17.12.2010

Danish and Norwegian exchanges showed great strength to end the week. Sweden and Finland fared somewhat worse today, but overall Nordic markets did eek out yet another gain. Norden.org reported that the Nordic countries signed an information exchange agreement with Liechtenstein to end tax evasion. Moody’s is keeping busy after the fact, this time downgrading Ireland’s debt rating by five steps in a flash. Bush tax cuts were extended and the leading indicators showed improvement as was expected in the United States.

Oslo stock exchange experienced technical difficulties. All trades on the equity market between 11:02:26 and 12:00 local time were cancelled as investors did not have access to their orders. The trading was reopened at 14.30. The exchange posted its highest closing number since August 2008.

AstraZeneca plummeted on the news that it has received a complete response letter from US FDA for the NDA of oral ADP receptor antagonist BRILINTA (ticagrelor) for acute coronary syndrome. FDA requests additional analyses of the 18624 patient PLATO study on the heart medicine. The drug was approved by the European Commission couple weeks ago under the brand name BRILIQUE and is considered a potential blockbuster. The main issue the FDA has is that the clinical benefit in the North-American subgroup of patients seems lacking greatly in comparison to the data from the rest of the world. Astra ended the day down 6.66% on the Stockholm exchange.

DiaGenic announced it has signed an agreement with Pfizer to jointly develop on blood based biomarkers for early stages of Alzheimer’s disease using DiaGenic’s technology platform and samples. DiaGenic rose over 9% in today’s trading. Orexo will receive a 59 million milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim immediately as their collaboration produced a potential drug candidate to enter further clinical development. Orexo posted a 1.5% gain.

MT Højgaard has been awarded a 1.3 billion DKK contract by Dong Energy for construction of foundations for offshore wind turbines. The wind farm will have a total of 111 wind turbines and will be the largest offshore wind farm in Denmark. The news came right at market close.

Veidekke has signed a Letter Of Intent to purchase 51% of contracting operations of Hæhre group. Veidekke also announced it will build 70 climate-smart apartments in Stockholm. Victoria Properties bought about 150 million Danish kroner worth of properties in Germany.

The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has asked police to determine whether a case of market manipulation by Aarhus Lokalbank has taken place. The company purchased its own shares from the market in 2009-2010 and has provided market making duties with its stock. The DFSA feels the scope of the banks transactions goes beyond normal market making duties. The share is very illiquid and therefore the company decided in an AGM to start a share buyback program. The total amount of shares purchased and sold is rather small in comparison to the market value and Aarhus Lokalbank is off the opinion it has not broken the law. The stock backed 4% today.

Cermaq has entered into a joint venture with Vietnamese Anova Corporation. The company will be entering operations in the Vietnamese feed market. Cermaq will hold 51% share in the new entity.
Helly Hansen Group is selling its subsidiary Helly Hansen Pro AS to MontaguPrivate Equity. The company which makes among others survival suits and boat canopies will be rebranded Hansen Protection and rights to Helly Hansen brand remain with Helly Hansen Group. Tikkurila is selling a Russian asset, St Petersburg plant Tikkurila Powder Coatings, to family owned company Teknos Group.

Outotec was up two per cent as it launched a pilot CO2 removal pilot plant in Frankfurt am Main. Fortum is planning to take part in the upcoming auctions for French hydro plants. Fabege sold 140 million Swedish Kronor worth properties in Stockholm to JM. Technopolis is currently negotiating for a significant deal with Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Kuopio. There were insider purchases in Hurtigruten and Aker Seafoods.

ÅF has acquired specialist consultancy firm Mercados Energy Markets International. Mercados has annual sales of around 9 million Euro and ÅF is paying 4.2 million Euro plus potential additional considerations amounting up to 2.6 million Euro. Tieto launched a new operating model.

Haldex decided to divest traction systems division to BorgWarner. The market felt Haldex got a good price for it and rewarded the stock with a 2.3% gain. Deep Sea Supply sold two vessels to an undisclosed ”Asian buyer” and says that the Parties agreed to keep all the details private and confidential. Deep Sea Supply is planning to renew its fleet and thus these vessels had become obsolete for the company.