Davy Morning Equity Briefing
Oct 28, 2026
Bank of Ireland
Q3 results: strong lending with guidance upgrades
Bank of Ireland’s (BIRG) Q3 update demonstrates continued strong momentum, with upgrades to FY26 net interest income (NII), loan growth and capital generation guidance. Credit demand is encouraging, led by strong growth in Irish mortgages, SME and Corporate lending, while Wealth & Insurance AUM growth remains robust. NII upgrades are broadly in line with consensus, but potentially a higher rate backdrop offers potential upside beyond FY26. The update reinforces the positive investment case, underpinned by strong balance sheet growth and capital generation.
C&C
On track to meet full-year expectations
C&C’s interim results are in line with the September 11th pre-announcement, with the key positive a better-than-expected sequential rebuild in Distribution margins. Guidance is unchanged, and the business remains on track to meet full-year market expectations (Davy EBIT: €70.5m), implying a modest year-on-year (yoy) EBIT decline in H2. We expect to leave our FY EBIT forecast unchanged. With the foundations reset and performance beginning to improve, we see decent upside to the equity.
Saint-Gobain Group
Q3 revenues boosted by selling price actions
Saint-Gobain announced a solid Q3 sales result in what remain testing operating conditions. Once again, the group made good progress in construction chemicals and in Asia, while a further highlight was the acceleration in selling prices in what has become a more inflationary environment. EBITDA margin guidance for the year is unchanged, and our initial take is that forecast changes are likely to be relatively modest. In the current environment, this amounts to a decent outcome and (as seemingly ever) the stock screens well from a valuation perspective.
Danone
Q3 update – volume miss; guidance confirmed
Q3 like-for-like (LFL) sales growth was marginally ahead of consensus at +4% (VA: +3.9%), although volume/mix growth was softer at +0.4% (VA: +0.9%), led by weakness in Waters. We continue to believe the extent of recent equity underperformance has been disproportionate to the underlying earnings risk.
Symrise
Q3 sales ahead; investments to weigh on margin
Q3 organic sales growth of 5.3% was modestly ahead of expectations, supported by strong volume growth. Encouragingly, Pet Food and Care & Wellness both returned to growth. Management reiterated FY26 guidance, with Q4 sales growth expected to moderate against tougher comparatives. However, the adjusted EBITDA margin is now expected to be in the lower half of the 21.5–22.5% range, reflecting increased reinvestment. On first read, the margin outlook is likely to disappoint. We expect limited change to our FY26 group EBITDA forecast, although we see downside risk to our 2027 forecast, which is margin driven.
Norwegian Air
Q3 beat; winter pricing pressure
Norwegian Air delivered an operating profit (EBIT) of NOK2728m (consensus: NOK2330m). Q3 load factor was up slightly despite 5% year-on-year (yoy) capacity (ASK) growth, while unit revenue declined 1% yoy, reflecting lower yields and a negative impact from the strengthening NOK. For winter 26/27, ticket sales are significantly ahead but winter fares are seeing some pricing pressure. For FY26, capacity is guided at +2% while unit cost ex-fuel is guided flat versus the prior year. For FY27, capacity is guided at +5%; however, Q1 2027 capacity has been reduced by above 5% compared to the original plan given elevated fuel prices. We expect FY26 consensus EBIT of NOK1260m to remain broadly unchanged given that the Q3 beat is largely offset by weaker pricing commentary for winter.
