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Not only are record profits sweetening the business for the new UBS, the megabank is also flying high on the stock market: Its share price is up a whopping 31.9 percent in the first three quarters of the year. No other security in the Swiss Market Index (SMI) has increased in value this much since January. In the eyes of investors, the CS takeover appears to have been totally worth it.
Things also went exceptionally well for other Swiss companies in the first three quarters: financial services provider Partners Group managed to grow by more than a quarter. Building materials group Holcim (+22.8 percent), logistics company Kuehne + Nagel (+21.3 percent) and insurance company Swiss Life (+19.9 percent) are also among the top five gainers.
Demand for luxury goods is decreasing
On the other hand, the demand for luxury seems to have decreased again: Shares of the Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont fell after the rise in the first half of the year. This comes as demand in Europe returns to normal after a short-term surge and markets in China continue to fall short of expectations. Overall, the share price fell 6.6 percent in the first three quarters.
The biggest loser was pharmaceutical company Roche, whose share price fell by almost 14 percent. There are many reasons for the loss of confidence among investors: On the one hand, the Basel-based company is not one of the biggest drivers of growth and innovation in its sector. On the other hand, family shareholders sold shares at the beginning of the year, which further increased the interest in Roche shares.
The only pharmaceutical company in investor favor
Industry rival Lonza (-6.1 percent) also declined after difficult months. Rival Novartis is one of the big winners. Among other things, generic drug maker Sandoz’s IPO announcement and research successes with kidney drug Iptacopan also cheered markets.
While share prices have fallen sharply over the past year, only six of the twenty companies in the SMI have lost value in the past nine months. This resulted in slightly positive growth of just over two percent for the SMI as a whole. However, in international comparison, the SMI lags behind other stock indices such as the German DAX, with its rather modest rise.
Top 5 and 5 underachievers of SMI stocks since the beginning of the year
| Top | To watch | The course has been running since the beginning of the year | Failure | To watch | The course has been running since the beginning of the year |
| one. | UBS Group | +31.9% | one. | Roche | -13.8% |
| 2. | Partners Group | +26.7% | 2. | richemont | -6.6% |
| 3. | Holcim | +22.8% | 3. | lonza | -6.1% |
| 4. | Kuehne + Nagel | +21.3% | 4. | Zurich | -5.0% |
| 5. | Swiss Life | +19.9% | 5. | Nestlé | -3.2% |
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
