>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 6th of February 2025 V2(+)

>>> Up
* Alma Media Raised to Accumulate at Inderes; PT 13 euros
* Ctek Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 17 kronor
* Equinor Raised to Buy at SpareBank; PT 320 kroner
* Equinor Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 300 kroner
* Equinor Raised to Buy at DZ Bank; PT 320 kroner
* Equinor Raised to Buy at Nordea
* Greencore Group Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 225 pence
* Infineon Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 40 euros
* Kesko Raised to Buy at ABG; PT 20 euros
* Ringkjoebing Landbobank Raised to Hold at ABG; PT 1,040 kroner
* Ringkjoebing Landbobank Raised to Buy at Nordea (+)
* Ypsomed Raised to Outperform at BNPP Exane (+)

>>> Down
* Akzo Nobel Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 61 euros
* Alm Brand Cut to Hold at Jyske Bank; PT 16 kroner
* Alphabet Cut to Hold at DZ Bank; PT $198
* Bilia Cut to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux (+)
* Cool Cut to Hold at ABG; PT 92 kroner (+)
* Halma Cut to Reduce at HSBC; PT 2,760 pence
* Schott Pharma Cut to Underperform at BNPP Exane (+)
* Siltronic Cut to Hold at Berenberg
* Stillfront Cut to Hold at Nordea
* STMicro Cut to Neutral at BofA
* Valmet Cut to Neutral at BNPP Exane (+)
* Weir Group PLC/The Cut to Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 2,270 pence

>>> Initiation
* Ferrari Rated New Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT 430 euros (+)
* Greatland Gold Rated New Buy at Argonaut Securities; PT 17 pence
* Nexans Rated New Buy at UBS with PT EUR 145 (62.7% upside)
* Norwegian Air Reinstated Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 13 kroner
* Prysmian Rated New Neutral at UBS; PT 70 euros (+)
* Uranium Royalty Rated New Outperform at Raymond James; PT C$4.50

>>> Call
* AstraZeneca Outlook Allows Focus to Shift to Pipeline: JPMorgan (+)
* STMicro Downgraded at BofA as Infineon Preferred Chipmaker (+)
* UBS PT Raised to Street High by Goldman on Raised Estimates (+)

>>> Stoxx 600 Pre-Market Indications

  • Maersk (DP4B TH) +5%
    • *MAERSK SEES 2025 UNDERLYING EBITDA $6B TO $9B, EST. $6.71B
  • Siemens Healthineers (SHL TH) +3.9%
    • Siemens Healthineers 1Q Adjusted Ebit Beats Estimates
  • SocGen (SGE TH) +3%
    • SocGen Announces €1.7 Billion Investor Payout as Profit Beats
  • AstraZeneca (ZEG TH) +2.9%
    • *ASTRAZENECA 4Q CORE EPS $2.09, EST. $2.06
  • Rational (RAA TH) +2.1%
    • Rational Prelim FY Ebit Beats Estimates
  • Infineon (IFX TH) +1.5%
    • Infineon Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 40 euros
  • Alstom (AOMD TH) +1.5%
  • Pernod Ricard (PER TH) +1.5%
    • *PERNOD RICARD CUTS FY ORGANIC NET SALES GUIDANCE ON SPIRITS
  • Siemens Energy (ENR TH) +1.4%
  • Imperial Brands (ITB TH) +1.4%
  • STMicro (SGM TH) -0.9%
  • Acciona (AJ3 TH) -1%
  • ING (INN1 TH) -1.7%
    • ING Defends Oil, Gas Financing Statements After Criticism (1)

>>> TradeGate Pre-Market Indications

DAX:
  • Siemens Healthineers (SHL TH) +4.1%
    • Siemens Healthineers 1Q Adjusted Ebit Beats Estimates
  • Siemens Energy (ENR TH) +1.7%
  • Infineon (IFX TH) +1.5%
    • Infineon Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 40 euros
MDAX:
  • HelloFresh (HFG TH) +3.9%
    • Hellofresh wants to deliver ready meals in Germany: APA
  • Jungheinrich (JUN3 TH) +1.7%
  • Aixtron (AIXA TH) +1.5%
  • Hensoldt (HAG TH) +1.1%
  • K+S (SDF TH) -0.3%
    • K’s HD 3Q Operating Income Beats Estimates
  • Siltronic (WAF TH) -1.9%
    • Siltronic Cut to Hold at Berenberg
  • Schott Pharma AG & Co KGaA (1SXP TH) -4.2%
    • Schott Pharma Cut to Underperform at BNPP Exane
SDAX:
  • Metro AG (B4B TH) +35%
    • Kretinsky’s EP Global Seeks to Take Metro Private for EU5.33/Shr
  • Borussia Dortmund (BVB TH) -0.8%
  • Ceconomy (CEC TH) -0.9%

WSJ : Capri CEO Says Strategy to Revive Versace, Kors Backfired on Brands

Capri CEO Says Strategy to Revive Versace, Kors Backfired on Brands


(Wall Street Journal) -- Fashion executive John Idol owned up to some big mistakes Wednesday: In trying to revive sales for Michael Kors and Versace, his company tanked them instead.

Steep price increases and other missteps led to a nearly 12% decline in quarterly revenue during the important holiday period.
Capri Holdings, the fashion conglomerate Idol created, wrote down the value of the Versace and Jimmy Choo businesses by $600 million.

Capri shares were down 10% Wednesday. The stock is off 43% since Capri paid $2.12 billion to take over Versace in December 2018.
"We made a number of missteps in our efforts to reposition our brands, in particular at Versace and Michael Kors, that negatively impacted our results," said Idol, Capri's chief executive.

The company's brands have been in free fall for years. The pressure to turn them around has intensified since Capri's proposed $8.5 billion merger with rival Tapestry was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission last year.

Beginning in the fall of 2023, Capri tried to elevate the Versace brand by emphasizing more sophisticated pieces and the craftsmanship that went into making them -- a play on the quiet-luxury trend that was gaining steam.

While the move played well with Versace's top spenders, it turned off a broader set of customers. Idol said Versace removed too many statement items and cut back on lower-priced goods that appealed to more-aspirational consumers. Versace revenue sank 15% in the period that ended Dec. 28.

Versace now intends to try for a better balance between "fun and elegant," Idol said. It also will introduce less expensive goods to appeal to a broader audience.

Versace recently introduced a sneaker called the Galaxia that sells for $550, less than half the price of some other models.
Idol said the Versace brand still resonates with shoppers, and that its eyewear and fragrance businesses continue to perform well.

Kors tried to appeal to younger shoppers by adding too many fashion pieces, which turned off its core customers. It also raised prices too much over the past 24 months, Idol said. As consumers became pickier about what they were buying, Kors had to discount more. Now, the brand is resetting its prices: Clothing prices will come down 30% to 40% starting in the spring.

Idol tamped down expectations that Capri is actively looking to sell Versace and Jimmy Choo, but didn't rule out the possibility altogether. Some industry watchers have wondered whether Capri would try to sell the brands so it could focus on reviving Kors.

"We're always going to listen to interested parties," Idol said, adding that his current strategy is to rebuild these brands.

Capri's management needs to "stop treading water and start fixing the issues so that they can get back into growth," said Neil Saunders, who tracks the retail industry as managing director of research firm GlobalData.

Saunders said the softness in the luxury market doesn't explain Capri's chronic underperformance, given that the company's results have been worse than many competitors.

"It signifies that the brands are losing traction with many shoppers," he said.

>>> What to look at today - 6th of February 2025

Asian equities advanced Thursday after stocks and bonds rose on Wall Street in a week marred by tariffs, lackluster tech earnings and uneven US economic data. The yen strengthened to the highest level since early December. A gauge of Asian equities rose for a third day to the highest level since Dec. 18. US equity futures were steady after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both notched a second day of gains on Wednesday. Shares gained in Hong Kong and mainland China, reversing Wednesday’s losses. Treasuries were steady after a sharp rally overnight. A gauge of dollar strength was little changed after two days of decline. Thursday’s relatively stable trades contrast with the volatility in the market since Monday after President Donald Trump decided to impose and then defer tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The US went ahead with a 10% tariff on all imports from China, which immediately retaliated by with some levies on US. The yen trimmed some of its gains against the dollar. Bank of Japan’s most hawkish board member Naoki Tamura said interest rates could touch 1% in the second half of the fiscal year 2025. The Japanese currency also faces fresh demand from hedge funds amid volatile trading in currency markets. Treasuries were steady in Asian trading after rallying across the curve Wednesday. The US 10-year yield dropped nine basis points to 4.42% during the session while the policy-sensitive two-year yield declined three basis points to 4.18% — both the lowest since the middle of December. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration’s focus with regard to bringing down borrowing costs is 10-year Treasury yields, rather than the Federal Reserve’s benchmark short-term interest rate. Elsewhere in Asia, Vietnam’s inflation quickened at its fastest pace in six months and Singapore said it will announce stock market measures soon. In Europe, the Bank of England is expected to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.5%. In commodities, gold rose for the sixth day, the longest streak since April amid concerns over tightness in the market.  US After Hours FORM -24.8%, PI -24.6%, SWKS -22.6%, ARM -7.1%, F -5.3%, QCOM -4.5% lower on earnings; APPS +25.2%, AMSC +14.8%, TTMI +13%, COHR +12.5%, UTI +7.3% higher on earnings.

Nikkei +0.61% Hang Seng +0.97% CSI +1.17% Shanghai +1.14% Shenzen +2.11%

Eur$ 1.0390 CNH 7.2888 CNY 7.2851 JPY 152.46 GBP 1.2484 CHF 0.9030 RUB 97.7550 TRY 35.9277 WTI$ 71.34 +0.44% Gold 2,870 +0.10% BTC 97,810 +0.90% ETH 2,828 +1.44%

S&P +0.21% Nasdaq +0.24% EuroStoxx +0.47% FTSE +0.65% Dax +0.50% SMI +0.40%

Macro :
- Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini appointed as the new Aga Khan
- US Readies Plan to Boost Air-Traffic Control Staff After Crash
- Jim Chanos Says Biggest Risk for Markets Is DeepSeek-Like Event
- Big Oil’s Wave of Buyouts Sets Up Next Leg of Energy IPO Rebound

Keep an eye on :
- AAL LN : Anglo American 4Q Diamond Production Beats Estimates
- MT NA : ArcelorMittal 4Q Ebitda Beats Estimates
- ARM US : ARM Holdings Sees 4Q Revenue $1.18B to $1.28B, Est. $1.23B
- ATEA NO : Atea 4Q Ebitda Misses Estimates
- NDA GY : Aurubis 1Q Pretax Operating Profit Misses Estimates
- AYV FP : Ayvens: Solid Q4 & FY 2024 Results - Delivering on the roadmap*
- BETSB SS : Betsson 4Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- BOL SS : Boliden 4Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- CARLB DC : Carlsberg FY Sales Meet Estimates, Carlsberg Sees 2025 Organic Oper Profit +1% to +5%, Est. +3.02%
- COOR SS : Coor 4Q Net Sales Miss Estimates
- DAE SW : Daetwyler FY Net Revenue Misses Estimates
- DNO NO : DNO 4Q Ebitda Misses Estimates
- EMEIS FP : Emeis SA FY Revenue Meets Estimates
- ENI IM : Apollo, Ares Could Bid for Stake in Eni Plenitude: Corriere
- EOAN GY : Hungary’s MVM Sees Romania Approving E.ON Unit Deal: Portfolio
- EQNR NO : UK government signals support for Rosebank oilfield
- FBK IM : FinecoBank FY Dividend per Share Beats Estimates
- FSKRS FH : Fiskars 4Q Comparable Ebit Beats Estimates
- F US : Ford Sees Sharp Profit Drop as Trump Tariff, EV Threats Loom
- GN DC : GN Store Nord Sees 2025 Ebita Margin 12% to 14%
- HNR1 GY : Hannover Re Maintains 2025 Net Income Forecast
- HNSA SS : Hansa Biopharma 4Q Net Loss SEK276.4M, Est. Loss SEK250.8M
- HOLX US : Hologic Cuts FY Revenue Forecast, Misses Estimates
- IBAB BB : IBA Signs Contract With AIG in Hyderabad
- INGA NA : ING 4Q Net Income Misses Estimates, ING Misses Estimates as Lending Income Declines, Costs Rise
- LEON SW : Leonteq FY Operating Income Misses Estimates, Names New CEO
- LIN US : Linde’s Sales Growth to Slow on Tough Demand: Preview
- LOTB BB : Lotus Bakeries FY Revenue Matches Estimates
- LSEG LN : UK T+1 Group Publishes Implementation Plan for 2027 Transition
- MNG LN : M&G Buys 70% Stake in Private Credit Firm P Capital Partners: FT
- MAERSKB DC : Maersk to Start Share Buyback Program Worth Up to $2 Billion
- B4B GY : Metro AG 1Q Sales EU8.57B Vs. EU8.12B Y/y, Metro AG Maintains FY Sales Forecast
- B4B GY : Kretinsky’s EP Global Seeks to Take Metro Private for EU5.33/Shr
- MSTR US : MicroStrategy 4Q Number of Bitcoins Held Beats Estimates
- MIPS SS : Mips 4Q Net Sales Meet Estimates
- MC US : Moelis & Co 4Q Adjusted EPS Beats Estimates Moelis & Co Class A Raises Quarterly Dividend 8.3% to 65c/Shr
- BMPS IM : Monte Paschi 4Q Net Income Beats Estimates
- MTGB SS : MTG 4Q Net Sales Beat Estimates
- 7731 JP : Nikon Cuts FY Operating Income Forecast, Misses Estimates
- 7267 JP : Nissan Searching for New Partner With Honda Deal Set to Collapse, Nissan CEO Tells Honda Counterpart He Wants to Scrap Merger Talks, Source Says
- ODHN SW : ***Orascom DH: la famille Sawiris détient 87,6% après l'offre d'acquisition
- ORDTED DC : Orsted Sees 2026 Ebitda Excluding Items DKK29B to DKK33B, Orsted Slashes 2030 Investment Program by a Quarter
- PNDXB SS : Pandox 4Q Ebitda Meets Estimates
- RI FP : Pernod Ricard 2Q Organic Sales Miss Estimates, Pernod Ricard Cuts FY Organic Net Sales Guidance on Spirits
- QIA GY : Qiagen 4Q Adjusted EPS Misses Estimates
- RECSI NO : REC Silicon 4Q Ebitda Loss $5.3M
- SCST SS : Scandi Standard 4Q Net Sales Meet Estimates, Scandi Standard 4Q Operating Income Beats Estimates
- SHL GY : Siemens Healthineers 1Q Adjusted Ebit Beats Estimates
- SRC LN : SigmaRoc Holder CRH UK Offers About 171.6m Shares: Terms
- GLE FP : SocGen 4Q Net Income Beats Estimates SocGen Announces €1.7 billion Investor Payout as Profit Beats
- 9984 JP : SoftBank Is Said to Near Deal for Chip Designer Ampere
- SOI FP : Soitec Sees FY Ebitda Margin 32% to 34%, Saw About 35%
- SONO US : Sonos Cuts 12% of Workers in Bid to Improve Product Organization
- TLGO SM : Sidenor to Improve Talgo Offer to €4.8/Shr: Confidencial
- TEL NO : Telenor 4Q Ebitda Margin Misses Estimates
- TEMN SW : Temenos to Sell Multifonds Ops to Montagu
- TSLA US : Musk Says X Revenue Should Improve Rapidly This Year
- VKTX US : Viking Therapeutics 4Q Revenue Matches Estimates
- VOLCARB SS : Volvo Car 4Q Revenue Beats Estimates, Volvo Car 4Q Operating Income Misses Estimates
- WOSG LN : Watches of Switzerland Sees Earnings in Line With Expectations
- WSU GY : Washtec Prelim 4Q Ebit EU18M

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 6th of February 2025

>>> Up
* Alma Media Raised to Accumulate at Inderes; PT 13 euros
* Ctek Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 17 kronor
* Equinor Raised to Buy at SpareBank; PT 320 kroner
* Equinor Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 300 kroner
* Equinor Raised to Buy at DZ Bank; PT 320 kroner
* Equinor Raised to Buy at Nordea
* Greencore Group Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 225 pence
* Infineon Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 40 euros
* Kesko Raised to Buy at ABG; PT 20 euros
* Ringkjoebing Landbobank Raised to Hold at ABG; PT 1,040 kroner

>>> Down
* Akzo Nobel Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 61 euros
* Alm Brand Cut to Hold at Jyske Bank; PT 16 kroner
* Alphabet Cut to Hold at DZ Bank; PT $198
* Halma Cut to Reduce at HSBC; PT 2,760 pence
* Siltronic Cut to Hold at Berenberg
* Stillfront Cut to Hold at Nordea
* STMicro Cut to Neutral at BofA
* Weir Group PLC/The Cut to Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 2,270 pence

>>> Initiation
* Greatland Gold Rated New Buy at Argonaut Securities; PT 17 pence
* Nexans Rated New Buy at UBS with PT EUR 145 (62.7% upside)
* Norwegian Air Reinstated Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 13 kroner
* Uranium Royalty Rated New Outperform at Raymond James; PT C$4.50

>>> Call

FT : In private credit, liquidity is bad

In private credit, liquidity is bad

The virtues of illiquidity
Bloomberg’s Laura Benitez reports on an innovation coming to the private credit industry:

Apollo Global Management Inc. is seeking to build a marketplace that would allow investors to buy and sell high-grade private assets more easily . . . The alternative asset manager is in discussions to partner with banks, exchanges and fintech firms to deliver real-time information and intraday prices for private credit deals . . . Such a marketplace would allow Apollo to trade and syndicate the debt it originates on a bigger scale and be the first of its kind in modern-day private markets …

“We’re focused on building a true marketplace — open architecture, collaborative and built for scale,” [Apollo’s Eric] Needleman said.

Wall Street likes to move assets around. Trading generates fees. Now that private credit has become its own asset class and investor money is cascading in, it was inevitable that someone would come along with a machine that moves private credit assets around.

This is a bad idea. As Unhedged has written, private credit has five virtues that set it apart from publicly traded assets such as good old high-yield bonds:

There are companies that, for various reasons, are a poor fit for the public bond or syndicated loan markets. They will pay more for debt capital from a private credit fund which accommodates their specific needs, including the need for privacy.

Private credit companies can craft tight debt contracts that protect investors in ways the standard, squishy contracts of the high-yield bond and syndicated loan markets do not.

Loans initiated by private credit are not marked to market, which means lower volatility, or at least the appearance of lower volatility, which lowers those loans’ correlations with publicly traded bonds, stocks, and so on. This improves the (real/apparent) risk-return balance of investors’ wider portfolios.

The bilateral relationship between a private credit lender and a single borrower means that, if the borrower should run into trouble, there is a better chance of a clean resolution than if the debt was owned by multiple parties, each with their own interests and all out to screw one another.

In contrast to bank lending, in particular, private credit funds tend to be less leveraged than banks (one to one versus 10 to one) and do not use deposit funding, so there is less chance of an asset liability mismatch. Private credit might reduce systemic risk.

To the extent that private credit assets are traded on an exchange such as the one Apollo envisages, they are traded at prices. That means they become more volatile, or at least more visibly volatile. That dilutes virtue 3, unless of course the prices established on the marketplace are kept secret and no one is forced to mark their positions to market accordingly, which would be immensely dodgy. This is quite important, because it is not clear that private credit as an asset class generates risk-adjusted excess returns relative to bonds or stocks. In other words, the lack of volatility and correlation may be the whole point of the asset class.

And to the extent that private credit assets become liquid and tradeable — especially if those assets are sliced up into pieces to improve liquidity further — virtue 4 is diluted too, because the relationship between lender and borrower is no longer enduring and bilateral. Who know who the borrower is going to have to negotiate with when things go awry.

There are probably also some questions about virtue 3 and virtue 5 in a real-time marketplace. If private credit firms start doing deals with a liquid market place in mind, do the debt contracts drift towards standardisation? And who knows how leveraged the people buying the loans on the market place will be?

Unhedged is not part of the-next-financial-crisis-will-start-in-private-credit mob. The point here is just that a liquid marketplace makes private credit more like public credit. This means you get the trickier risk characteristics of private lending, with less of its virtues. What’s the point?

FT : Starmer pledges planning reforms to boost nuclear power

Starmer pledges planning reforms to boost nuclear power
Changes will pave the way for construction of a new generation of small modular reactors

Sir Keir Starmer will on Thursday announce changes to the planning system designed to speed up the delivery of new nuclear power stations in England and Wales.

The British prime minister will claim that the planning reforms will “clear a path” for the introduction of small modular reactors, which are faster to build than existing larger reactors. 

The shake-up will involve the scrapping of a list of eight favoured sites for larger nuclear schemes, giving developers more flexibility in where they can build. 

Ministers will remove the expiry date on nuclear planning rules so projects no longer get “timed out”.

They will also announce plans to set up a new Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to oversee improvements to regulations to help more companies build nuclear projects. 

“This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades, we’ve been let down and left behind,” Starmer will say.

“I’m putting an end to it, changing the rules to back the builders of this nation.”

Only one new nuclear power station, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, is currently being built in the UK, developed by EDF of France. But it is delayed by years and over budget by billions of pounds.

The project is due to start generating in 2029 at the earliest, and cost up to £46bn. That compares with initial forecasts from 2016 that it would start at the end of 2025 and cost £18bn. 

Meanwhile plans by EDF and the British government to build a second project in Suffolk at Sizewell are also behind schedule as they try to persuade institutional investors to commit billions of pounds of private funding. 

The government has so far equivocated over whether or not they want a third project to be built at Wylfa in Anglesey, despite the last Tory government purchasing the site from Japanese developer Hitachi early last year.

Ministers are already overseeing a competition for private companies to win state support to develop small modular reactors, and they will now be included in the planning rules for the first time. 

In spite of the planning overhaul, ministers will insist that they will uphold Britain’s nuclear safety standards.

In September the government picked four companies to enter negotiations for taxpayer support for their technology: Rolls-Royce, the FTSE 100 British engineer, alongside US-owned rivals Holtec Britain and GE Hitachi, and Canadian-owned Westinghouse Electric.

FT : Russian billionaires Fridman and Aven sell Alfa-Bank stakes in bid to overt

Russian billionaires Fridman and Aven sell Alfa-Bank stakes in bid to overturn sanctions
Longtime partner Andrei Kosogov completes a $2.5bn deal to buy the bank and its insurance arm

The sanctioned billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven have sold their stakes in Russia’s largest private lender and its insurance arm, as they attempt to overturn EU sanctions against them.

Fridman and Aven offloaded Alfa-Bank and Alfa Strakhovanie to their longtime partner Andrei Kosogov last year, according to documents seen by the Financial Times, completing a deal struck in 2023 that values the two companies at about Rbs240bn ($2.5bn). The oligarchs held a combined 45 per cent stake in the bank and a 42 per cent stake in the insurer.

Kosogov, who is not under sanctions, has emerged from relative obscurity to become the largest shareholder in Alfa-Bank and LetterOne, the Mayfair-based conglomerate, after buying out his sanctioned partners.

The oligarchs hope that selling the bank and insurer — a deal expedited by Russian government intervention on ownership of “economically significant” firms — will aid their challenge to the EU sanctions imposed on them in response to president Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Last year, the EU’s General Court partially annulled the basis for the sanctions by ruling the bloc had not presented enough evidence to show Fridman and Aven were involved in efforts to undermine Ukraine.

The oligarchs’ victory was the highest profile blow to the EU sanctions regime against Russia since the invasion.

The EU sanctions remain in place, however, under a separate justification that points to Fridman and Aven’s status as “leading business persons [ . . .] involved in an economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue” to the Kremlin.

Fridman and Aven are separately challenging that justification. If they are successful, EU member states could decide to lift the sanctions, appeal the court decision or reinstate them under another new justification. Latvia has appealed against the first ruling in the oligarchs’ favour.

Anitta Hipper, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs, said the European Commission could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. “Restrictive measures against Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman remain in place — these were renewed based on the Council decisions in September 2023 and March 2024,” she said.

Hipper added that the council of EU member states “regularly reviews the listings”.

UK and EU sanctions forced Fridman and Aven, as well as their former partners German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, to cede control over investment group LetterOne and resign from its board.

Kosogov, the former head of Alfa’s investment unit, had the smallest share in the oligarchs’ empire until he bought Khan’s and Kuzmichev’s stakes in Alfa-Bank and LetterOne in 2022, making him the largest shareholder in both companies. Khan and Kuzmichev lent Kosogov funds to buy their stakes in LetterOne for a combined $7bn and agreed an option allowing them to buy them back within 10 years, according to a High Court ruling in December.

Kosogov then agreed a deal to buy Fridman and Aven’s stakes in Alfa-Bank via a Cypriot holding company and secured an agreement to finance the purchase with a loan from state-run Gazprombank, according to correspondence seen by the FT.

The regulatory approval in Cyprus required for the sale stalled, however, prompting repeated public complaints by Alfa-Bank’s Luxembourg-based parent company.

In the meantime, Russia passed a law allowing the state to redomicile “economically significant” companies held in western jurisdictions.

The initial list of such firms released by Russia’s government last March only named six — the first three of which were the local holding companies controlling Alfa-Bank, Alfa Strakhovanie, and X5, the supermarket group founded by Fridman.

Two months later, a Russian court annulled the Luxembourg-based company’s rights to Alfa-Bank and Alfa Strakhovanie, transferring Fridman and Aven the rights to hold the shares or offload them to Kosogov.

Kosogov has undertaken to pay for the deal out of his own funds, according to the sale agreements.

Though Cyprus approved the deal in July, the Russian decision had in effect rendered it moot as Fridman and Aven no longer needed to seek EU approval to transfer control of the Russian companies.

The law “gives owners a legal way to wipe their hands, because it’s a court and government decision that they seemingly have nothing to do with, but the companies on the list always had good relations with the Russian government,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.

By allowing Russian companies to pay dividends and protecting them from seizure under the sanctions, the process “ties their owners to the Russian regime even more closely”, she added.

Fridman and Aven declined to comment. Kosogov did not respond to a request for comment.

>>> US After Hours Summary: FORM -24.8%, PI -24.6%, SWKS -22.6%, ARM -7.1%, F -

After Hours Summary: FORM -24.8%, PI -24.6%, SWKS -22.6%, ARM -7.1%, F -5.3%, QCOM -4.5% lower on earnings; APPS +25.2%, AMSC +14.8%, TTMI +13%, COHR +12.5%, UTI +7.3% higher on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: APPS +25.2%, AMSC +14.8%, TTMI +13%, COHR +12.5%, UTI +7.3%, CCK +7%, RAMP +6.9%, EZPW +5.8%, PAHC +5.1%, RYN +4.9%, NWSA +3%, DLX +2.4%, CENT +2.2%, ALL +2%, CSGS +1.8% (also increases dividend), MC +1.6% (also increases dividend), SNEX +1.4% (also declares 3-for-2 stock split), SKWD +1.2%, WFRD +1.1%, PYCR +0.7%, OHI +0.5%, BKH +0.2% (also increases dividend), MKL +0.1% (also to conduct review of its business)

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: KIRK +6.4% (KIRK finalizes $25 mln investment from BYON), GDRX +3.3% (names new CFO), DIN +2.9% (Applebee's segment president to step down), INSG +2.4% (exec chairman departs to become CEO of SWKS), CBOE +1.7% (reports Jan trading volume), RXRX +1.3% (Phase 2 Data for REC-994), MRUS +0.7% (NEJM publishes data on Zenocutuzumab), MESO +0.6% (stock offering by selling shareholders), SXI +0.3% (acquires McStarlite), JBL +0.2% (consortium of investors have exited their equity stake in Pharmaceutics Intl and have closed on a transaction to sell the co to Jabil), COST +0.1% (reports Jan same store comps)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: FORM -24.8%, PI -24.6%, SWKS -22.6% (also names new CEO and new chairman), LFVN -22.2%, SRTS -18.5%, SYM -15.3%, AOSL -14.2%, WEX -13.9%, SIMO -13.5% (also authorizes new $50 mln share repurchase program), MTRX -13.4%, MOH -9.5%, CNMD -8.4%, VKTX -8.4%, DGII -7.5%, PLUS -7.3%, ARM -7.1%, BARK -6.6%, CPAY -5.9%, ALGN -5.4%, F -5.3%, HP -5.1%, BLBD -4.6%, QCOM -4.5%, CTVA -4.4%, NTGR -4.1%, FR -3.4%, MCK -3.1%, MUSA -3.1%, PTC -3%, BDX -3% (also to separate its Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions business from the rest of BDX), HOLX -2.5%, REXR -2.2%, ORLY -2.1%, ENSG -1.9%, CTSH -1.7% (also increases dividend), UGI -1.5%, MET -1.3%, RRX -1.2%, MSTR -1.1%, AFL -1%, GL -0.9%, AVB -0.6%, SU -0.6%, ENS -0.5%, STE -0.5%, DHT -0.3%, STC -0.3%, TENB -0.3%, SAFE -0.2% (also authorizes new $50 mln share repurchase program), UHAL -0.2%, ASGN -0.1%, BV -0.1%, HI -0.1%, HMN -0.1%, KMPR -0.1%, NVST -0.1% (also authorizes new $250 mln share repurchase program), RDN -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: KURA -7.3% (reports topline results from KOMET-001 Phase 2 trial of ziftomenib), MNR -6.7% (launches 12 mln unit offering), IRWD -2.8% (to be removed from S&P SmallCap 600), SONO -2.7% (announces restructuring, including 12% workforce reduction), CRM -1.7% (COO to retire, names Robin Washington as new COO/CFO), ZETA -0.3% (moves up earnings reporting date), BEN -0.1% (files mixed shelf securities offering; also reports Jan AUM), EA -0.1% (enters into accelerated share repurchase agreement), HI -0.1% (to sell 51% stake in Milacron to Bain Capital for $287 mln), PAC -0.1% (reports Jan traffic), DG -0.1% (announces changes to leadership team)