWest Group Plc falls by 8.5%, being the leader of the decline in the Stoxx Europe 600 index. The British bank (formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland) increased pre-tax profit in the third quarter to 1.09 billion pounds ($1.26 billion) from 976 million pounds for the same period a year earlier, but the figure was worse than the consensus forecast of 1.24 billion pounds.
The leading gainer among Stoxx 600 components was shares of Austrian oil and gas group OMV, which jumped 7.6%. The company recorded operating profit in July-September of 3.5 billion euros, which was 9% higher than the consensus forecast, and announced its intention to pay a special dividend of 2.25 euros per share.

Most stock indices of Western European countries are moderately declining on Thursday, investors appreciate a large number of quarterly reports of large European companies.
In addition, market participants are waiting for the results of the October meeting of the European Central Bank. The ECB is expected to raise key interest rates again by 75 bp.
The European Central Bank is constrained from refusing to raise significant interest rates anytime soon as eurozone consumer price growth is likely to have not peaked yet, Mark Dowding, chief investment officer at BlueBay Asset Management, told Dow Jones.
The composite index of the largest companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 region decreased by 0.22% by 11:27 a.m. and amounted to 409.42 points.
The German DAX fell 0.2%, as did the French CAC 40. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 shed 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, the British stock index FTSE 100 added 0.3%.
Shares of Credit Suisse Group AG plunged 11%. The Swiss bank announced the placement of new shares worth up to 4 billion francs ($4.07 billion) and the sale of part of the investment business, and also announced a likely reduction in staff by 9 thousand employees. The cost of the reorganization will amount to about $2.9 billion over two years.
In addition, on Thursday, Credit Suisse released its financial statements for the third quarter. The bank’s net loss in July-September amounted to 4.03 billion Swiss francs ($4.09 billion) against a profit of 434 million francs a year earlier. Quarterly revenue fell by 30% to 3.8 billion francs.
The price of TotalEnergies securities is growing by 2.1%. The French oil and gas company increased its net profit by 43% year-on-year in the last quarter thanks to higher oil and natural gas prices.
Shell capitalization increases by 3.3%. The British-Dutch energy giant cut third-quarter net income by almost three times from the previous quarter, but the adjusted figure was better than market forecasts.
The market value of Deutsche Lufthansa AG is growing by 1.6%. The airline posted a net profit in the last quarter, almost doubled its revenue and announced its recovery from the pandemic crisis.
Lloyds shares are down 1.3% after the British bank reported a 26% decline in pre-tax profit in the third quarter, to 1.51 billion pounds, due to write-offs due to worsening macroeconomic forecasts.
Shares of Banco de Sabadell shed 0.5%, although the Spanish bank increased quarterly net profit to 317 million euros from 149 million euros a year earlier and approved an increase in the dividend payout rate to 40% of profit.
Unilever shares are down 0.1% in London on Thursday and 0.2% in Amsterdam. One of the world’s leading FMCG suppliers increased its turnover by 17.8% last quarter as higher prices offset lower sales volumes.
Meanwhile, on Thursday it became known that the leading index of German consumer confidence in the country’s economy rose slightly from a historic low.
The November indicator, calculated by the research company GfK, was minus 41.9 points compared to the revised minus 42.8 points in October, which generally coincided with experts’ expectations. The index rose for the first time in five months.
The value of the indicator fell to minus 42.5 points compared to minus 36.8 points in September. A record low is recorded following the results of the fourth month in a row. Analysts on average predicted a less significant drop – to minus 39 points, according to Trading Economics.
Meanwhile, Spain’s third-quarter unemployment rate rose to 12.67% from 12.48% a quarter earlier.