Before the bell: bank ahead

Burberry jumps on restructuring news, Tessenderlo launches new buyback, and KBC expands into Slovakia.

While the S&P 500 barely moved (+0.1%), the Nasdaq rose another 0.7% yesterday. Nvidia (+4.2%) was the standout performer, thanks to new contracts signed during Trump’s trade mission. Boeing (+0.6%) also secured fresh orders, though the aircraft manufacturer barely reacted. That said, Boeing has gained 9.6% over the past week. In Europe, most stock markets closed in the red, with indices down by 0.25% to 0.5%. London-listed Burberry surged 17% after announcing it would cut 1,700 jobs—one in five roles. Bayer (-10.4%), TUI (-10.9%), and Alstom (-17.3%) suffered sharp declines. Tessenderlo (+2.2%) launched a new share buyback programme.

In Asia, sellers dominated. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.25%, while Japan’s Topix dropped 1%. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines rose 3.1% in Tokyo, and carmakers Geely (+2.4%) and BYD (+3.5%) gained in Hong Kong. Today, we await results from 3i, Alibaba, Deutsche Telekom, Engie, John Deere, KBC, Siemens, Syensqo, and Walmart. Belgian student housing landlord Xior is holding its annual general meeting. In the United States, attention will turn to UnitedHealth following a Wall Street Journal report that the Department of Justice is investigating possible Medicare fraud.

A bank at home—and in Slovakia

KBC posted a net profit of 546 million euro last quarter, compared to 506 million euro a year ago. Analysts had expected 529 million euro. The bank-insurer also announced the acquisition of 98.45% of Slovak lender 365.bank, for 749 million euro—roughly ten times its average net profit over the past three years. Shareholders have more good news: the dividend policy is being revised upward. While KBC already returned “at least 50%” of profits in past years, that threshold will now be between “50% and 65%” of net earnings.

The cannibal returns

Tessenderlo CEO and major shareholder Luc Tack must have been frustrated watching only around 17,000 shares trade daily. He was clearly eager to restart buybacks, but earlier this year the board lowered the price cap to 25 euro per share (down from 30 euro). As a result, there haven’t been the usual daily purchases of 4,000 to 5,000 shares. That changes now. Tessenderlo has launched a new repurchase program, allowing its broker to buy shares again. Yesterday, Tessenderlo’s share price stood at 26.15 euro, while its book value per share was 31.52 euro. That alone may not justify a purchase, but with the company consistently delivering profits and value, we consider it a buy. The new buyback program is a positive step.

Did you know…

that Saxo is making headlines this morning? De Tijd reports: “Saxo becomes the first Belgian broker to launch an ETF savings plan for hammock investors.” We got wind of this a little earlier—and we’ll tell you more soon.

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