Troubled mining exploration company Nunaminerals (CPH: NUNA) said weeks ago its cash situation is critical. Since then it has already had a couple of run-ups on speculation of a lifeline being thrown. The topsy-turvy struggle involves government of Greenland as a major shareholder and creditor, so far failing in its bid to de-list and nationalize the firm as a majority shareholder. Also NunaMineral's President & CEO has already given notice but has a 12-month notice period.
In this Friday's trading Nunaminerals was up 45% on especially high volume before trading was halted pending an announcement. A couple hours later the company basically reiterated its critical situation where it is unable to meet its debt obligations towards the government on a loan that was already due and now trading is suspended. Those who bought in on the run and weren't in time to get out have to hope a solution is found, something which is by no means certain. Nunaminerals Boards is promising a new update early next week, with insolvency proceedings a real possibility.
Just a little more than a week ago we had a massive uptick in the shares of Vaahto plc (HEL: WAT1V) heading to a trading halt. Even the local Financial Supervisory Authority woke up and suspected something might have been leaked. Trading was halted for a few days until the company came up with a notice of a major directed share issue that was a necessary condition on debt forgiveness and conversion of portion of debts to subordinated capital loans, an arrangement without which the company would have went belly up. Some but not all of the gains of the day of the trading halt were instantly wiped out on account of the size of the share issue and the subscription price far below market price, leaving some of those buying on the run-up banking a big loss to get out.
One of participant in the targeted issue, Lombard International Assurance S.A., sold a big chunk of its holdings it had acquired prior to the issue the next day at still a nice plus to what it pays, both in the issue if the aim was to keep ownership portion the same, and versus a couple months earlier when it had bought into Vaahto with a deal with one of the other participants in the targeted issue. This shows diverse measures with which savvy institutions can book gains multiple ways. Since the debt forgiveness and conversion became binding, Vaahto's share has again been making some headway, allowing the more patient speculators to get out unscathed.
Showing posts with label Vaahto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vaahto. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 February 2015
Monday, 16 April 2012
Finpro: China wants to renew paper factories
Finpro, which aims to help Finnish companies in international markets, said in a press release that China is eager to use Finnish know-how to upgrade its paper plants. The organization formerly known as Finnish Export Association said that China plans to renew its pulp and paper manufacturing and will increase production by over 30% in connection with the latest five-year plan.
Finpro and Finnish Technology Industries have started a project to bring Finnish technology expertise in the field together in a single entity to take into the Chinese market. Investments of up to 40 billion Euro may be made for some 30-50 new paper machines in existing factory locations and modernization of old equipment. Of course a headline number in one thing and the actual rewards reaped from such projects are always very uncertain.
Metso (OMX: MEO1V) is seen as the most likely beneficiary of continued investments in the field in China. The company is already doing large-scale business there and its stock market value reflects expectations of continued strong order inflow. Metso advanced 1% today.
Finpro aims to focus on aiding smaller companies to be able to take part in the push. Vaahto Group (HEL: WAT1V) was down over 10% in a continued sell-off after it reported of 2.9 million Euro operating loss for 1 September 2011-29 February 2012 period on Friday.
Many Chinese travelling to the Nordic region notice the superior quality of local paper as one of the very few things that clearly stands out compared to home. In historical context this is of course somewhat perplexing. I personally have been asked by several local commercial chambers in the Middle Kingdom on the matter and what it would take for them to be able to get into projects alleviating the situation as well in the years past during my long stays there.
While it is possible to acquire quality paper in China, it tends to be pretty expensive (the moister environment in the Southern regions also affects perception). The raw material availability is typically a concern for pulp mills, something what the companies have been tackling with large scale plantations and raw timber imports from Russia.
Of course pulp is also imported particularly from South America and companies from Nordic regions take part in that trade. Coated paper imports have already been declining so the impact on Nordic pulp & paper sector companies in general is ambiguous depending on the actual investment mix and how the particular company is positioned.
Finpro and Finnish Technology Industries have started a project to bring Finnish technology expertise in the field together in a single entity to take into the Chinese market. Investments of up to 40 billion Euro may be made for some 30-50 new paper machines in existing factory locations and modernization of old equipment. Of course a headline number in one thing and the actual rewards reaped from such projects are always very uncertain.
Metso (OMX: MEO1V) is seen as the most likely beneficiary of continued investments in the field in China. The company is already doing large-scale business there and its stock market value reflects expectations of continued strong order inflow. Metso advanced 1% today.
Finpro aims to focus on aiding smaller companies to be able to take part in the push. Vaahto Group (HEL: WAT1V) was down over 10% in a continued sell-off after it reported of 2.9 million Euro operating loss for 1 September 2011-29 February 2012 period on Friday.
Many Chinese travelling to the Nordic region notice the superior quality of local paper as one of the very few things that clearly stands out compared to home. In historical context this is of course somewhat perplexing. I personally have been asked by several local commercial chambers in the Middle Kingdom on the matter and what it would take for them to be able to get into projects alleviating the situation as well in the years past during my long stays there.
While it is possible to acquire quality paper in China, it tends to be pretty expensive (the moister environment in the Southern regions also affects perception). The raw material availability is typically a concern for pulp mills, something what the companies have been tackling with large scale plantations and raw timber imports from Russia.
Of course pulp is also imported particularly from South America and companies from Nordic regions take part in that trade. Coated paper imports have already been declining so the impact on Nordic pulp & paper sector companies in general is ambiguous depending on the actual investment mix and how the particular company is positioned.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Vaahto Group’s loss widens
Vaahto Group (HEL: WAT1V) just released an interim report for September 1 – November 30 period. The company which serves paper board and pulp industries had a turnover of 14.3 million Euros, which is up 31% from the corresponding period but printed an operating loss of 0.7 million compared to a loss of 0.3 million one year ago.
The company has two business groups. Vaahto Paper Technology plans and builds production lines, machines, equipment and components. The division’s turnover was 9 million with an operating loss of 0.6 million. Turnover was up but operating profit dropped as projects undertaken were unprofitable. Vaahto Process Technology has a unit specializing in agitator technologies and a unit specializing in pressure vessels and heat exchangers. The division showed a turnover of 5.3 million Euros with a negative operating profit of 0.1 million Euros. This was due to negative returns on vessels business projects delivered during the period.
The company says that the international economy is showing alarming signs and that Vaahto Group’s market situation has clearly tightened. The company views current order book as moderate and expects improved result for the fiscal year but concludes that there is considerable uncertainty. Yesterday the company announced that its subsidiary Japrotek and ABB transformers had signed a cooperation agreement concerning the manufacturing of demanding subsea transformer vessels. Vaahto’s stock is under some downward pressure on low volume.
The company has two business groups. Vaahto Paper Technology plans and builds production lines, machines, equipment and components. The division’s turnover was 9 million with an operating loss of 0.6 million. Turnover was up but operating profit dropped as projects undertaken were unprofitable. Vaahto Process Technology has a unit specializing in agitator technologies and a unit specializing in pressure vessels and heat exchangers. The division showed a turnover of 5.3 million Euros with a negative operating profit of 0.1 million Euros. This was due to negative returns on vessels business projects delivered during the period.
The company says that the international economy is showing alarming signs and that Vaahto Group’s market situation has clearly tightened. The company views current order book as moderate and expects improved result for the fiscal year but concludes that there is considerable uncertainty. Yesterday the company announced that its subsidiary Japrotek and ABB transformers had signed a cooperation agreement concerning the manufacturing of demanding subsea transformer vessels. Vaahto’s stock is under some downward pressure on low volume.
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