On an already edgy market news of exchange of fire between North and South Korea prompted a worldwide selloff. More turmoil is taking place in Ireland and whispers about Portugal and Spain escalate. FED has also slashed its outlook for 2010 and 2011 and predicts years of lingering effects. These combined news trumped positive PMI index numbers. Sweden, Finland and Norway were down 1.5-2.5% where as Denmark outperformed today with a mere 0.5% decline as some of the more defensive stocks eked a small plus.
Marine Harvest slumped over 10% after the largest shareholder Geveran Trading announced it sold 250 million shares at a price of 6.05 NOK. After the sale Geveran has a little under 830 million shares and TRS agreements with net exposure to 70 million shares in Marine Harvest left. The stock closed at 5.75 NOK. The stock bottomed at around 1 NOK at the height of financial crisis.
Statoil has agreed to sell 40% of its oil sands project in Alberta, Canada to PTT Exploration and Production from Thailand for 2.28 billion USD. Finnish prosecutors will take money laundering case against several employees of Outokumpu into court. The company maintains that the company and its employees have done nothing illegal. Most of the areas under investigation, for example alleged bookkeeping irregularities were either found groundless or not serious enough to warrant legal action.
Another Nordic maritime player turns toward China as TTS Group from Bergen has entered into a strategic co-operation Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The co-operation on deliveries of equipment will be organized via a joint venture, which has considerable potential during the next five year period in TTS Group’s opinion.
In an unrelated story, Bergen’s airport Flesland was closed briefly today due to a suspicious bag. The item belonged to a member of the Norwegian military and contained material to be used in army drills. Also today Danish security and intelligence agency PET (Politiets Efterretningstjeneste) warned that foreign extremists are planning terrorist attacks against the country and its interests.
Topdanmark announced a profit before tax of 418 million DKK, way better than expected. It also upped profit guidance for 2010. Alliance oil reported Q3 EBITDA of slightly less than 130 million USD. The company feels that market conditions will continue to be favourable and is planning for accelerated production growth.
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