Deutsche Börse, wallstreet:online, ThyssenKrupp - Better than expected

wallstreet:online continues to grow

At the Berlin-based wallstreet:online group, the good news continues. The signs continue to point to growth and expansion. From a purely legal point of view, the squeeze-out of wallstreet:online Capital, which is also the operating Company of Germany's largest neobroker by assets under custody, has put everything in place. Now the decision regarding the extension of the KWG license by BaFin is awaited. That would allow for a significant expansion of the business model. In addition to the operation of the financial commission business, financial portfolio management, proprietary trading and custody business, it should also be possible to further optimize the business in its current setup and make it competitive and well-positioned for future market development. A gradual withdrawal from the cooperation with DAB/BNP Paribas would be the logical consequence. With the expanded license, in addition to a new smartphone app, the development of a new platform would also be a given, which should lead to a significant increase in margins in the long term.

On the operational side, the further dovetailing of the community with the transaction business is at the top of the pile at wallstreet:online. Thus, it was announced by the by far largest publisher-independent financial portal operator in the German-speaking region that the existing journalistic content is to be strengthened by the premium section. In parallel, the current stock market and financial reporting are to be supplemented with trading-specific content and self-produced moving image formats. In addition to free services, the portals will also offer paid content services in the future. To this end, the Berlin-based Company has already founded a subsidiary under the name wallstreet:online Publishing GmbH.

In the wake of the weak overall market, the news flow, which has been good for weeks, is fizzling out. The share is currently struggling with the EUR 20 mark. In their current study, the analysts of Alster Research assigned a price target of EUR 34. The verdict is "buy".

Deutsche Börse defies the cycle

The pandemic year 2020 was an absolutely exceptional year for both online brokers and Deutsche Börse due to the high fluctuation range and flushed above-average profits into the companies' coffers due to the substantial increase in transactions. However, even last year, in which cyclicality played against the exchange operator, the Frankfurt-based company was able to close the year better than expected.

One of the reasons for achieving the growth targets is inorganic growth in the form of acquisitions, such as ISS. According to CEO Theodor Weimer, the Company continues to be ahead of its plans when it comes to M&A. Two-thirds of the targets set out in the Compass 2023 strategy program have already been met, he said. Major M&A deals are not on the agenda, Weimer clarified. Share buybacks are also not planned at present, according to CFO Gregor Pottmeyer. The Compass 23 program will continue to be implemented in the coming year.

"We are well on track. We have met our growth targets. And everything indicates that we will continue to grow as planned in the two remaining years of Compass 2023," said Group CEO Theodor Weimer, referring to the medium-term strategy "Compass 2023" on Thursday at the presentation of the DAX-listed group's financial statements. "We will achieve ten percent growth on average for the year: both in Ebitda and net revenues."

Sell-off after figures

ThyssenKrupp, the industrial group focused on steel processing and Germany's biggest steel producer, also reported a pleasing first quarter of fiscal 2021/2022. New business increased by a third to EUR 10.4 billion. In the three months to the end of the year, revenues increased by 23% to around EUR 9 billion. Adjusted operating profit grew from EUR 78 million to EUR 378 million. The figures were above analysts' forecasts.

For 2021/22, the Group expects an adjusted EBIT of EUR 1.5 billion to EUR 1.8 billion, compared with EUR 796 million a year earlier. For this, net income is expected to reach at least EUR 1 billion. After initial gains, ThyssenKrupp's stock turned sharply negative at 2.5%. Traders said they were disappointed with the Company's full-year forecast after the successful first quarter. From a chart perspective, the low for the year at EUR 8.75 is coming to the fore. Should this be broken, the next broad support would be at EUR 8.25.

After the extraordinary stock market year 2020 due to high volatility, there was a normalization among online brokers and stock exchange operators. However, in contrast to the peer group, wallstreet:online continues to grow, and Deutsche Börse also defied the weakening market. ThyssenKrupp also made significant operating gains.