Before the bell: let’s raise a glass

Brewers and banks are performing well, while software stocks continue to struggle under the weight of AI. US job numbers came in far stronger than expected.

Yesterday, the average European stock slipped 0.2%. Belgium’s Bel20 did slightly better, rising 0.2%. Transmission system operator Elia (+3.3%) and AB InBev (+2.2%) stood out within the index. US investor Elliott Management has taken a stake in the London Stock Exchange Group. The activist investor is pushing LSEG, among other things, to launch a share buyback programme. In the United States, January employment data were released. The economy added 130,000 jobs during the month, nearly twice as many as economists had expected. The unemployment rate also declined to 4.3%. Yet the strong start to the year for the labour market did not translate into positive market moves. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished flat.

This morning in Asia, Japan’s Topix index is up 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is down 0.7%. In Belgium, AB InBev, KBC, Ontex and Sipef report results today. In the Netherlands, Adyen, Flow Traders, Unilever and Magnum Ice Cream publish their figures. In Germany, Mercedes-Benz, Thyssenkrupp and Siemens open their books. Across the Atlantic, Crocs, Zoetis, Zebra, Birkenstock and Applied Materials are set to report.

KBC posts another one-billion-euro quarterly profit

At 7 a.m. this morning, KBC released its fourth-quarter results. Just like in the third quarter, the Flemish bank-insurer reported a net profit of exactly one billion euro, or 2.44 euro per share. In the fourth quarter of last year, profit stood at 1.12 billion euro. Does that mean KBC is underperforming? Not at all. The result exceeded the 973 million euro analysts had expected on average. In Belgium alone, the group generated a quarterly net profit of 674 million euro, a remarkable 38% increase year-on-year and 14% higher than in the third quarter. Excluding the exceptional gain of 397 million euro booked in 2024, KBC’s full-year profit actually rose 18% to 3.568 billion euro. Shareholders can expect a dividend of 5.1 euro per share. One euro was already paid in November; the remaining 4.1 euro will be distributed in May. KBC expects to increase revenues by at least 9.9% this year, with insurance activities contributing at least 7.5% more. CEO Johan Thijs aims to further improve results by ensuring that costs rise more slowly than revenues.

Cocktails in a can

At the same time, the world’s largest brewer also published its fourth-quarter results. AB InBev asks for your date of birth before you can read its annual report. That is somewhat ironic, as the brewer’s portfolio contains an increasing share of low- and non-alcoholic beverages. AB InBev saw fourth-quarter revenue rise 2.5% to 15.5 billion dollar, while total volumes declined 1.5%. That is good news, as analysts had forecast a drop of more than 2%. Beer volumes fell 1.9%, but non-beer volumes increased 0.6%. Revenue growth in non-alcoholic beers reached 34%. The “Beyond Beer” segment now accounts for 3% of the brewer’s total revenue. In the United States, the Cutwater brand appears to be gaining strong traction, with revenue rising more than 100%. Cutwater produces ready-to-drink cocktails in cans. A bit like Spaarvarkens.be, where we also serve our members a daily cocktail of relevant market news — in the morning and in the evening.

Did you know…

that the United States is stockpiling copper? A year ago, inventories stood at just 80,000 tonnes. They have now risen to more than 500,000 tonnes, likely reflecting anticipated demand linked to electrification.

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