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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

RTL Group sells ad tech subsidiary SpotX

The RTL Group broadcasting chain is divesting itself of the US advertising technology company SpotX. As the Bertelsmann subsidiary announced, the US company Magnite will pay 1.17 billion US dollars in cash and shares. The purchase price consists of a cash component of 560 million US dollars and 14.0 million Magnite shares. RTL had bought a majority stake in SpotX of 65 per cent for €107 million in 2014 and acquired the outstanding stake of €123 million in 2017. "The sale of SpotX is in line with our strategy to focus on growing our European digital businesses in streaming, advertising technology, digital video and audio, as well as our global content business Fremantle," said RTL CEO Thomas Rabe.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Deutsche Bank Posts Surprise Profit as Revenue Grows

Deutsche Bank AG posted an unexpected profit in the fourth quarter with revenue also up. Net profit for the quarter was 51 million euros ($61.4 million) compared with a loss of EUR1.60 billion a year earlier, the German bank said Thursday. The after-tax profit was EUR189 million. Revenue rose 2% to EUR5.45 billion in the quarter.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

ABB Swings to 4Q Loss

ABB Ltd. said Thursday that it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter while revenue rose. The Swiss engineering company said quarterly net loss was $79 million compared with a profit of $325 million in the same period last year. Its operational earnings before interest, taxes and amortization increased 16% to $825 million. ABB's revenue rose 2% to $7.18 billion, while the company's orders for the quarter rose 2% to $7.00 billion.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

Jeff Bezos to Step Down as Amazon CEO

Jeff Bezos is stepping down as chief executive of Amazon.com Inc. to become executive chairman, marking the biggest change in leadership of the tech giant since he started it in a Washington state garage more than 26 years ago. Amazon said that he will be succeeded as CEO in the third quarter by Andy Jassy, Mr. Bezos's closest lieutenant and the longtime head of the company's booming cloud-computing business.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

Ryanair Swings to 3Q Net Loss, Expects Adjusted Net Loss for the Year

Ryanair Holdings PLC said that for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 it swung to a net loss due to the coronavirus pandemic, and that it was guiding for an adjusted loss after tax for the year in the range of 850 million euros to 950 million euros ($1.03 billion to $1.15 billion). The company said that this was because of the U.K. and European Union lockdown measures and travel restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as "the timing of the rollout of vaccines across the EU and a very close-in booking curve," and that visibility in the fourth quarter remained limited.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

Caterpillar Flags Signs of Recovery Amid Slack Demand

A construction slowdown during the coronavirus pandemic is hurting demand for Caterpillar Inc.'s heavy machinery, but the manufacturer said dealers and customers expect a turnaround this year. The Deerfield, Ill., company said Friday that revenue fell 15% in its fourth quarter due to lower volumes and less demand from customers and dealers. Revenue declined in each of Caterpillar's main businesses: construction, mining, and energy and transportation.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

SAP subsidiary Qualtrics first price on Nasdaq 41.85 (issue price: 30) USD

The IPO of SAP subsidiary Qualtrics on the US technology exchange Nasdaq is a complete success. The first price was recorded at around 7.55 p.m. CET at 41.85 dollars - almost 40 percent above the issue price of 30 dollars. The share rose to 45.96 dollars at its peak. Qualtrics' total valuation of around 21 billion is now more than double the 8 billion dollars SAP paid for the US company, which specialises in customer experience software, in January 2019. Qualtrics' IPO had attracted strong interest from investors given the high demand for technology stocks. For this reason, SAP had raised the target price range several times from an initial 20 to 24 dollars at the time of the concrete IPO announcement at the end of December.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Apple quarterly revenue exceeds USD 100 billion for the first time

Apple's brand value increased by 87 per cent to 263.4 billion US dollars, the highest value of any brand worldwide, according to Brand Finance. Apple benefited from the new iPhone models in the Christmas business despite delayed product launches. Strong demand for tablets and laptops also continued. The stock was initially little changed in after-hours trading, but has already gained about 80 per cent since the beginning of the year. Although many people around the world are suffering from the economic consequences of the Corona pandemic, net income in the first quarter of the new financial year (ending December) rose by 29 per cent to 28.76 billion dollars or 1.68 dollars per share. This exceeded market expectations. Analysts had expected a surplus of 24 billion dollars or 1.41 dollars per share in the Factset consensus.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ