Wedbush Morning Call - Nov 21 2024 7:10AM

Polaris Release Timing Remains Uncertain; PT to PLN 160

WOOD Daily: AEGN GA; GTC PW; AQ RO; GEV CP; HSBK LI; BFT PW; MOH GA; K...

HEADLINES: • Aegean Airlines: high net cash position and strong FCFF yield (upgraded to BUY) • GTC: buys German residential portfolio worth EUR 448m • Aquila Part Prod Com S.A.: gross margin and wage costs weigh on the 3Q24 results NEUTRAL • GEVORKYAN: 3Q24 broadly in line with our expectations; new signed contracts for defence and high-tech industries NEUTRAL • Halyk Bank: 3Q24 highlights – solid, on the back of better-than-expected NIM • Benefit Systems: 3Q24 call takeaways – strong long-term ...

WOOD Flash – GTC: buys German residential portfolio worth EUR 448m

In a bold move, GTC is buying into a EUR 448m residential portfolio, comprised of apartments in three small German towns. Initially, this acquisition will not be FFO accretive, as the rental income will be consumed by opex and, chiefly, interest costs. GTC plans to sell a large part of the portfolio to small investors, building by building, over the next two years, hopefully at a profit. The money raised from the sales should be used to repay the more expensive part of the debt funding of the de...

WOOD Daily: BFT PW; PBK RO; CAR PW; FTSHP CP; AEGN GA; SFG RO; CBF PW;...

HEADLINES: • Benefit Systems: 3Q24 in line with our forecasts; solid trading update; 2025E outlook and 2025-27E strategy POSITIVE • Patria Bank: strong 3Q24 results POSITIVE • Inter Cars: 3Q24 EBITDA 1-4% below our and the market's expectations NEUTRAL • Footshop (NOT RATED): solid 3Q24; 2024E guidance boosted POSITIVE • Aegean Airlines: 3Q24 – flat RASK, CASKX up 14%; 27% lower EBIT, on 4% lower ASK (in line) NEUTRAL • Sphera Group: 3Q24 post-results webcast takeaways POSITIVE • cyber_Folks: ke...

WOOD Daily: EAT PW; EUR PW; CBF PW; MBR PW; ALE PW; VRC PW; TEN PW; PK...

HEADLINES: • AmRest: 3Q24 in line, on a EUR 9m positive one-off NEGATIVE • Eurocash: 3Q24 weak, as expected; FY25E guidance cancelled NEGATIVE • cyber_Folks: 3Q24 results review – 26% yoy adjusted EBITDA growth, 2% above our estimate POSITIVE • Mo-BRUK: 3Q24 EBITDA up 26% yoy, 22-28% above our and the market's expectations POSITIVE • Allegro: 3Q24 EBITDA beat, but yoy decline guided for 4Q24E, due to international operations NEUTRAL • Vercom: 3Q24 results - 28% yoy EBITDA growth, in line with ou...

WOOD Daily: OTP HB; CCC PW; DNP PW; INPST NA; MOL HB; WIZZ LN; EUROB G...

HEADLINES: • OTP Bank: solid 3Q24 results, in line with our forecasts; future share price performance depends on growth guidance and/or capital distribution NEUTRAL • CCC: historically-best quarterly EBITDA 9% above our expectations, due to opex control POSITIVE • Dino Polska: 4-8% EBITDA beats in 3Q24, EBITDA back on the rise POSITIVE • InPost: 3Q24 in line with expectations; FY24E guidance upgrade POSITIVE • MOL: 3Q24 results – EBITDA in line with our and the consensus estimates NEUTRAL • Wizz...

WOOD Daily: PEO PW; PKO PW; WIZZ LN; BVB RO; TBCG LN; CTPNV NA; AIRA L...

HEADLINES: • Bank Pekao: posts strong 3Q24; one of the cheapest among the Polish banks, but remains hostage to merger risk • PKO BP: 3Q24 results – no major surprises • Wizz Air: 2Q FY25 – small miss, with better fuel, but higher ex-fuel cask than we expected NEUTRAL • Bucharest Stock Exchange: weak 3Q24 results NEGATIVE • TBC Bank: 3Q24 results and conference call POSITIVE • CTP: 3Q24 in line; development-led growth continues NEUTRAL • Air Astana Group: 3Q24 EBITDA up by 10% yoy, exceeding the ...

WOOD Daily: OTKAR TI; TPEIR GA; BRISA TI; ELM AB; JAHEZ AB; ALK MS; EM...

HEADLINES: • Otokar: weak set of 3Q24 results NEGATIVE • Piraeus Financial Holdings: 3Q24 highlights – decent quarter, with revised guidance POSITIVE • Brisa: profitability should return in 4Q, on October price hikes NEUTRAL • Elm: strong 3Q24 financial results POSITIVE • Jahez: strong 3Q24 results POSITIVE • Alkaloid AD Skopje: strong 3Q24 sales and a qoq margin rebound POSITIVE • EME Macro/Strategy: macro all-in-one (28 October-3 November) • Magyar Telekom: reaches agreement with the trade uni...

The Rear-View Mirror – EME markets: only the Czech Republic in the bla...

EME Equity Market – October 2024 A red October for the EME indices, only Czechia in positive territory. The MSCI EM Europe Index declined by 6.0% in EUR terms and 8.4% in USD terms in October. The Czech PX index was the only one spared, adding 1.3% mom in EUR terms. Türkiye was battered the most, with the Turkish ISE30 declining by 7.3% mom in EUR terms, followed closely by the Polish WIG20 (-6.7% mom in EUR terms). Greece fell 4.8% mom in EUR terms, while the Hungarian BUX index lost 2.7% mom i...

WOOD Daily: EBS AV; MBK PW; ING PW; JMT PL; KOMB CP; MCOVB SS; TKNSA T...

HEADLINES: • Erste Bank: 3Q24 results – strong NII delivery • mBank: underlying 3Q34 business delivery in line; beat on headline net profit due to tax charges NEUTRAL • ING BSK: 3Q24 results – minor miss on high credit risk charges, as corporate NPL ratio surges NEUTRAL • Jeronimo Martins: beat in 3Q24, Biedronka at -2% lfl and stable margin erosion; price war continues POSITIVE • Komercni Banka: 3Q24 results – net profit largely in line with expectations • Medicover: 3Q24 operating numbers in l...

LSI Software S.A.: 1 director

A director at LSI Software S.A. sold 320,000 shares at 13.000PLN and the significance rating of the trade was 78/100. Is that information sufficient for you to make an investment decision? This report gives details of those trades and adds context and analysis to them such that you can judge whether these trading decisions are ones worth following. Included in the report is a detailed share price chart which plots discretionary trades by all the company's directors over the last two years clea...

WOOD Daily: ACP PW; EME Macro/Strategy Weekly; GE Macro; ARCLK TI; SOL...

HEADLINES: • Asseco Poland: profitability rebound slower than expected (downgraded to HOLD) • EME Macro/Strategy: macro all-in-one (21-27 October) • Georgia macro: early takes following the parliamentary election • Arcelik: weak set of results in 3Q24 NEGATIVE • Solutions by STC: 3Q24 results NEGATIVE • Budimex: 3Q24 EBIT marginally above our and the market's expectations NEUTRAL • Cimsa: 3Q24 conference call takeaways • PKO BP: three of four largest minority shareholders act jointly to call EGM...

Asseco Poland: profitability rebound slower than expected (downgraded ...

We have downgraded Asseco Poland (ACP) to HOLD (from Buy) and cut our price target (PT) to PLN 102.5 (from PLN 103.0), implying 12% upside potential. We take profit after ACP’s stock price has rallied 31% ytd, but we remain positive on the name and would take advantage of any price correction. We continue to believe that ACP should benefit from easing pressure on salaries, AI-powered tools application and EU funds inflows into Poland. However, the profitability improvement story is unfolding mor...

PSA Media & Entertainment: Video Games Round-Up

It has been a busy week for bean counters in the video games industry, with the release of global console sales data for September, US software and hardware markets for September, and weekly software sales for UK, Japan and Steam. These figures seem to paint a similar picture: hardware sales are bad, though not as bad as over the summer, while software sales are okay. Pelham Smithers elaborates.

WOOD Daily: ASELS TI; KTY PW; KAP LI; SHO PW; MIL PW; BHW PW; VRC PW; ...

HEADLINES: • Aselsan: 3Q24 results – top-down small beat POSITIVE • Kety: wants to increase its share in the French market NEUTRAL • Kazatomprom: EGM announced to ratify a Chinese contract NEUTRAL • Shoper: 24% yoy growth expected in 3Q24E adjusted EBITDA (due on 24 October) • Bank Millennium: 3Q24E preview (due on 29 October) • Bank Handlowy: 3Q24E preview (due on 13 November) • Vercom: 3Q24E results preview – 29% yoy adjusted EBITDA growth (due on 13 November) • CD Projekt: 3Q24E EBITDA up 35%...

CI Games - Strategic roadmap to 2028

CI Games outlined its updated strategy to 2028 at its H124 results. The strategy focuses on greater efficiencies to produce higher-quality games, while growing its audience base, and includes three major releases, two of which build on existing intellectual property (IP) franchises Lords of the Fallen (LotF) and Sniper Ghost Warrior (SGW). Centralised project management should result in greater efficiencies realised through cross-studio talent sharing and a more player-first focus. The interim r...

The Rear-View Mirror – EME markets: Greece rebounds, elsewhere mostly ...

EME Equity Market - September 2024 EME indices mostly in the red in September; rebound in Greece. The MSCI EM Europe Index declined 2.0% in EUR terms and 1.1% in USD terms in September. The Greek ASE Index was the best performer in our region, advancing 1.4% mom in EUR terms. Muted performances were seen in Czechia and Hungary (+0.3% and +0.2% mom, respectively in EUR terms), with declines in Poland, Romania and Turkey (-3.6%, -2.9% and -1.5% mom, respectively in EUR terms).

WOOD Daily: CZG CP; PGSUS TI; ALE PW; ECH PW; APR PW; HSBK LI

HEADLINES: • Colt CZ Group SE: full metal jacket (stays BUY) • Pegasus Airlines: another good year (stays HOLD) • Allegro: 2Q24 above expectations, but growth deceleration guided for 3Q24E NEUTRAL • Echo Investment: 2Q24 ahead of PAP consensus expectations • Auto Partner: key takeaways from the 2Q24 earnings call NEUTRAL • Halyk Bank: announces programme to buy back up to USD 50m of its GDRs

WOOD Daily: LAMDA GA; CZG CP; PKN PW; VGO PW; KMGZ KZ; PCO PW

HEADLINES: • Lamda Development: 2Q24 – good sales at the Ellinikon, capex to accelerate NEUTRAL • Colt CZ Group SE: 1H24 results – better than expected POSITIVE • Orlen: discussing possible deals for Grupa Azoty’s polyolefins business NEUTRAL • VIGO Photonics: signs a conditional agreement with the EIB for the financing of the HyperPIC project NEUTRAL • KazMunayGas: begins construction of a polyethylene complex NEUTRAL • Pepco Group: 4Q24E trading update preview (due on 26 September)