Top of the Street: Evonik, Berkeley, IG Group, Orsted and Ageas

Oersted A/S

02/12/2025 11:25

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:

** Kepler Cheuvreux cuts Evonik EVKn.DE to "reduce" from "hold", expecting more profit warnings from the chemical company as EU bureaucracy, energy costs, Chinese competition and rigid internal processes put the firm's earnings under pressure from

** RBC cuts homebuilder Berkeley BKGH.L to "underperform" from "outperform" over mansion tax and rental income tax impact

** UBS raises Bachem BANB.S to "buy" from "neutral" as it sees current valuation as attractive vs peers, backed by the biotechnology firm's organic growth investments

INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS

** Deutsche Bank initiates online trading provider IG Group IGG.L with "buy", deeming the shares cheap compared to the firm's outlook, but also underpinned by the value from the core OTC/ETD businesses and the surplus capital

** Equita initiates coverage of Orsted ORSTED.CO with "buy", flagging the Danish energy company's de-risked balance sheet and a more visible pipeline until 2028

(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)

(Reporting by Paolo Laudani and Olivier Cherfan)

((paolo.laudani@thomsonreuters.com))