Schindler experienced a mixed financial year in 2024. While turnover fell slightly, the lift and escalator manufacturer further increased its profit. Turnover decreased by 2.2 per cent to 11.24 billion Swiss francs, as the Central Swiss company announced in a press release on Wednesday. The strong Swiss franc again acted as a headwind. Foreign currency effects depressed sales by 348 million francs. In local currencies, Schindler would have grown by 0.8 per cent. Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) climbed by 7.1 per cent to 1.34 billion Swiss francs. The operating margin improved to 12.0 per cent after 10.9 per cent in the previous year. The figures do not include certain items such as restructuring costs and expenses for the ‘Building Minds’ efficiency programme. If these are taken into account, EBIT rose by 6.6 per cent to CHF 1.27 billion. At the bottom line, net profit increased by 8.0 per cent to CHF 1.01 billion. ‘2024 was the third year in a row in which we improved operationally,’ explained the new Group CEO Paolo Compagna. Shareholders are now to receive a higher dividend: Schindler intends to distribute CHF 6.00 per share and participation certificate.

The SMI advanced by 0.5 per cent to 12,694 points on Tuesday. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 17 price gainers and three price losers. A total of 17.06 (previously: 16.46) million shares were traded. The shares of Swiss luxury goods stocks Richemont and Swatch rose by 1.8 and 3.3 per cent respectively. Novartis makes a billion euro purchase in the USA. The pharmaceutical group is taking over the biotechnology company Anthos Therapeutics for up to USD 3.08 billion. Novartis climbed 1.1 per cent. SGS gained 6.7 per cent. The Vontobel analysts emphasized the organic sales growth of the product testing group. Profitability also improved significantly. Among the second-line stocks, Ams-Osram was in a rallying mood. According to Vontobel, the outlook points to a weaker than predicted development, but the market had feared worse for the sensor manufacturer. The share price shot up by 18.3 per cent. Landis-Gyr plummeted by 21.8 per cent; the electricity meter manufacturer lowered its forecast and expects write-downs due to the discontinuation of its loss-making business with e-charging stations. Also (+1.2%) entered the US market with its cloud business.

The European stock markets closed on a positive note on Tuesday, as the first hearing of US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell before the US Congress came as no surprise. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.2% to 547.2 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 gained 0.3% each. The DAX 40 rose by 0.6% in Frankfurt, while the FTSE 100 in London ended the session up by 0.1%. KERING (+1.3%): the luxury group published 2024 results ‘slightly less poor than expected’, according to Invest Securities. Profit from recurring operations (ROC) fell by 46% to €2.55 billion. For 2024, sales fell by 12% year-on-year on both a reported and like-for-like basis, to €17.19 billion. BENETEAU (+17.7%): the marine industry specialist has raised its profitability forecast for 2024. Bénéteau is forecasting a current operating margin ‘significantly higher’ than the 4% to 6% it had previously expected for the financial year ending last December.

Investors considered the latest on tariffs, monetary policy and corporate earnings Tuesday and decided the S&P 500 was already priced just about right. The broad U.S. stock index added less than 0.1% in its smallest daily advance since November. Gains by Apple and IBM helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, or about 123 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% as shares of Tesla, Nvidia and Alphabet declined. Major indexes started the day lower after President Trump signed off on 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to the U.S. Stocks pared their losses after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a Senate committee that because the economy is doing well, the central bank can take its time deciding when and whether to cut interest rates. A widespread view that the Fed will hold rates steady at its March meeting grew even more uniform Tuesday, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The market’s expectation that rates will remain unchanged in May also strengthened. Meanwhile, earnings season rolled on, with Coca-Cola, S&P Global and DuPont unveiling results that beat Wall Street expectations. Coke shares rose 4.7%, S&P shares advanced 4.9% and DuPont shares jumped 6.8% for the day. With reports from about two-thirds of S&P 500 companies, 77% exceeded profit forecasts, according to FactSet.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Wednesday. The Nikkei index in Tokyo rose by 0.3 per cent to 38,935 points. The Kospi in Seoul advanced by 0.3 per cent. Hong Kong is the clear winner of the day with the HSI up 1.5 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite barely moves. Alibaba Group surged by over 6 per cent, boosted by a report that the company may be working with Apple to provide services for iPhone users. In Tokyo, Softbank Corp. soared 4.3 per cent. The provider of telecommunications and network services increased its profit by 7.4 per cent in the first nine months. Softbank Group's share price increased by 3.3 per cent. Nissan lost over 6 per cent. According to a media report, the Chairman of the Taiwanese Foxconn Technology Group, Young Liu, expressed disappointment that Foxconn is aiming to cooperate with Nissan, rather than acquiring the car manufacturer.

U.S. government debt continued to sell off on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expressed patience regarding future adjustments to the central bank’s main interest-rate target. The 10-year Treasury note yield gained 4 basis points (0.04 percentage points) to 4.54%. The 2-year Treasury note yield edged up 1 basis point to 4.3%.

Deutsche Bank upgrades UBS to Buy (Hold)/target CHF 37 (29) - Traders
Target price ABB: Goldman Sachs lifts to CHF 56 (53) - Neutral
Rating Julius Baer: Kepler Cheuvreux downgrades to Hold (Buy) - Target CHF 58 (64)

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