Nordic markets were flat on average with wild swings in individual stocks. News of continued drought in China, with Shandong the worst hit area, are rather grim for the fate of Chinese winter wheat crop. FED Chairman Ben Bernanke says unemployment may remain elevated for a number of years but that overall inflation and inflation expectations in the United States are very low (this in response to increasing claims by economists to raise rates sooner rather than later). USD weakened on the speech. Seismic activity in Iceland continues to be monitored closely.
Statoil's operating result was predictably strong at 42.8 billion NOK but net income number missed by a bit and 2011 production will not exceed that of 2010. The company still has three percent production growth targets in place 2010-2012. The company expects stable outlook on the Norwegian Continental Shelf towards 2020. Statoil lost more than three percent of its value on the stock market today.
Vestas wind said that while 2010 was tough, Vestas is back on track with a record-high order intake with a value of 8.6 billion Euro. Vestas predicts around 7 billion Euro in sales with an EBIT margin at around 7% for 2011. Investments are expected to be 850 million Euro as opposed to 650 million. Renewable Energy Corporation revenue reached 4.874 billion Norwegian Krona on Q4 and full-year revenue increased 56%. EBITDA printed at 1.836 billion corresponding to EBITDA margin of 38%, a monstrous increase from 22% on the previous quarter.
Marine Harvest Group EBIT stood at 1.062 billion NOK during Q4 2010, which is around double of 2009 level. Higher market prices pushed margins from 13.7 to 23.1 percent. Operations in Norway are doing particularly well and the management is happy with the performance. The adaptations that were required as a result of the fish diseases in Chilean farms are now complete and the company is in position to benefit from a rebound going forward. The market outlook for 2011 is very strong and higher prices are still achieved.
A leaked memo published in Engadget blog from Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop to the company employees compared the situation the company is facing to a burning oil field. The main problem is that innovations are not reaching market fast enough and internal collaboration is lacking. Elop said that Apple now complete owns the high-end range, that Android is now winning the mid-range and Shenzhen based manufacturers are cutting into Nokia's low-end price range dominance. There are remarks about how Nokia missed big trends and how it seems there will only be one MeeGo product on the market in 2011. He also admits that Symbian is not competitive in mid-range particularly in the US. The aim seems to be to prepare employees for major changes. Reuters was reporting that Nokia has dropped first MeeGo phone before it has even reached market. There are a number of job openings for MeeGo positions in the employment offices though.
Construction companies NCC and JM AB were both up strongly on strong quarterly reports. Nokian Tyres predicts further sales and profit growth in 2011. Snow shovel and manual plow sales aided Fiskars in Q4. Sanoma Corporation fell to minus on Q4 as Helsingin Sanomat lost a lot of subscribers.
Svenska Handelsbanken did not quite manage to follow the recent jubilee after quarterly results by Swedish banks but was still slightly above consensus. Sampo delivered another strong quarter.
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