03.11.2010

The investors were anxious about the statement coming out of the FED meeting. Nordic markets turned markedly lower late in the session. Only Copenhagen eked a plus. Iceland’s central bank lowered interest rates by 0.75 percentage points. The Monetary Police committee cited lowered inflation expectations due to weak economic activity. The FED announced a 600 million USD quantitative easing (QE2) after Nordic markets had closed and kept rates near zero.

Statoil’s third quarter net operating income was on the same level as in 2009. Higher prices contributed positively to quarterly result. Adjusted earnings were down from last year in high maintenance period. The company has decided to cut some current production to drill additional wells. The newly listed subsidiary Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA reported yesterday. The result was not well received and soured the mood for entire Oslo exchange. The stock ended the day down more than 5%.

Marine Harvest’s return on capital employed in Q3 was a solid 18.9%. The company foresees a strong market for 2011 and proposes an interim 0.05 NOK dividend for EGM in November. Earnings per share for Q3 were 0.19 NOK. The better than expected result helped company to stay on a slight plus in a down day.

H. Lundbeck A/S reported third quarter earnings. The company saw continued strong growth and expects to hit high end of guidance range for the full year. Lundbeck now expects revenue of DKK 14.6-14.8 billion, EBITDA of DKK 4.2-4.3 billion and EBIT of DKK 3.3-3.4 billion for 2010. Ciptalex, Ebixa, Azilect and Xenazine all reported increased revenue creation. Earnings per share for the period stood at 3.17 DKK. The company has several late-stage products; forescitalopram NDA filed by partner Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd in Japan for depression, NDA to be filed for clobazam for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in 2010, headline reports from nalmefene for alcohol debendance in phase 3 expected within six months, desmoteplase for ischaemic stroke in phase 3 with filing expected in 2012, and several studies with Lu AA21004 in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in phase 3. The company gave guidance for 2012-2014 which did not meet expectation and the stock sold off over 4%, albeit it had been rising considerably heading into the report.

Medical devices and services company Coloplast concluded its fiscal year. Revenue in DKK was up 8% to 9.5 billion DKK. The company’s expectation for 2010-2011 fiscal year are 6-8% organic growth, EBIT margin of 23-25% and capex at 300-400 million DKK. The Board of Directors recommends that the Annual General Meeting to be held on 1 December 2010 approve a dividend of DKK 10.00 per share against DKK 7.00 last year, equal to a pay-out ratio of 34%, which is unchanged from last year. The markets loved the guidance for 2010-2011 and the stock gained over 10%.

An international specialty pharma company Meda reported first nine month EBITDA gnawed higher year on year and stood at 3486 million SEK. "The Meda Group expects to achieve sales of about SEK 11,400 million and an EBITDA (excluding restructuring charges related to the acquisition of Alaven) of about SEK 4,400 million for full-year 2010.” the company said in the report. Seasonally the quarter is the weakest of the year for Meda and third quarter EBITDA was 866 million SEK, even less than expected.The disappointment cause the stock to lose over 8% of its value in today’s trading.

Pohjola Bank’s third quarter earnings were the best the bank has ever recorded, toppling 100 million Euro. The group’s president and CEO Mikael Silvennoinen said there is greater demand for corporate loans but that increasing competition is weighing on the margins. The group’s impairment charges were up slightly year on year. The bank tweaked consolidated earnings and Non-life insurances operating combined ratio.

Lundin Petroleum exceeded expectation with third quarter EBITDA 167 million USD. The company’s stock traded up nearly 8% for the close.Sanoma reported improving outlook and raised profit guidance slightly. Earnings per share were 0.24 Euro for Q3. Latour gained over 3% on a solid report. Spectrum ASA has a new CEO as Rune Eng replaces David Rowlands. TDC’s 3Q result wa 594 million DKK. Nokian tyres said there would have been more demand than what it was able to meet in Q3 so far. The stock traded a little bit lower on heavy volume. Sampo group felt it had another strong quarter. Nordea’s share price appreciation contributed to Sampo’s net asset value growth.

Republicans took power in the House of Representatives where all seats were up in the election and while Democrats narrowly kept Senate, where a little over a third of the seats were up for grabs, their majority shrank considerably in the United States midterm elections. World Bank raised China’s growth outlook for 2010 to 10%.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit in the Kuril Islands on November 1st continues to weigh in on Japan-Russia relations. Medvedev is planning more visits to the Islands according to foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Japan has recalled its envoy to Tokio according to a Japan Times report. Jailed Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky gave a closing statement in an ongoing trial against him. You can read full transcript of his final words from Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center website at www.khodorkovskycenter.com. The ruling on the case accusing Khodorkovski and Platon Lebedev of embezzlement and money laundering, and carries a maximum punishment of 22 years in jail, is expected December 15th.

Some results out tomorrow: Skanska, Aker ASA, Norske Skog