Swiss building materials firm Holcim Group (HCMLY.PK, HCMLF.PK) reported Friday weak profit in fiscal 2024 amid decline in net sales, while recurring EBIT and margin increased from last year. Further, the Board has proposed a dividend increase of 11 percent to 3.10 Swiss francs per share. Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, Holcim expects continued profitable growth with over proportional growth in recurring EBIT, further expansion of recurring EBIT margin, and mid-single digit net sales growth in local currency. Miljan Gutovic, CEO, said, 'The next step in our growth and value creation is on track, with the planned listing of our North American business expected to occur by the end of H1 2025. With a strong outlook across all business segments, we are well positioned for 2025. I am confident we will deliver another year of profitable growth.’ For fiscal 2024, Net income, Group share dropped 4.4 percent to 2.93 billion francs from last year's 3.06 billion francs. Earnings per share were 5.24 francs, down 2.3 percent from 5.37 francs a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 5.70 francs, compared to prior year's 5.42 francs. Recurring EBIT, however, grew 6.1 percent from last year to 5.05 billion francs, and Recurring EBIT margin improved to 19.1 percent from 17.6 percent a year ago. Net sales dropped 2.2 percent to 26.41 billion francs from 27.01 billion francs last year. Sales were up 1.3 percent in local currency compared to the prior year, and organic sales growth was 0.2 percent. In its fourth quarter, recurring EBIT grew 4.4 percent from last year to 1.17 billion francs, and Recurring EBIT margin improved to 18.0 percent from prior year's 16.9 percent, while net sales dropped 1.9 percent to 6.47 billion francs. Net sales rose 1.6 percent in local currency.

The SMI lost 0.6 per cent to 12,958 points on Thursday. There were 16 losers and three winners among the 20 SMI stocks, with one share closing unchanged. A total of 23.33 (previously: 26.99) million shares were traded. New tariff announcements by US President Donald Trump weighed particularly heavily on the shares of logistics group Kühne + Nagel, dropping by 4.5 per cent. Following the presentation of convincing business figures, the shares of reinsurer Swiss Re gained 0.5 per cent. UBS dropped 2.1 per cent. Investors are likely to have taken profits on Alcon (-1.8 per cent). The shares of the ophthalmology specialist had risen sharply on Wednesday in response to its business figures. Among the SMI heavyweights, Novartis supported the leading index with a gain of 0.6 per cent. Nestlé and Roche, on the other hand, slipped by 0.6 and 0.5 per cent respectively. Docmorris slumped by 9.5 per cent among small caps after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled against the online pharmacy in a legal dispute concerning advertising campaigns for prescription drugs.

Europe
The European stock markets closed lower on Thursday, as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on European Union products imported into the United States. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.5% to 557.11 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 both lost 0.5%. The DAX 40 gave up 1.1% in Frankfurt, while the FTSE 100 in London ended the session up 0.3%. ENGIE (+5.3%): the gas and electricity supplier raised its earnings forecasts for 2025. VUSIONGROUP (+24%): the electronic labels specialist said it expects its business to accelerate this year, after reporting a sharp rise in earnings in 2024. SOPRA STERIA (-11.1%): the IT services company reported a ‘disappointing’ outlook for 2025, commented Invest Securities. IPSOS (+8.3%): the survey-based research group has raised its dividend and forecast a stable operating margin in 2024, despite a slowdown in organic growth due to the difficult situation in the United States. Ipsos plans to pay a dividend of €1.85 per share for 2024, compared with €1.65 per share for the previous year, an increase of more than 12%.

United States
On Thursday, the US stock markets were down significantly across the board. New statements by US President Donald Trump on his tariff plans sent share prices plummeting. The Dow Jones index closed 0.4 per cent lower at 43,240 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.6 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The Nyse saw 919 (Wednesday: 1,361) price gainers. They were offset by 1,862 (1,377) losers, while 55 (104) stocks closed unchanged. Nvidia reported a strong increase in sales and profits in the fourth quarter thanks to the unbroken demand for chips for AI applications. However, the margin forecast for the current quarter was disappointing, market participants noted. Nvidia shares fell by 8.5 per cent. Shares in Intel, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) declined by up to 7.1 per cent. Salesforce shares sank by 4 per cent after the results for the fourth quarter provided light and shade. Snowflake gained 4.5 per cent after the cloud-based data storage specialist beat Wall Street estimates with its fourth-quarter results. Moderna tumbled 7.5 per cent after reports that the US Department of Health and Human Services is re-evaluating the company's $590 million contract to develop an avian flu vaccine.

Asia
Asian stock markets fell Friday while the yen strengthened as President Trump’s fresh tariff threats spooked investors, spurring some to seek shelter in the haven Japanese currency. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell by 3.1 per cent to 37,069 points. The index in Hong Kong dropped by 2.8 per cent and in Seoul by 3.2 per cent. Shanghai fared slightly better, but here, too, the decline amounted to 1.3 per cent. In Seoul, the chip stock SK Hynix dropped 4.7 per cent and Hanmi Semiconductor lost 8 per cent. In Tokyo, Advantest declined by 9.1 per cent and Tokyo Electron by 5.4 per cent. In the automotive sector, Hyundai slumped by 3.3 per cent in Seoul, BYD by 6.3 per cent in Hong Kong and Toyota by 2.3 per cent and Mazda by 2.7 per cent in Tokyo.

Bonds
U.S. government debt sold off Thursday, pushing the 10-year yield up from an 11-week low, after a strong updated reading on fourth-quarter economic growth and President Trump’s fresh tariff threat on his Truth Social platform. The 10-year Treasury note yield edged up 1 basis point to 4.27%. The 2-year Treasury note yield dipped by 2 basis points to 4.06%.

Analysis
Berenberg upgrades Sika target to CHF 301 (290) - Buy
Target price ABB: Jefferies raises target to CHF 53 (52) - Hold
Target price Alcon: JP Morgan lifts target to CHF 94.70 (79.60) - Overweight

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