Monday, 10 January 2011

10.01.2011

Nordic markets felt some of the turmoil in Europe and were down slightly to start the week. Finance minister of Brazil Guido Mantage told Financial Times that the world is on cource for a full-blown trade war. China’s trade surplus for 2010 was smaller than expected according to official numbers.

The whole charade concerning Portugal has now reached the all typical phase of market rumours saying that big European countries are pressuring Portugal to accept a bailout and Portuguese leaders denying any talks taking place. If history repeats itself, this should lead to unacceptable yields soon enough and thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jean-Claude Trichet told press conference in Basel that the world economy has recovered much better than expected.

U.S. chemicals giant DuPont has made a tender offer to buy danish Food ingredients, enzymes and bio-based solutions firm Danisco in an all cash deal. DuPont is offering 665 Danish kroner per share, representing a 25 percent premium to an already all time high Friday close. Danisco’s Board Of Directors are unanimoulsly recommending taking the offer and analysts felt it is an attractive deal. The deal signals a shift in focus for DuPont taking on the food additives business. DuPont was down heavily in early trading.

Trading in Orkla’s shares was halted slightly after opening. The company confirmed a news article in Dagens Næringsliv stating that it is in negotiations with China National Bluestar to sell Elkem AS silicon-related operations. Orkla was up more than 2%.

Yara International ASA exercised its option to purchase the remaining shares in Yara Nipro Pty Ltd. Ericsson signed a contract with Finnish operator DNA to expand and upgrade DNA’s 3G network and switch to 4G in major cities. DNA has been rumoured to be the first in line to join Helsinki stock exchange. Wärtsilä landed a major power plant contract from the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor).

Orexo announced that its partner ProStrakan Group plc received an approval from eceived approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Abstral (Fentanyl) Sublingual Tablets. Abstral is licensed for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain. Orexo gained 13+ percent on the news. SEB Enskilda feels the market overvalues Bavarian Nordic’s therapeutic vaccine candidate PROSTVAC and cut its recommendation to ’sell’. Nordea initiatiated coverage of Bavarian Nordic and rates the company’s stock ’strong buy’ with 60 percent higher target price than current valuation. Today the market sided with Nordea, with mainly Nordea buying heavily into the stock.

Norwegian TV2 is reporting on a story on of an IPhone 4 user whose phone disintegrated while she was driving her car. The company cited the warranty, which states that the phone is meant to be used in temperatures between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius, to pin the blame on the customer since was below 0 degrees (32 F) outside, thus saying the company is not liable for repairs. Consumer agencies state that a device should withstand normal use if it is sold in the country.

East Capital Explorer AB made a 6.8 million Euro direct investment in a Russian dairy and juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC. It is betting that PepsiCo will receive the required government approvals to acquire the company (PepsiCo already has an agreement in place to get 66% of the shares) in order to reap a short-term gain.

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