Before the bell: China gives the West a taste of its own medicine

CATL puts Hong Kong on the map. FDA goes easy on vaccine makers. Roularta shows no shame with stingy buyout offer.

There was little excitement or movement on the US (S&P 500 -0.4%) and European markets (Stoxx 50 +0.5%), but plenty of action in Asia. The successful listing of Chinese battery giant CATL (up 16% yesterday, another 10% this morning) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is symbolic in more ways than one. Asia and China are taking the lead in some technologies, and just as importantly: they are no longer automatically second- or third-tier players on the capital markets. In the past, a company like CATL—already listed in Shenzhen—would likely have chosen New York for its secondary listing. This time, it was Hong Kong. The city has a solid base of international investors, though Americans without a non-US domicile were barred from participating. Still, the IPO was a great success. On Wall Street, vaccine makers like Moderna (+6%) and Pfizer (+2.3%) rallied after the FDA decided not to impose stricter approval rules, contrary to fears. Brussels standouts included Biotalys (+8.8%), thanks to a new partnership; Jensen-Group (+8.3%) with stellar earnings; and Deme (+5.1%), after the US reversed its earlier block on an offshore wind farm project.

This morning, Hong Kong is up 0.6%, while Tokyo slips 0.5%. In Brussels, CMB.Tech and Home Invest released updates before the bell, with Ascencio to follow after hours. Greenyard announced that profits are under pressure and that it will not pay a dividend. The company is preparing a buyout offer at 7.4 euro per share.

Roularta, the media group of “always too little”

Yesterday marked the start of the 15.50 euro per share buyout offer by the De Nolf family for all Roularta shares, with the intention of delisting the company. The bidder claims the stock market listing no longer benefits Roularta. Fair enough—though it must be said that they are largely responsible for that themselves. The media group has significantly lagged behind other Flemish publishers like Mediahuis and DPG, and has created very little value. Should minority shareholders now be expected to partly foot the bill by accepting a lowball offer well below a fair minimum valuation? The question answers itself. Our advice: wait out the offer period and do not tender your shares. There will almost certainly be a reopening, and even then, it’s highly unlikely that Roularta will succeed in delisting. The De Nolf family currently owns 72.3% of the shares, but needs to reach 95% of all shares and 90% of the free float to force a delisting. The magazine business may lack strong growth prospects, but the 50% stake in Mediafin (publisher of De Tijd) is worth far more than the 48.8 million euro figure quoted in a Roularta-paid valuation study by Degroof Petercam.

Elia meets high expectations

The operator of Belgium’s and part of Germany’s high-voltage electricity grid held its annual general meeting yesterday and published its Q1 update this morning. Elia confirmed expectations: revenue grew 30%, and net profit rose between 16% and 28%, within a range of 490 to 540 million euro. Over the next four years, Elia will carry out a massive investment programme totalling 31.6 billion euro, with a guaranteed return. Elia is also involved in some non-regulated activities, including (limited) investments in wind farms in the United States. These projects could be blocked by President Trump. The company expects an update soon.

Did you know…

that the Boeing 747 that Qatar is reportedly offering to Donald Trump has been up for sale for years without success? The aircraft, now 13 years old, is barely used and extremely costly to maintain.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.