Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 20th August 2026

ASIA APAC stocks were predominantly higher following a similar positive lead from Wall Street, where most of the major indices gained as yields and the dollar declined after the US Treasury doubled buybacks of long-term bonds. ASX 200 marginally gained with outperformance seen in miners and as participants digested a slew of earnings updates, although the upside is capped as financials lagged, and following disappointing jobs data. Nikkei 225 was underpinned by a rebound in tech, a pullback in yields and stronger-than-expected trade data. KOSPI led the advances in the region amid upside in the tech heavyweights, with SK Hynix shares up double digits following the announcement of a KRW 40tln share buyback, while there were reports that Samsung Electronics is planning to announce a shareholder return plan topping KRW 100tln. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the positive mood but with gains capped amid a deluge of earnings updates and as participants await Alibaba's earnings report, while the mainland is also contained after the PBoC kept its 7-day reverse repo operations at zero, and it maintained the benchmark Loan Prime Rates at their current levels for the 15th consecutive month. Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is reportedly planning to announce a shareholder return plan of over KRW 100tln, using 50% of FCF for shareholder returns, with the measures expected to focus mainly on cash dividends, MoneyToday reports. (MoneyToday) EUROPEAN CLOSES CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.39% at 6,443, Dax 40 +0.01% at 26,130, FTSE 100 +0.14% at 10,743, CAC 40 -0.09% at 8,502, FTSE MIB -0.75% at 52,618, IBEX 35 -0.44% at 19,848, PSI -0.71% at 9,239, SMI +0.46% at 14,387, AEX -0.44% at 1,102 FTSE 100 Ex-Dividends - Imperial Brands (IMB LN), Investec (INVP LN), Centrica (CNA LN), Anglo American (AAL LN), ConvaTec (CTEC LN), Legal & General (LGEN LN), InterContinental Hotels (IHG LN) and Entain (ENT LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend. (dividenddata) Standard Chartered (STAN LN) - A Co. top executive says they are helping its wealth management clients move some of their assets to hedge funds to better cushion the impact of heightened market volatility. (Reuters) OTHER UK COMPANIES BROKER MOVES DAX OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES Freenet (FNTN GY) - Co. is reportedly close to a deal to buy out minority investors in its television streaming platform Waipu.TV, with a deal that could be announced in the coming days, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg) BROKER MOVES Brenntag (BNR GY) reinitiated with Underperform at BofA Merck KGaA (MRK GY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS CAC Pernod Ricard (RI FP) - India's food safety regulator reportedly inspected a factory and collected liquor samples as part of a wider investigation, Reuters reports. The source added that Pernod needs to improve its hygiene. (Reuters) OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES BROKER MOVES Michelin (ML FP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan Sartorius Stedim Biotech (DIM FP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS PAN EUROPE Aegon (AGN NA) - H1 2026 (EUR): Operating Profit 804mln (exp. 752mln), OCG after Holding Funding and Operating Expenses 416mln (exp. 376mln), Cash Capital at Holding 1.70bln (exp. 1.62bln). Raises interim dividend by 11% to EUR 0.21 and increases the current share buyback by an additional EUR 150mln. Says they are on track to meet or exceed all Group financial ambitions for 2026. Additionally, Co. announced that CFO Russell is to step down in April 2027. (Aegon) PZU Group (PZU PW) - Q2 2026 (PLN): Net Profit 1.65bln (exp. 1.52bln), Pretax Profit 4.59bln (prev. 4.06bln Y/Y), Operating Profit 4.59bln (prev. 4.06bln Y/Y). (PZU) SBO (SBO AV) - H1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 204.7mln (prev. 253.6mln Y/Y), EBITDA 24.2mln (prev. 44.5mln Y/Y), Bookings 235.3mln (prev. 216.9mln Y/Y). Expects a further recovery in H2'26. A gradual normalisation of activity and logistics in the Middle East would provide additional upside potential, once deferred customer programs are resumed. (SBO) BROKER MOVES SMI OTHER SWISS COMPANIES BCV (BCVN SW) - H1 2026 (CHF): Revenue 593mln (exp. 585.5mln), Net Income 225mln (prev. 221mln Y/Y), NII 268mln (prev. 268mln Y/Y). (BCV) Swiss Prime Site (SPSN SW) - H1 2026 (CHF): FFO per share 2.15 (prev. 2.10 Y/Y), EBITDA 208.7mln (prev. 199.5mln Y/Y), Rental Income 230.6mln (prev. 225.5mln Y/Y). Confirms FY26 guidance. (Swiss Prime Site) BROKER MOVES Huber & Suhner (HUBN SW) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Vontobel SCANDINAVIA ALK-Abello (ALKB DC) - Q2 2026 (DKK): Revenue 1.8bln (exp. 1.75bln), EBIT 445mln (prev. 375mln Y/Y). Tablet Sales 1.01bln (prev. 0.83bln Y/Y). Narrows its FY26 revenue growth guidance to 14-16% (prev. guided 13-16%). (ALK-Abello) GN Store Nord (GN DC) - Q2 2026 (DKK): Revenue 2.17bln (exp. 2.16bln), EBITA 110mln (prev. 164mln Y/Y), Gross Profit 1.13bln (prev. 1.16bln Y/Y). Raises its FY26 Adj. EBITA margin between 9-10% (prev. guided 8-9%) and narrows its organic revenue growth outlook to 0-3% (prev. guided 0-6%). (GN Store Nord) Holmen (HOLMB SS) - Q2 2026 (SEK): Revenue 5.63bln (exp. 5.42bln), EBITDA 1.05bln (prev. 1.18bln Q/Q), Operating Profit 689mln (prev. 827mln Q/Q). (Holmen) Orkla (ORK NO) - Q2 2026 (NOK): Operating Revenue 16.7bln (exp. 17.6bln, prev. 17.65bln Y/Y), Adj. EBIT 1.77bln (prev. 1.87bln Y/Y), Adj. EPS 1.60 (exp. 1.58, prev. 1.56 Y/Y). (Orkla) Skanska (SKAB SS) - Co. signs a contract to build 4 new data centres in the SE of the US, worth around SEK 11.2bln. (Skanska) BROKER MOVES Jyske Bank (JYSK DC) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SEB Nokian Renkaat (TYRES FH) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan US CLOSES: SPX +0.22% at 7,708, NDX -0.22% at 29,426, DJI +0.22% at 53,468, RUT +0.50% at 3,033 SECTORS: Industrials -0.89%, Technology -0.73%, Financials -0.61%, Energy -0.3%, Utilities flat, Communication services +0.53%, Real estate +0.74%, Consumer staples +0.79%, Materials +1.67%, Consumer discretionary +2.15%, Health +3.52% Coty (COTY) - Coty shares fell 4.3% in extended US trading after forecasting weaker than expected quarterly earnings, and withholding FY guidance amid its business overhaul, outweighing a stronger than expected revenue performance. Q4 adj. EPS -0.02 (exp. -0.01), Q4 revenue USD 1.27bln (exp. 1.2bln). LFL revenue -1%, including an estimated 1% sales headwind from the Middle East conflict. Interim CEO said Q4 showed early signs of stabilisation, with sales and profit ahead of targets and improved LFL trends, though sell-out performance remains below market levels in both divisions. He said FY27 will be a transition year as Coty strengthens its core business, progresses the Gucci exit by FY28, and completes its Consumer Beauty strategic review by the end of calendar year 26. Sees Q1 adj. EPS between 0.11-0.13 (exp. 0.14), sees Q1 LFL revenue declining by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage and sees Q1 adj. EBITDA declining by a low-teens percentage Y/Y, representing a sequential improvement from H2 FY26. Coty withheld FY27 guidance.