Company news and results
Atlas Copco, the world-leading manufacturer of air compressors, reported a +36% increase in orders in the third quarter of 2021 (+35% in the first 9 months). Revenues were up +12% organically (+15% in the first 9 months).
The strong order increase for vacuum equipment to the semiconductor industry was offset by a decreased order intake for industrial and portable compressors, industrial tools and assembly solutions, and industrial vacuum equipment
They expect a slowdown in near-term demand:
Atlas Copco expects that the customers’ business activity level will remain high, but weaken compared to the very high level in the third quarter.
Sartorius, the pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier, reported a +53.9% increase in revenue in the first 9 months of the year. Growth was boosted by M&A (6%) and the development and production of coronavirus vaccines and test kits (21%). FY 2021 guidance was maintained:
The mighty ASML reported €5.2 billion net sales in Q3 and €1.7 billion net income. They expect 2021 growth to approach 35%.
The demand continues to be high. The ongoing digital transformation and current chip shortage fuel the need to increase our capacity to meet the current and expected future demand for Memory and for all Logic nodes
Kuehne+Nagel, the logistics company, reported a 47% increase in turnover in the first 9 months of the year. EBIT more than doubled. Sea logistics was quite strong, courtesy of “congested ports and supply chains out of sync”. We know the story.
In luxury, Kering did not manage to positively surprise investors the way LVMH did. Revenues were up 10.0% in the third quarter relative to 2019 (+9% in the first 9 months vs 2019). Gucci underperformed the other brands:
On the other hand, Hermes reported very strong numbers with €2.4bn revenues in the third quarter, an increase of 40% over 2019:
Outlook:
Despite a high comparison base in the 4 th Quarter, the group is approaching the end of the year with confidence
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In the medium-term, despite the economic, geopolitical and monetary uncertainties around the world, the Group confirms an ambitious goal for revenue growth at constant exchange rates.
Nestlé reported an increase in sales of +7.6% in the first 9 months of 2021, and upgraded FY 2021 guidance to +6-7%. Coffee was the largest contributor to organic growth, thanks to Nescafé, Nespresso (+11%) and Starbucks (+15.5%). E-commerce reached 14.1% of total sales.
Unilever is growing slower than Nestle, at +4.4% YTD. Almost half of that is pricing, as they are offsetting inflationary pressures. Volume growth was negative in the third quarter, as South East Asia was impacted by Covid-19. Online reached 12% of total sales.
Rentokil issued a trading update:
Q3 saw continued strong momentum in our core businesses with Group Ongoing Revenue, excluding disinfection services, growing by 14.5%, of which 6.7% was Organic and 7.8% was from acquisitions.
Just Eat Takeaway hosted a Capital Markets Day:
Deals and IPO
Zopa raises $300M at a $1B valuation to expand its P2P lending and savings neobank in the UK (link)
Volvo Cars confirms Sweden IPO (link)
Richemont Considers Divesting From YNAP in Favour of Farfetch Partnership (link)
Delivery Hero invests in food delivery firm Gorillas Technologies (link)
European private equity's IPO exit boom cools off as deals are shelved (link)
Other news
Versace Loses Its Leader As Burberry Names New CEO (link)
Homer Simpson appeared on Kering Q3 presentation