Nordic markets were down in a day of heavy quarterly reporting activity. China raised rates by 25 percentage points. The move was expected right after New Years celebrations and today was a tad before schedule even if the officials have been gunning for a shorter vacation period. This had an impact in commodities prices and global exchanges. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan strongly condemned Russian president Dmitry Medvedev's November visit to disputed Kuril islands and went as far as saying his political future may hinge on the return of the islands (then again with his current popularity ratings, he is not exactly betting the house). Russia is doing away with daylight savings time in a sensible move that Nordic countries should consider emulating.
Swedbank reported a quarterly result of 2.75 billion Kronor. Compared to Q3 profit excluding non-recurring items was down ever so slightly. Markets were very happy with the numbers and a major share buyback announcement jubilantly and Swedbank closed more than 5% higher.
After outperforming for the bulk of last two years, expectations were very high for Stora Enso going into Q4 2010 report. The company missed some targets and the dividend is less than expected as the company sees better investment opportunities. Company CEO commented that although demand is still at a level below that of the pre-financial crisis, short term outlook is positive. Unstable situation in North Africa and floods in Australia have a negative impact. Markets felt a little disappointed with the guidance.
Telecommunications operator Tele2 reported increased revenue and EBITDA margins. There was strill relatively strong customer numbers growth in Russia and mobile revenue growth in Sweden. The company is also distributing an extra dividend and showed strenght today. Telenor also fared well after quarterly report that topped expectations handily. Strong organic growth is set to continue and the management sees Asia to continue to be the growth driver for the company.
Outotec had a strong quarter: over 330 million Euro in sales and nearly 30 million profit. The company forecasts continued strenght and order growth. Pöyry showed first signs of life in a long time with a positive quarter and a major nearly 150 million Euro order from Brazil for a paper-mill extension project. Alfa Laval matched expectations as Food and Sanitary segment performed particularly well. The company adjusted growth targest upwards. The operating margin of 18.6% was a minor disappointment.
Talvivaara signed uranium off-take agreement with Cameco corporation. Cameco will pay an upfront payment which is designed to cover uranium extraction equipment building costs. Talvivaara will repay it in uranium shipments. After that, the contract will run until 2027 at market prices. The agreement is conditional on several permits and approvals from authorities and as such might be designed to nudge those processes forward as well.
British newspaper The Register suggested that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop aims to make Nokia executives spend much more of their time in Silicon Valley. This could be a condition for some potential new candidates for top positions in Nokia. Some Finnish newspapers translated the article to be claiming an imminent headquarter switch to US, something which it does not claim.
Lundbeck will begin to launch a number of Cephalon's drugs in Canada and Latin America via new licensing agreement. The products are currently available in the US and/or Europe and the commercial opportunity is seen as relatively large. Lundbeck gained more than 3% on the news. EpiCept was down heavily after taking the opportunity presented by the positive clinical data yesterday to raise cash via a direct offering.
Securitas said organic growth picked up in North America and slowed in Europe during Q4. Neste Oil plans to aid development of new rapeseed cultivars for biofuel use. EDB ErgoGroup was not happy with its Q4 and has implemented measures to improve profitability. The company believes IT services market will grow in Norway and Sweden along with the rest of the economy in 2011. Statoil Fuel & Retail's quarter was close to expectations.
Axfood aims to achieve at least similar operating profit levels in 2011 as it did last year. During the final quarter of last year, the retail sales rose 3.9% and operating profit was 321 million SEK. The dividend proposal of 12 SEK per share is up from 10 but a little below what optimists had been hoping for.
No comments:
Post a Comment