European Midday Briefing : Fresh U.S. Bank Stock -2-

Akzo Nobel NV said Tuesday that first-quarter net profit fell after booking higher costs but beat consensus estimates, and that it expects the current macroeconomic uncertainties to continue and weigh on organic volume growth in 2023.

The Dutch paints company-which houses the Dulux, Polycell and Cuprinol brands-made a net income for the quarter of 94 million euros ($103.9 million) compared with EUR154 million for the first quarter of 2022, and net income estimates of EUR89.2 million, taken from FactSet and based on two analysts' forecasts.

Daimler Truck 1Q Earnings Surged on Higher Sales

Daimler Truck Holding AG's first-quarter earnings came in above expectations amid high demand for its vehicles, according to preliminary figures released by the company late Monday.

The German maker of commercial vehicles booked adjusted group earnings before interest and taxes of 1.16 billion euros ($1.28 billion,) beating market expectations, according to consensus figures provided by the company. In the same period last year, Daimler Truck made adjusted EBIT of EUR651 million.

Nestle 1Q Sales Rose; Backs 2023 Outlook

Nestle SA on Tuesday reported a rise in sales volumes in the first quarter of the year as the company stepped up pricing against significant cost inflation.

The Swiss consumer-goods giant reported quarterly sales of 23.47 billion Swiss francs ($26.45 billion), from CHF 22.24 billion in the previous-year period. Analysts had forecast sales of CHF23.27 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.

Anglo American 1Q Production Rose 9% On Year; Backs 2023 Guidance

Anglo American PLC on Tuesday said its first-quarter production rose 9% compared with the same period the previous year driven by copper production at its new mine in Peru as well as improvements in its steelmaking coal and iron ore business operations.

The FTSE 100-listed diversified mining group kept its production and unit cost guidance for 2023 unchanged across all of its business units.

AB Foods Backs FY 2023 Views After 1H Sales Rose, Although Profit Fell

Associated British Foods PLC said Tuesday that adjusted operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 fell, but backed its full-year guidance amid robust sales growth and less volatile inflation, and raised its dividend payout.

The British conglomerate posted an adjusted operating profit--which strips out exceptional and other one-off items-for the 24 weeks ended March 4 of 684 million pounds ($854 million) compared with GBP706 million for the year-earlier period.

Whitbread says current performance is strong despite economic uncertainties.

Whitbread PLC UK:WTB said Tuesday that its current performance is strong despite economic uncertainties as it reported a rise in pretax profit for fiscal 2023 and launched a 300 million-pound ($374.6 million) buyback program which it expects to complete in the first half of fiscal 2024.

The owner of budget hotel chain Premier Inn said the board is confident in the outlook for fiscal 2024, with an expected capital expenditure in the GBP400 million to GBP450 million range.

Randstad first quarter net profit dips to EUR152 million.

Randstad NV NL:RAND on Tuesday reported a fall in first-quarter net profit after booking higher costs and against continued challenging macroeconomic conditions across its market, and said that trends have continued into April.

The Dutch staffing company made a net profit for the quarter of 152 million euros ($167.0 million) compared with EUR207 million for the comparable period a year earlier.

GLOBAL NEWS

A Recession May Be Coming. Or Not. Buy Stocks Anyway.

With recession worries mounting, it may be time for investors to load up on stocks. Yes, you read that correctly.

Wall Street has been fretting over a looming recession for much of the last year after the Federal Reserve embarked on its rapid rate-rising path to ease inflation that was running at multi-decade highs. But while parts of the economy feel the sting of a slowing economy-the tech industry has laid off thousands of workers this year-many on Wall Street have come to believe that even if a recession materializes, it might not be as bad as some fear. With recession worries largely baked into the market-barring a sudden shock to the economy-it makes sense for investors to reintroduce riskier assets into their portfolios.

Bitcoin Is Falling. Liquidity Concerns Are Rising.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were dropping Tuesday, with market attention on a potential decline in monetary liquidity.

Bitcoin has fallen 0.6% over the last 24 hours to around $27,300. That consolidates a drop from heights of above $30,000 reached last week.

Sliding Diesel Prices Signal Warning for U.S. Economy

A nationwide freight slowdown has helped cut U.S. diesel prices by half from last year's record, raising concerns that parts of the world's largest economy have begun to slow.

Wholesale diesel recently fell to $2.65 a gallon in New York Harbor, down from $5.34 last May, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent commodity markets haywire and turned prices advertised at gas stations into street-level reminders of inflation's 40-year highs. Record diesel costs made it more expensive to operate excavators at construction sites, run machinery on farms, and haul goods from ports, rail yards or factory floors.

Chinese Banks Pressured to Lower Deposit Rates, Report Says

Chinese banks cut deposit interest rates in response to narrowing net interest margins as Beijing continued to pressure down financing costs to help the economy recover, the state-run Security Daily reported Tuesday.

In their annual earnings reports, seven listed Chinese banks reported net interest margins-the difference in lending and borrowing rates-below 1.8%, the level they are supposed to maintain according to the official regulations taking effect this month, said the newspaper.

The U.S. Wants a Rare-Earths Supply Chain. Here's Why It Won't Come Easily.

A bipartisan bill set to be introduced in Congress this week would offer a tax credit for establishing rare-earth magnet production in the U.S., a crucial component for the clean-energy transition. MP Materials efforts to build a local supply chain demonstrate the challenge for American producers.

The bill, to be introduced by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R., Pa.) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), includes a $20-a-kilogram credit for U.S.-made magnets, while manufacturers sourcing 90% of their component parts from U.S. producers could be entitled to a $30-a-kilogram credit, according to a draft seen by The Wall Street Journal. The credit is planned to be phased out by Dec. 31, 2035.

Supreme Court Allows State-Law Climate Suits Against Oil Companies to Proceed

WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals by oil companies seeking protection from potential liability under state laws for harms caused by climate change, a decision that at least for now allows a number of cases to move forward under state laws the industry sees as less favorable than federal environmental statutes.

Oil companies, among them Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell PLC, are facing lawsuits alleging varied environmental harms from greenhouse-gas emissions filed under state laws by Rhode Island and several local governments, including the city of Baltimore; Boulder and San Miguel counties, Colo.; Honolulu and Maui counties, Hawaii; and Marin, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, Calif.

Global Military Spending Hits Record Amid Ukraine War, China Tensions

The war in Ukraine and tensions over China's increased military clout pushed worldwide military spending to a record last year, and is expected to continue to boost demand for weapons.

Military spending rose by 3.7% to a record high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, according to data released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think tank known as Sipri. The figures mark the eighth consecutive year of spending growth.

U.S. Sent Teams into Foreign Networks to Hunt SolarWinds, Microsoft Hackers

SAN FRANCISCO-The U.S. military deployed teams of hackers to foreign networks in 2020, in the days after a major cyberattack on federal agencies was revealed. They hunted for intruders to study their behavior before shutting down their access, according to U.S. officials discussing the events publicly for the first time Monday.

Shortly after a long-running breach of SolarWinds Corp. software was disclosed by cybersecurity company FireEye Inc. in December 2020, the U.S. government moved quickly. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, identified around nine federal agencies that had been compromised, said Eric Goldstein, CISA's executive assistant director for cybersecurity, speaking on a panel Monday at the RSA Conference.

Options Narrow for People Trapped by Fighting in Sudan

Foreign governments continued to evacuate their personnel and dependents from Sudan on Monday, but for the millions of Sudanese and thousands of expatriates caught up in a lethal power battle between the country's top two generals, the options to get to safety were narrowing.

For a 10th day, the Sudanese military, commanded by Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country's de facto head of state, and Rapid Support Forces, a state-sponsored militia led by Gen. Burhan's deputy, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exchanged artillery and gunfire, residents reported. Jet fighters circled above the capital, Khartoum, and other parts of the country.

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04-25-23 0555ET