ING wins on scratching AEX | Financial

At around 2.40 p.m., the AEX index was 0.6% lower at 559.5 points. The AMX fell 0.04% to 786 points. The price boards in London (-1.8%), Paris (-1.2%) and Frankfurt (-0.8%) also turned red.

According to Rabobank economist Stefan Koopman, there were better-than-expected German factory orders today, but they did not inspire a buying appetite among investors. They were already captivated by the American jobs report that will be released on Friday.

Analysts expect the number of jobs in the US to grow by 1.5 million last month, but that forecast appears to be too high. From a report by pay slip processor ADP it turned out on Wednesday that only 167,000 jobs had been added in July. “The chance of a negative surprise is greater on Friday than the chance of a positive surprise,” Koopman warned.

The US stock markets are expected to open approximately 0.2% lower this afternoon a 0.5% to 1.4% higher lock on Wednesday. An hour before stock exchange trading in New York started, it was announced that the weekly unemployment benefit applications in the US have fallen to 1.18 million. Analysts expected 1.4 million aid applications.

Bank of England

The Bank of England reported today that the UK economy will take longer to recover from the corona crisis than previously thought. However, the UK central bank does not want the key interest rate to drop below 0% in the near future. The interest rate remains are currently at 0.1%.

“The Bank of England has informed the markets that negative interest rates should not be expected in the coming months, partly because the central bank is concerned with what such a move could mean for commercial banks. The Fed has said more or less the same thing, ”said Rabobank economist Koopman. “This leaves the ECB and the Bank of Japan somewhat alone with their policy of negative interest rates. Central bankers’ view of negative interest rates is currently somewhat less positive than in recent years. ”

ING at the top in AEX, Unibail at the bottom

In the AEX arc ING an opening loss of 2% to a price gain of 4.4%. Due to the corona crisis, the bank set aside more than € 1.3 billion in the second quarter for loans that may never be repaid. Partly because of this, net profit has plummeted by more than 79% to € 299 million. The recently appointed CEO Steven van Rijswijk emphasizes that, despite the circumstances, the bank has interest income but saw light sink back.

NN was worth 2.4% more. The insurer increased its operating profit in the first half of the year thanks to further cost savings. The company behind Nationale-Nederlanden, like competitor ASR, will reward its shareholders with an interim dividend and buying back own shares.

Real estate fund Unibail (-3.8%) was the largest fall in the main funds. The stock market heavyweights Prosus (-1.6%) in Shell (-2%) were also at a loss.

Broadcaster Randstad left 0.8%. Industry colleague Adecco was hit hard in the second quarter by the corona crisis. Demand for temporary agency workers has stalled worldwide, which had a significant impact on the company’s financial performance. Adecco emphasized in an explanation that it has seen a “gradual improvement” in its markets in June and July.

Fagron leads AMX

Shot in the AMX Fagron Up 3.3%. The pharmacy supplier saw sales and profits in the first six months of the year grow considerably. The virus outbreak led to increased demand for the disease-related products from the company. But there was also a lower demand for plannable care, which affected the Compounding Services division, where pharmaceuticals are custom-made from compounding pharmacies.

Maritime oil service provider SBM Offshore (+ 2.7%) increased its profit forecast for the full year. Despite the weak market conditions in the oil and gas industry due to the sharply lower oil price and the impact of the corona crisis, the company was able to reduce its costs through improved operational performance.

GrandVision (-0.8%) this week had a visit from bailiffs who, on behalf of the intended buyer EssilorLuxottica, came to secure information on the servers of the parent group of the optical chains Pearle and Eye Wish. This move is part of the lawsuit filed by EssilorLuxottica, because GrandVision is said to provide too little information about how the company is going through the corona crisis. It is GrandVision disagree.

Avery for Hunter Douglas and Ctac

Fell on the local market Hunter Douglas 3.8%. The window coverer expects lower turnover this year due to the corona crisis. This was evident from a trading report for the first half of the year, in which the company was hit hard by the corona crisis. Revenue during the measurement period was nearly $ 1.5 billion, down 18% from the first half last year. The bottom line was a profit of $ 28.5 million, up from more than $ 125 million a year earlier. Hunter Douglas did hit the red numbers in the second quarter. The company recorded a loss of $ 10.1 million for the period. The company is restructuring its activities due to the expected lower turnover.

Automator Ctac (-6,9%) managed to increase sales in the first six months. The company owed this in full to the takeover of a consultancy. Without this incorporation, revenues would have declined slightly due to the impact of the corona crisis on customers. In the first six months of the year, sales increased by 2.7% to € 42.5 million. Ctac recorded a net profit of € 600,000 in the first half of the year. The company broke even a year earlier. Ctac started cleaning up its product offering this year. It will continue in the second half of the year. In it, the company also expects the turnover levels at customers in the Netherlands and Belgium to further improve.

At pottery manufacturer Porceleyne Fles major shareholder leaves John Fentener of Vlissingen as a supervisory director. He gives up his place on the supervisory board to his grandson Jean-Paul Honegger. Fentener van Vlissingen saved the manufacturer of Delft blue from destruction in 2003. The Porceleyne Fles share was unchanged.

Coca-Cola European Partners (+ 0.3%) made a three-quarter lower profit in the first half year than a year earlier. The bottler for Coca-Cola in Europe suffered from lockdowns, as a result of which consumers drank less soft drinks in the catering industry or at events. In the first six months of the year, sales decreased by over 16% to € 4.8 billion. A profit of € 126 million remained under the line. Coca-Cola European Partners saw the situation improve in the course of the first half year. For example, the volume of soft drink packaging delivered in June was only 9% below the level of a year earlier. In July, those volumes are in line with the previous month.

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