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Daily Brief ESG: Pre-AGM Filling of Annual Securities Reports Is Plus and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Pre-AGM Filling of Annual Securities Reports Is Plus, but May Take Long Before More Companies Do So


Pre-AGM Filling of Annual Securities Reports Is Plus, but May Take Long Before More Companies Do So

By Aki Matsumoto

  • 42 companies submitted their annual securities reports by the business day before AGM date, and most of them submitted their reports immediately before AGM, such as the day before AGM.
  • If the record date is moved forward from fiscal year-end, the problem of administrative burden will be solved. English-disclosure in annual securities reports will increase, and engagement will be positive.
  • For companies with a record date in their articles of incorporation, changing the record date would require general shareholders’ meeting, but only a few shareholders would oppose the change.

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Daily Brief Private Markets: fileAI’s US$14M Series A fuels expansion of AI-driven document automation | e27 and more

By | Daily Briefs, Private Markets

In today’s briefing:

  • fileAI’s US$14M Series A fuels expansion of AI-driven document automation | e27
  • iMotorbike gears up for growth with US$10M Series A funding led by Headline Asia | e27


fileAI’s US$14M Series A fuels expansion of AI-driven document automation | e27

By e27

  • fileAI, a startup specialising in horizontal file processing and AI workflow automation, has announced US$14 million in Series A funding.
  • This round, led by returning investors Illuminate Financial, Antler Elevate, Insignia, and Heinemann Group, brought the total funding to over US$20 million.
  • The newly acquired funds will boost product development and deepen the company’s expertise in AI file management.

iMotorbike gears up for growth with US$10M Series A funding led by Headline Asia | e27

By e27

  • iMotorbike, an online platform for pre-owned motorcycles in Malaysia, has completed a US$10 million Series A funding round led by Headline Asia.
  • Ondine, 500 Global, Gobi Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and Astor FMO participated in the round.
  • The funding will support iMotorbike’s expansion into Malaysia, including new inspection centres and showrooms in key locations like Penang and Johor.

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Ohayo Japan | Fourth Straight Drop and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Ohayo Japan | Fourth Straight Drop
  • Japan Morning Connection: Tech Rout Deepens, but JP May Be Largely Priced In
  • Prices Drop, Eyes Pop: Mid-Month Insider Buying Activity Update – Part 4
  • Monday Delight: 24/02/25
  • #109 India Insight: Bain Capital To Buy Stake in Manappuram, India’s GCC Hits $1B, Bans Drug Exports


Ohayo Japan | Fourth Straight Drop

By Mark Chadwick

  • US stocks closed mixed Tuesday as renewed tariff threats and potential China curbs pressured sentiment.
  • The Nasdaq fell 1.3%, dragged by Nvidia (-2.8%) and Tesla (-8.4%)
  • Toyota Motor will transition to a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee, strengthening its corporate governance

Japan Morning Connection: Tech Rout Deepens, but JP May Be Largely Priced In

By Andrew Jackson

  • Wild ride for Kokusai Electric yesterday on US/China announcement, although the squeeze should continue.
  • SMCI +25% in after market trading enough to finally get Nidec up?
  • Yields down, Homebuilders up, but Tesla hammered after Musk’s clumsy foray into EU/UK politics.

Prices Drop, Eyes Pop: Mid-Month Insider Buying Activity Update – Part 4

By Sreemant Dudhoria

  • Given the sharp decline in mid and small-cap Indian listed stocks, there has been a notable increase in insider buying activity in recent weeks.
  • Following our mid-month insider-buying report from last week, number of buying transactions has increased further. 
  • This is Part-4 of the series, providing an update on insider-buying activity from just last week.

Monday Delight: 24/02/25

By Contrarian Cashflows

  • Each week, I’ll share five intriguing investment ideas that recently caught my attention. These ideas are meant to spark your research and help you kickstart the week ahead with fresh insights.
  • Because these ideas are the result of my first-level idea generation process, they require more in depth research. Therefore, the ideas will often be concise, with occasional references to valuable work from other practitioners that I encourage you to explore.
  • If you have something fascinating to share that could benefit me and the wider community, don’t hesitate to send it my way—I’d love to hear from you!

#109 India Insight: Bain Capital To Buy Stake in Manappuram, India’s GCC Hits $1B, Bans Drug Exports

By Sudarshan Bhandari

  • Bain Capital Specialty Finan (BCSF US) finalizes $1 billion deal to acquire a controlling stake in Manappuram Finance, India’s second-largest gold loan provider.  
  • India’s GCC sector sees rapid growth, with 24 centres crossing $1 billion in export revenue, contributing $43.6 billion.  
  • India bans production and export of drugs containing Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, citing unapproved combinations and regulatory concerns.

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Daily Brief Technical Analysis: Near-Term Downside Likely Following False Breakouts; Targeting 5770-5850; Long-Term Still Bullish and more

By | Daily Briefs, Technical Analysis

In today’s briefing:

  • Near-Term Downside Likely Following False Breakouts; Targeting 5770-5850; Long-Term Still Bullish


Near-Term Downside Likely Following False Breakouts; Targeting 5770-5850; Long-Term Still Bullish

By Joe Jasper

  • Our long-term outlook remains bullish as long as the S&P 500 remains above 5770-5850 and 5600-5670 (worst case), and we are buyers at these levels.
  • With that said, we see potential for near-term downside based on several developments discussed below.  It likely means at least another 2-4 weeks of consolidation
  • If SPX remains below 6100 and 6150 resistances, do not be surprised if there is a test of the bottom of the range at either 5770-5850 or 5600-5670

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Daily Brief ECM: JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP) IPO: Valuation Insights and more

By | Daily Briefs, ECM

In today’s briefing:

  • JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP) IPO: Valuation Insights
  • Dozn IPO Preview
  • JSW Cement Pre-IPO – Leveraging Synergies of the JSW Group but Has High Debt
  • JX Advance Metals Pre-IPO – Thoughts on Valuation
  • Manycore Tech Pre-IPO Tearsheet
  • Pre-IPO Butong Group – The Current High Growth May Not Be Sustainable


JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP) IPO: Valuation Insights

By Arun George


Dozn IPO Preview

By Douglas Kim

  • Dozn is getting ready to complete its IPO in Korea in March 2025. The company plans to offer 2.5 million shares in this IPO.
  • The IPO price range is from 10,250 won to 12,500 won per share and the offering amount ranges from 26.2 billion won to 31.2 billion won.
  • Founded in 2017, Dozn is emerging as a prominent business-to-business (B2B) digital solution service provider in Korea.

JSW Cement Pre-IPO – Leveraging Synergies of the JSW Group but Has High Debt

By Akshat Shah

  • JSW Cement Limited (9858514Z IN)  is looking to raise about US$480m in its upcoming India IPO.
  • JSW Cement (JSWC) is a cement manufacturing company in India focused on manufacturing green cementitious products comprising blended cement, ordinary portland cement, ground granulated blast furnace slag, among other products.
  • In this note, we talk about the company’s historical performance.

JX Advance Metals Pre-IPO – Thoughts on Valuation

By Sumeet Singh

  • JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP)’s parent,  ENEOS Holdings (5020 JP), is looking to raise around US$2.6bn via selling more than half of its stake in JXAM in its Japan IPO.
  • JXAM engages in business activities primarily focused on the development, manufacture and sale of materials made from copper and rare metals, which are used in the semiconductor and ICT fields.
  • We looked at the company’s past performance and undertook a peer comparison in our previous note. In this note, we talk about valuations.

Manycore Tech Pre-IPO Tearsheet

By Akshat Shah

  • Manycore Tech (KOOL US) is looking to raise about US$300m in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO. The deal will be run by JPM and CCBI.
  • Manycore Tech is an AI powered design and visualization platform with graphics processing unit clusters. Designs crafted can be translated into production-ready drawings, enabling an automated and accurate manufacturing process.
  • According to F&S, it was world’s largest spatial design platform and largest software provider in China’s spatial design industry, based on average monthly active users and revenue, respectively, in 2023.

Pre-IPO Butong Group – The Current High Growth May Not Be Sustainable

By Xinyao (Criss) Wang

  • BUTONG’s growth momentum remained high, but customers are more focused on cost-effectiveness rather than premium products. We are unsure whether BUTONG’s  current high growth is sustainable in this low-growth industry. 
  • The more revenue proportion from baby care products, the lower overall gross margin would be.BUTONG’s strategy of emphasizing sales over R&D isn’t conducive to establishing core competitiveness in fierce competition.
  • After Series B financing, the post-investment valuation reached about RMB2 billion. However, the market value of peers is not high. BUTONG’s post-IPO valuation performance may be lower than expected.

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Daily Brief Event-Driven: Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas and more

By | Daily Briefs, Event-Driven

In today’s briefing:

  • Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas
  • Nidec Says It Won’t Raise Price on Makino (6135)
  • Pentamaster (1665 HK) Breaks Ahead Of Vote. Yet Pricing IS Fair
  • Naspers & Prosus Sell off on JET Acquisition, Discounts Oversold Lifting Buyback Accretion
  • [Alert] Sell Sandisk Spin-off
  • Potential Buyout of Nathan’s Famous by Smithfield Foods Could Unlock 45% Upside Amid Strategic Synergies
  • PointsBet (PBH AU) Rebuffs BlueBet And Enters Offer With Mixi (2121 JP)


Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas

By Brian Freitas

  • Since short selling was banned in November 2023, short interest has plunged in Korea as shorts were covered. Markets have not done much over the last 16 months though. 
  • Foreign investor holdings have dropped from 32.05% in July to 28.57%. The top 25 stocks bought by foreign investors outperformed the top 25 stocks sold by 128% in 16 months.
  • There will be trade opportunities across indices, pref/ords, index migrations and deletions, potential market upgrades and overvalued stocks being sold.

Nidec Says It Won’t Raise Price on Makino (6135)

By Travis Lundy

  • Nidec Corp (6594 JP) released a multi-page document regarding its bid for Makino Milling Machine Co (6135 JP) yesterday. 
  • It talked a bit about the back-and-forth with Makino, and gave Nidec’s side of the story. Makino has been making their side public too. A meeting is due early March.
  • In the document, there was a line suggesting Nidec won’t raise price even against a counteroffer. They didn’t need to say that. The question is what Makino will do.

Pentamaster (1665 HK) Breaks Ahead Of Vote. Yet Pricing IS Fair

By David Blennerhassett

  • Back on the 19th December 2024, Pentamaster Corp (PENT MK) announced an Offer, by way of a Scheme, to take out its pseudo dual-listed twin, Pentamaster International (1665 HK).
  • The Offer Price was HK$1.00/share – including a HK$0.07/share dividend – a 45.3% premium to last close, but arguably more like a 61% premium to undisturbed. 
  • The Court Meeting is the 28th February. Shares are down 15%+ in recent days. On no news.  Not a great look. 

Naspers & Prosus Sell off on JET Acquisition, Discounts Oversold Lifting Buyback Accretion

By Charlotte van Tiddens, CFA

  • Yesterday morning, Prosus announced the acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway for $4.3bn.
  • Naspers and Prosus sold off sharply on the news, ending the day down 7.7% and 7.8%, respectively.
  • Naspers’ discount widened by 2.8 percentage points to 44.2% and Prosus’ discount widened by 3.1 percentage points to 39.8%.

[Alert] Sell Sandisk Spin-off

By Richard Howe

  • Today, investors received shares in the new SanDisk spin-off.

  • Shares are currently slightly up due to buying pressure ahead of the stock being added to the S&P 600 index effective tomorrow.

  • SanDisk is trading at 1.1x revenue which is a reasonable valuation (Xioxia, Sandisk’s JV partner, trades at 1.3x LTM revenue).


Potential Buyout of Nathan’s Famous by Smithfield Foods Could Unlock 45% Upside Amid Strategic Synergies

By Special Situation Investments

  • Nathan’s Famous is in potential sale talks, with major food manufacturers and PE firms as potential buyers.
  • Smithfield Foods, Nathan’s key partner, is well-positioned for acquisition, potentially eliminating royalties and achieving cost synergies.
  • Sum of the parts valuation estimates Nathan’s equity value at $604m or $148/share, a 45% upside potential.

PointsBet (PBH AU) Rebuffs BlueBet And Enters Offer With Mixi (2121 JP)

By David Blennerhassett

  • PointsBet Holdings (PBH AU), an Australian/Canadian online wagering platform, has entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed with Mixi Inc (2121 JP).
  • Mixi is offering A$1.06/share, a 27.7% premium to last close and an implied EV/EBITDA of 25.2x-32.1x for FY25E. Apart from PointsBet’s shareholder approval, the Offer requires FIRB signing off.
  • Separately, Pointsbet’s key rival BlueBet Holdings (BBT AU) has tabled, what appears to be, a higher non-binding cash/scrip offer by way of Scheme, which PointsBet has allegedly ignored. 

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Daily Brief Credit: Morning Views Asia: China Vanke and more

By | Credit, Daily Briefs

In today’s briefing:

  • Morning Views Asia: China Vanke , Greentown China, UPL Ltd


Morning Views Asia: China Vanke , Greentown China, UPL Ltd

By Leonard Law, CFA

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.


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Daily Brief Equity Bottom-Up: Trip.com (TCOM and more

By | Daily Briefs, Equity Bottom-Up

In today’s briefing:

  • Trip.com (TCOM, 9961HK): 4Q24, Even Better Results, But Plunged as Expected
  • Trip.com Q424 Results | Higher Costs Finally Arrive, And With a Vengeance
  • Taiwan Tech Weekly: Trump’s New China Chip Restrictions; Foxconn & Honda Alliance?; TSMC & Intel
  • Unpacking a $20b undeveloped mine deal
  • The Beat Ideas: Greaves Cotton- Demerging The Cash Cow From Mobility Business
  • HDFC Bank (HDFCB): Robust Deposit Growth Despite Tough Environment
  • Asia Real Estate Tracker (25-Feb-2025): Global capital flows boost Australian logistics market.
  • TOC: First Drilling at Expansion Area Hits High-Grade
  • Twilio Inc.: How Is The Management Capitalizing On AI Integration & Product Cross-Selling Opportunities?
  • How Is Sony Group Leveraging Synergy in Entertainment & Technology To Up The Ante!


Trip.com (TCOM, 9961HK): 4Q24, Even Better Results, But Plunged as Expected

By Ming Lu

  • Total revenue grew by 24% in 4Q24, higher than 19% we expected.
  • The stock price plunged in Hong Kong as we expect in our preview note.
  • However, we believe, any stock decline over 11% means overreacted.

Trip.com Q424 Results | Higher Costs Finally Arrive, And With a Vengeance

By Daniel Hellberg

  • Net Revenue growth accelerated to +23% Y/Y in Q424, far stronger than in Q224 and Q324
  • But costs and expenses grew even faster, leading to surprisingly sharp margin contraction
  • We no longer view Trip.com as an attractive play on Chinese travel; airlines may outperform

Taiwan Tech Weekly: Trump’s New China Chip Restrictions; Foxconn & Honda Alliance?; TSMC & Intel

By Vincent Fernando, CFA

  • Trump Adminstration Gearing Up to Further Restrict China’s Access to Chip Technology — Could Restrict Servicing of Existing Equipment
  • Foxconn and Honda: Could This Be a New Alliance in EV Manufacturing?
  • TSMC (2330.TT; TSM.US): Will TSMC Work on Intel Foundry Services? There Are Three Paradoxes… 

Unpacking a $20b undeveloped mine deal

By Money of Mine

  • Huge deal with Mitsui purchasing a 40% stake in Roads Ridge for billions of dollars
  • Decades-long negotiation process with owners of the asset culminating in the sale
  • Roads Ridge is a massive iron ore deposit with potential for long-term production, standing out for its high quality iron content and low phosphorus levels in comparison to other mines in the region

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.


The Beat Ideas: Greaves Cotton- Demerging The Cash Cow From Mobility Business

By Sudarshan Bhandari

  • Greaves Cotton (GRV IN) is raising funds by separately listing its mobility arm, enabling better focus and execution for the segment.
  • Company is guiding for 30,000Cr topline by 2030  with 13-15% margins excluding mobility segment.
  • The company’s core business remains profitable and on a growth path. New funds will improve the mobility arm’s operations and support current business growth would be from ongoing capex investments.

HDFC Bank (HDFCB): Robust Deposit Growth Despite Tough Environment

By Ankit Agrawal, CFA

  • Deposit growth has been decent and exceeded loan growth, allowing HDFCB to bring down its credit-deposit ratio. Average deposits grew 15%+ YoY, while loans grew at 7%+ YoY in Q3FY25.
  • Despite tough macro environment, HDFCB was able to gain market share in deposits. Despite headwinds from tight liquidity leading to competitive pricing, HDFCB was able to maintain its NIM.
  • HDFCB is benefitting from its productivity and technology-led enhancements with costs growing at just 7% YoY. Despite weak macro-economic environment, HDFCB’s asset quality has remained pristine, barring seasonality in Agri-loans.

Asia Real Estate Tracker (25-Feb-2025): Global capital flows boost Australian logistics market.

By Asia Real Estate Tracker

  • Global capital flowing into Australian logistics market as it reaches turning point, attracting investments.
  • Japan REIT makes deals in Tokyo, buying Tokyo Tower for $120M and selling office block for $62M.
  • CapitaLand India Trust acquires Bengaluru offices for $170M after project funding, expanding its portfolio.

TOC: First Drilling at Expansion Area Hits High-Grade

By Atrium Research

  • Tocvan reported the first RC drill result from the 100% controlled Expansion Area just to the north of the Main Zone.
  • A total of 776.2m of drilling was reported across 4 drill holes.
  • The highlight intercept was a scout hole reporting 3.1 g/t Au over 19.8m, including 19.4 g/t Au over 3.1m.

Twilio Inc.: How Is The Management Capitalizing On AI Integration & Product Cross-Selling Opportunities?

By Baptista Research

  • Twilio Inc. presented a compelling performance in the fourth quarter of 2024, showcasing its evolution and strategic progress.
  • The company reported $1.195 billion in revenue, marking an 11% increase year-over-year, achieving consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.
  • This quarter was particularly notable as it was Twilio’s first to achieve GAAP operating profitability, ahead of its initial target, underscoring the firm’s focus on balanced growth and profitability.

How Is Sony Group Leveraging Synergy in Entertainment & Technology To Up The Ante!

By Baptista Research

  • Sony Group Corporation’s recent earnings highlighted its financial performance for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 and provided insights into future strategic direction amid a transitional leadership period.
  • The company’s revenue and profit saw substantial growth, yet certain challenges remain, reflecting the complexities within its diverse business segments.
  • Positive aspects of Sony’s financial performance include a 7% year-on-year increase in consolidated sales, excluding its Financial Services segment, reaching JPY 3,695.7 billion for the quarter.

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Daily Brief Macro: Steno Signals #186 – The year of the weak USD is upon us and more

By | Daily Briefs, Macro

In today’s briefing:

  • Steno Signals #186 – The year of the weak USD is upon us
  • Over the Horizon: A Review of Thematic Trends
  • CX Daily: Is China’s Commercial Space Sector Ready to Blast Off?
  • [US Crude Oil Options Weekly 2025/08] WTI Surrendered Gains on Weak Economic Signals
  • [US Nat Gas Options Weekly 2025/08] Henry Hub Extends Gains for Third Week Amid Sustained Cold Snap
  • Macro Daily: Inflation: 1h-Feb
  • Korea: 25bp Rate Cut To 2.75% (Consensus 2.75%) in Feb-25
  • Euro Area Wage Growth Is Too Hot


Steno Signals #186 – The year of the weak USD is upon us

By Andreas Steno

  • I wanted to get the German election results before releasing my weekly editorial, and as far as I can judge, we are talking about a middle-of-the-road outcome, which should be seen as a net positive for European assets for now.
  • CDU (Conservatives) and SPD (Social Democrats) will be able to form a GroKo (Grand Coalition) with 328 mandates, which is a coalition that could likely find some common ground around spending more and removing the debt brake, at least temporarily.
  • A permanent removal of the debt brake will require the backing of an additional party.

Over the Horizon: A Review of Thematic Trends

By David Mudd

  • Our most prominent theme over the last year has been to BUY HK/China markets. We are still very bullish on these SECULAR BULL markets.
  • We have been Bullish on gold and discussed the asymmetry of its price movements given the global tightening starting in 2021/22. Gold will continues to benefit from negative real rates.
  • We have been Bearish on Japan since publishing Technically Speaking: Japan Meets Resistance and Hong Kong Finally Breaks Downtrend on April 2, 2024. We also remain bearish on India.

CX Daily: Is China’s Commercial Space Sector Ready to Blast Off?

By Caixin Global

  • Space / Cover Story: Is China’s commercial space sector ready to blast off?
  • Railways /Analysis: Twists and turns abound for Chinese-built railways in Southeast Asia
  • Charities /In Depth: Rule change leaves some Chinese charities starving for funding

[US Crude Oil Options Weekly 2025/08] WTI Surrendered Gains on Weak Economic Signals

By Suhas Reddy

  • WTI futures fell by 0.5% for the week ending 21/Feb, marking its fifth consecutive weekly drop. Prices fell due to bearish economic data and rising crude inventories.
  • WTI options Put/Call volume ratio surged to 1.62 on 21/Feb (Fri) from 0.94 on 14/Feb, as call volume rose by 15.9% WoW while put volume jumped by 100%.  
  • WTI OI PCR fell to 0.95 on 21/Feb compared to 0.96 on 14/Feb. Call OI increased by 6.5% WoW, while put OI rose by 6.1%.

[US Nat Gas Options Weekly 2025/08] Henry Hub Extends Gains for Third Week Amid Sustained Cold Snap

By Suhas Reddy

  • For the week ending 21/Feb, U.S. natural gas prices gained 13.7% on the back of colder weather forecasts, rising LNG exports, and falling inventories.
  • Henry Hub Put/Call volume ratio rose to 0.72 on 21/Feb from 0.66 on 14/Feb as call volumes increased by 81.4% WoW, while put volumes surged by 98%. 
  • Henry Hub OI PCR rose to 1.04 on 21/Feb from 0.98 on 14/Feb. Call OI rose by 7.1% WoW, while put OI increased by 13.3%.

Macro Daily: Inflation: 1h-Feb

By Actinver

  • Inflation for the first half of February came in at 0.15% bw, given the drop in prices of most agricultural goods.
  • The figure was above our forecast of 0.09% bw and slightly below the market consensus of 0.18% bw.
  • Our forecast error is explained by a higher-than-expected drop in tomato prices (-25% bw vs. -18% bw).

Korea: 25bp Rate Cut To 2.75% (Consensus 2.75%) in Feb-25

By Heteronomics AI

  • The Bank of Korea cut its base rate by 25bp to 2.75%, aligning with expectations, as downside risks to economic growth intensified amid stabilising inflation and slowing household debt.
  • Domestic demand remains weak, and US tariff policies constrain export growth. Thus, the 2025 GDP growth forecast was sharply revised downward to 1.5% from 1.9%.
  • Future rate cuts will depend on balancing inflation risks, exchange rate volatility, and financial stability, with a particular focus on the impact of global trade policies and domestic political uncertainty.
This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

Euro Area Wage Growth Is Too Hot

By Phil Rush

  • Negotiated wages grew by 4.1% in Q4, slowing sharply from Q3, but little changed on the average from 2024 and 2023. It is not yet on an obvious path of improvement.
  • Broader labour costs have also slowed and are suggesting unit labour cost growth of around 4% y-o-y, although that would mark an abrupt rise in the quarterly pace.
  • Labour costs are growing too fast to be consistent with a sustainable return to the ECB’s inflation target. We expect its easing cycle to end in H1, much earlier than priced.

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Daily Brief South Korea: Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200, Dozn, Celltrion Inc and more

By | Daily Briefs, South Korea

In today’s briefing:

  • Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas
  • Dozn IPO Preview
  • Celltrion (068270 KS): Record High Sales in 4Q; Sequentially Weaker Profit; Solid Outlook for 2025


Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas

By Brian Freitas

  • Since short selling was banned in November 2023, short interest has plunged in Korea as shorts were covered. Markets have not done much over the last 16 months though. 
  • Foreign investor holdings have dropped from 32.05% in July to 28.57%. The top 25 stocks bought by foreign investors outperformed the top 25 stocks sold by 128% in 16 months.
  • There will be trade opportunities across indices, pref/ords, index migrations and deletions, potential market upgrades and overvalued stocks being sold.

Dozn IPO Preview

By Douglas Kim

  • Dozn is getting ready to complete its IPO in Korea in March 2025. The company plans to offer 2.5 million shares in this IPO.
  • The IPO price range is from 10,250 won to 12,500 won per share and the offering amount ranges from 26.2 billion won to 31.2 billion won.
  • Founded in 2017, Dozn is emerging as a prominent business-to-business (B2B) digital solution service provider in Korea.

Celltrion (068270 KS): Record High Sales in 4Q; Sequentially Weaker Profit; Solid Outlook for 2025

By Tina Banerjee

  • Celltrion Inc (068270 KS) achieved 178% YoY and 21% QoQ revenue growth to KRW1,064B in 4Q24, driven by rapid growth of new products such as Remsima SC, Yuflyma, and Steqeyma.
  • Celltrion guided for 2025 revenue of KRW5.0T, up 43% YoY. Celltrion is targeting COGS ratio in 20%s by 4Q25. Operating profit margin is expected to recover to 30%s in 2025.  
  • New launches, COGS improvement, and cost efficiency will drive 2025 growth. This year, Celltrion received European approval for four biosimilars and three biosimilars are under regulatory review in the U.S.

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