ROUNDUP 2/Weak chip environment: Infineon lowers forecast - shares close at the bottom of the DAX

NEUBIBERG - The chip group Infineon cannot escape the weak semiconductor environment and is lowering its forecast for the current financial year. In view of full inventories, customers are initially reducing their stocks. Business outside the automotive sector is proving particularly difficult. In addition, the weaker US dollar will have a considerable negative impact on the balance sheet. Group CEO Jochen Hanebeck spoke of a "difficult general weather situation" and called the 2023/24 financial year a "transition year". Several competitors had previously expressed a more pessimistic outlook.

ROUNDUP: Novartis wants to swallow Morphosys - access to beacon of hope

BASEL/PLANEGG - The pharmaceutical group Novartis is reaching for the biotech company Morphosys from Planegg near Munich. The Swiss are particularly interested in the promising drug Pelabresib, as the Bavarian company's cancer drug could potentially become a blockbuster. Novartis is therefore paying 2.7 billion euros for the takeover and is thus offering Morphosys shareholders a substantial premium. The Management Board and Supervisory Board of Morphosys also support the offer. The Morphosys share price approached the offer with a jump on Tuesday morning.

ROUNDUP: UBS wants to cut costs even further - share price slips despite high dividend

ZURICH - After the emergency takeover of its failed rival Credit Suisse, the major Swiss bank UBS is cutting costs even further. UBS boss Sergio Ermotti now wants to cut the group's costs by around 13 billion US dollars (12.1 billion euros) by 2026, as Switzerland's largest financial institution announced when presenting its annual results in Zurich on Tuesday. Shareholders are to benefit from the unusual record profit of 2023: The bank is proposing a significant increase in the dividend and intends to resume the buyback of its own shares this year. However, the news was not convincing on the stock market.

ROUNDUP: BP invests further billions in share buybacks - share price gains

LONDON - The British oil company BP wants to invest billions more in share buybacks despite a slump in profits in the final quarter of 2023. In the first half of the current year, the company plans to buy back its own shares for 3.5 billion US dollars (3.25 billion euros), as the company announced on Tuesday when presenting its financial figures. The pace of share buybacks is to be maintained until the end of next year. In the last three months of 2023, special effects weighed on profits, but adjusted for these, the British company performed better than analysts expected. BP's share price recently rose by a good five percent to 477.35 pence.

Spotify benefits from job cuts - customers unimpressed by price increases

STOCKHOLM - The reduction of thousands of jobs and price increases for its music offering are paying off for Spotify. Despite higher prices, more people subscribed to the streaming service's paid offering in the final quarter of 2023; the number of so-called premium users rose by 15 percent year-on-year to 236 million. Spotify had a total of 602 million monthly active users, almost a quarter more than at the end of 2022. With this development, the streaming provider slightly exceeded its own targets. The share price rose by 3.5 percent in pre-market US trading.

ROUNDUP: IT service provider Bechtle continues to grow and achieves its own targets

NECKARSULM - Despite cautious customers, the IT service provider Bechtle increased revenues and profits last year. On the basis of preliminary key data, revenue rose by 6.8 percent to around 6.4 billion euros, as the MDax-listed company announced on Tuesday. Pre-tax profits amounted to around 374 million euros. The IT service provider, which offers software and hardware, thus also achieved the targets it had set itself for 2023. Bechtle did not publish an outlook for 2024 on Tuesday.

ROUNDUP: Aurubis starts the new year with lower profits - outlook confirmed

HAMBURG - The copper group Aurubis has started the new financial year with a drop in profits amid the turmoil surrounding the consequences of fraud damage and the restructuring of the Executive Board. Higher smelting and refining charges were offset by lower prices for metals and sulphuric acid. In addition, there were higher legal and consultancy costs, as the company announced on Tuesday. In some cases, the Hamburg-based company fell short of analysts' average expectations. Aurubis shares rose in the morning.

ROUNDUP/Thanks to weight loss drugs: Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly sees further jump in sales

INDIANAPOLIS - After the sales launch of its weight loss drug, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is confident of a further jump in sales in 2024. The outlook exceeds analysts' expectations and the share price rose sharply. In 2023, the competitor of Novo Nordisk benefited above all from the most important driver, the diabetes drug Mounjaro with the active ingredient tirzepatide. The same active ingredient is in Lilly's weight loss drug Zepbound, which has been available to significantly more people in the USA since November. Experts expect this to become the best-selling drug in the world.

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Further news

-High interest rates continue to boost Intesa Sanpaolo - More dividend and share buyback

-VW rival Toyota raises profit outlook despite problems at subsidiaries

-Beiersdorf increases dividend significantly - Share buyback of over 500 million euros

-ADAC: Significantly more traffic jams again

-Bayer with defeat in US appeal trial over glyphosate label

-ROUNDUP: Faeser promises more protection against AI-driven manipulation

-Berlin and Paris confident about joint defense projects

-US minister warns after videos with Apple glasses at the wheel

-Zuckerberg's martial arts hobby prompts warning to investors

-Facebook parent Meta wants to label videos and audio files created with AI

-Snapchat company cuts around one in ten jobs

-Energy supplier EnBW raises electricity prices sharply

-Berentzen earns less despite price increase

-Industrial gases group Linde remains on profit track

-ROUNDUP: The desire to travel is growing again - Increased booking sales

-Grenke wants to buy back shares with a volume of up to 70 million euros

-Press: BVB full-back Meunier about to move to Trabzonspor

-IG Metall wants to stop works council election at Tesla in Grünheide for the time being

-Start of collective bargaining for Postbank employees

-ROUNDUP: Von der Leyen wants to withdraw pesticide proposal after farmers' protest

-YouTube streams one billion hours a day on TV

-ROUNDUP: Vattenfall defies drop in electricity prices

-Professional soccer: Vote on adjusted 50+1 rule delayed further

-Trade union: High participation in pilot strike at Discover

-Rügen LNG terminal: Doubts about gas shortage and demand for environmental assessment

-Czech government's nuclear power plans cause debate

EU wants to accelerate the expansion of high-speed networks

-Data protection officer files suit against HHLA for lack of transparency

-Transdev and train drivers' union GDL reach wage agreement

-ROUNDUP: Verdi forces Lufthansa to implement short program

-Eurowings wants to fly full program during Lufthansa warning strike

-Dispute settled - Mars products back at Edeka and Netto°

Customer note:

ROUNDUP: You can read a summary in the company overview. There are several reports on this topic on the dpa-AFX news service.

/jha