DE40: DAX returns to ATH📈 What the quarterly earnings of fashion giant Kering showed❓

• European stock markets in uptrend, DAX returns to ATH
• BP and Kering results in focus
• UniCredit fails to impress with results and comments after Q4 report

Overall Market Situation: European markets are trending mostly positive, with most indexes on a slight upswing. Germany's DE40 gains 0.1% during Monday's session and breaks out to new historic highs.

In the broader European market, we see mixed sentiment among major economic sectors. The oil sector is doing well following BP's results. Source: xStation

The German DE40 index is gaining ground today and is back in the zones of historical highs. The most important support for the index invariably remains the 50-day EMA (blue curve on the chart) and the support area of the consolidation zone near 21,230 points. Technically, the DE40 continues to maintain a stable upward trend all the time. Source: xStation

Corporate news:

Kering (KER.FR) shares gained as much as 6.7% today after the Gucci owner's earnings showed a slight improvement in leather goods. Ultimately, however, these gains could not be sustained, as at the time of writing this report the company's shares had completely erased these movements. 

Below you will find the most important findings from the published report:

FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS

• Comparable revenues -12%, estimates -13.3% 
  Revenues €4.39 billion, -12% y/y, estimates €4.24 billion
  Gucci revenues €1.92 billion, -24% y/y, estimates €1.95 billion
  Yves Saint Laurent revenue €770 million, -7.8% y/y, estimate €738.2 million
  Bottega Veneta revenue 480 million euros, +11% y/y, estimate 452.1 million euros
  Other Houses revenues €818 million, -4.1% y/y, estimated €786.3 million
  Spectacles and Corporate revenues €434 million, +19% y/y, €405 million estimate

RESULTS FOR 2024

• Comparable revenues -12%, estimate -11.6%
• Revenue €17.19 billion, -12% y/y, estimate €17.01 billion
• Ebitda margin 27.1% vs. 33.6% y/y, estimates 25.1%
• Net profit €1.13 billion, -62% y/y, estimates €1.31 billion
• Dividend per share €6, estimate €6.53

OUR COMMENT:

Kering's results may reassure some investors that trends are improving moderately. However, this does not change the fact that the company still has a lot of work ahead of it to permanently return to the growth trajectory of several years ago. The acceleration of the brand's revenue growth is gratifying, but less pronounced than for other brands. For investors, the key issue in the short term may be who will take over the role of creative director of the Gucci brand after the recent departure of Sabato De Sarno. 

Shares of oil giant BP (BP.UK) are also in high demand. The company's shares are currently losing 0.4%, but early in the session the shares opened with a gap up. Attention turned primarily to an expected review of the company's strategy for future years, which is expected to improve its business fundamentals. BP confirmed plans to repurchase $1.75 billion worth of shares during the current quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS

• Adjusted Ebit $4.03 billion, estimates $3.88 billion
• Adjusted net income $1.17 billion, estimate $1.3 billion
• Capital expenditures $3.89 billion, estimate $3.37 billion
• Cash flow from operations $7.43 billion, estimate $6.13 billion
• Net debt $23.00 billion, estimate $23.99 billion
• Debt ratio 22.7%, estimated 23.9%
• Adjusted EPS 7.36c, forecast 8.43c
• Dividend per share 8,000c, estimate 8,000c

UniCredit SpA (UCG.IT) failed to impress investors with its promise to return more money in the coming years and its overall Q4 report. UniCredit warned that lower interest rates and the winding down of its Russian operations meant that adjusted profit would remain flat this year.

UniCredit's Q4 2024 results:

- Revenue €6.00 billion (estimated €5.87 billion)

- Net profit €1.97 billion (estimate €1.62 billion)

- Net interest income €3.65 billion (estimate €3.47 billion)

- Fee and commission income €1.98 billion (estimate €1.96 billion)

Other news from individual DAX index companies. Source: Bloomberg Financial LP