Swiss Life earned more in 2023 and aims to pay shareholders a higher dividend. Meanwhile, the insurer believes being still well on track with the targets set for the end of 2024. Swiss Life's annual profit for 2023 rose by 8 per cent to CHF 1.11 billion, as reported on Thursday. Adjusted profit from operations advanced by 1 per cent to CHF 1.50 billion. Analysts had on average expected figures of CHF 1.11 billion and CHF 1.59 billion respectively. In view of the improved results and solid capital base, the Board of Directors will propose a dividend increase of CHF 3 to CHF 33 per share at the Annual General Meeting in mid-May. For the first time, Swiss Life has presented an annual report in accordance with the new IFRS 17/9 accounting standards. Essentially, the aim is for insurers to report income and cash flows more accurately. A new addition is the Contractual Service Margin (CSM), in which future profits are accounted for. At the end of June, the CSM was CHF 15.4 billion, compared to CHF 15.9 billion at the end of June, according to the statement. This balance sheet figure is continuously revalued by Swiss Life and parts of the CSM will flow into the income statement over time.

The Swiss stock market reached another high for the year on Wednesday. The SMI gained 0.2 per cent to 11,790 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 13 price gainers and seven price losers. A total of 22.4 (previously: 22.29) million shares were traded. UBS advanced by 0.5 per cent to another multi-year high. The prospect of a longer period characterised by higher interest rates bolstered Swiss Re (+1.2%) and Swiss Life (+1.0%) within the insurance sector. Swiss Re also set its dividend at USD 6.80 per share. The SMI was led by Lonza (+2.8%) following recent positive financial results in the sector. Meanwhile, Geberit fell by 2.1 per cent. Although the sanitary specialist reported "solid" business figures, the net result was negatively impacted by tax effects. The Sandoz Group's forecast for 2024 appears robust and also in line with consensus estimates, Citi analysts commented. The outlook for a core EBITDA margin expansion to around 20 per cent in the current year looks encouraging and is broadly in line with consensus estimates of 19.7 per cent. The shares climbed by 3.2 per cent.

Europe
European stocks rose on Wednesday, building on the previous session's gains, as investors shrugged off the slightly higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.2% to 507.3 points, after hitting a new session high of 508.34 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 gained 0.6% to 8,137.58 and 6,139.89 points respectively. The Paris Bourse's flagship index also climbed to a new all-time high of 8,156.64 points during the day. For its part, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt finished virtually unchanged at 17,961.38 points, after briefly breaking through the symbolic 18,000-point barrier for the first time in its history during the morning. In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.3%. ArcelorMittal (+0.3%) announced the acquisition of a 28.4% stake in the capital of seamless tube manufacturer Vallourec (+7.4%) for around 955 million euros. The industrial group Mersen (+2.2%) confirmed a sharp rise in its results in 2023, a year marked by record activity. BNP Paribas (+2.1%) has revised upwards the amount of its cost-cutting plan for the period 2022-2025 and indicated that its net profit should be higher in 2024 than in 2023. The bank also plans to pay out €20 billion to its shareholders between 2024 and 2026. Retail indices also rose significantly by 3.6 per cent. In Madrid, Inditex rose by 7.7 per cent following the presentation of its figures.

United States
The S&P 500 edged lower on Wednesday, weighed down by a drop in tech shares. The benchmark index fell 0.2%, after hitting its 17th record of the year a day earlier. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% or 38 points. Four of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors finished the day in the red. The declines were led by the information technology sector—the best-performing segment this year and last. Those stocks fell 1.1%. Chip maker shares helped pull that sector down, including declines from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. The PHLX Semiconductor Index shed 2.5%. Nvidia, the biggest winner of the artificial-intelligence mania that has powered the stock-market rally, dropped 1.1%. Among individual stocks, Dollar Tree shares fell 14% after the retailer reported a quarterly loss and said it would close nearly 1,000 of its Family Dollar stores. McDonald’s fell 3.9% after the company said at an investor conference that lower-income consumers are eating at home more often.

Asia
On the Asian stock exchanges on Thursday, the lacklustre and directionless performance on Wall Street the previous evening is being emulated in late trading, with the Nikkei-225 in Tokyo rising 0.2 per cent to 38,778 points - supported by a weakening yen in the morning. Sentiment in China, meanwhile, continues to be categorised as weak. While the Shanghai Composite is down 0.1 per cent, the HSI in Hong Kong drops 0.9 per cent - also burdened by payment defaults in the real estate sector. Foxconn Industrial Internet lost 6.5 per cent after weak fourth-quarter figures below market expectations. South Korea's Kospi is showing a positive trend with a gain of 0.3 per cent - supported by shipyard and energy stocks. The index is now close to a two-year high. In the shipbuilding sector, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries jumped 5.8 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively following major orders secured recently.

Bonds
U.S. government debt yields rose on Wednesday. The 10-year Treasury note yield added 4 basis points to 4.191%. The 2-year Treasury note yield climbed 3 basis points to 4.63%.

Analysis
Target price Kardex: Research Partners upgrades to CHF 225 (210) - Hold
Target price Tecan: Berenberg increases to CHF 400 (375) - Buy
Target price Belimo: Research Partners lifts to CHF 500 (460) - Hold

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