Oslo Børs opens lower after earnings rush – E24

XXL's share comes after “the toughest year in XXL's history.”

The status is updated throughout the trading day.

The stock market was down from the start on Thursday, and after just one hour of trading, the main index was down 0.83 percent.

This is how a group of the most actively traded stocks fare shortly after the stock market opens:

• Equinor shares fell by 2.62 percent
• Höegh Autoliners shares rose 10.96 percent
• Aker BP shares fell by 2.16%.
• Frontline shares rose 1.26 percent
• Nordic Semiconductor shares rose 5.44 percent

North Sea oil (the burnt spot) is trading at the time of writing at $79.40 per barrel, a slight rise since midnight.

In the morning hours, there were many updates from companies on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Follow the results of the rush in Aksjelive E24.

A quarter of the amount for XXL

XXL has gone on a new rampage on the eve of 2023, and the CEO is calling it the most challenging year ever. Total operating profit (EBITDA) was minus NOK 13 million, compared to minus NOK 236 million at the same crossroads in the previous year.

The fourth quarter is usually a good one for XXL, because it contains important Christmas trades.

-Christmas shopping was disappointing. Consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets, Freddie Sobin, president of XXL, said in Thursday's quarterly presentation.

For the full year 2023, XXL lost NOK 1.6 billion before taxes, compared to NOK 531 million in the previous year. Significant losses have characterized the company over time and created financial pressures.

XXL stock fell 13.87 percent.

Orkla's progress is weaker than expected

Orkla reported a pre-tax result that ended at 1.3 billion, down from 1.7 billion in the same period in 2022. In advance, a pre-tax result of 1.9 billion was expected, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Montini believes the food and retail group's performance was weaker “at all important benchmarks,” the newspaper wrote. The analyst expects significant cuts to Orkla's estimates for the full year.

The stock fell by 5.96 percent.

Aker BP announces a dividend of NOK 16 billion in 2024

Aker BP's operating result was $2.15 billion in the quarter compared to $2.21 billion in the same period of the previous year.

In the fourth quarter, Aker BP paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. It was increased to $0.60 per share in the first quarter.

Aker BP shares fell 2.31 percent on Thursday morning.

Höegh Autoliners earned more than 2 billion kroner

The automotive shipping line continues to grow earnings strongly in line with the strong shipping market. The pre-tax result was $195 million versus $120 million the previous year. The 2023 figure corresponds to just over two billion kroner.

Revenues ended at $382 million, compared to $356 million the previous year. The 2023 figure corresponds to just over four billion kroner.

The stock rose 10.78 percent.

A new deficit for you

Elkem's earnings are still affected by the difficult market situation. However, the industrial company sees “signs of improvement.”

The industrial company lost NOK 351 million before taxes in the fourth quarter of 2023, a sharp decline from the same time last year. For the full year 2023, the result before tax was significantly reduced by NOK 951 million.

The Board of Directors will not distribute dividends for 2023.

– Macroeconomic sentiment was difficult in 2023, characterized by higher inflation, interest rate increases, a slow recovery in China and geopolitical uncertainty, says Helge Aasen, CEO of Elkem, in the quarterly report.

The stock fell 2.66 percent on Thursday morning.

Increase profit and turnover for Veidekke Company

Results poured in from companies before the stock market opened on Thursday. Among them we find:

• Rec Silicon's gross operating profit (EBITDA) fell to minus $31.2 million in the fourth quarter, from minus $23.6 million in the same period last year. The stock rose by 5.60 percent.
• Oil company DNO reported pre-tax earnings of $28.5 million in the fourth quarter. That was higher than pre-tax profit of $86.7 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. The stock rose 1.02 percent.
• Car shipping company Gram Car Carriers had operating profit of $46.4 million in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to $16 million a year earlier. The share of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is 3.22 percent.
• Okea reported an after-tax result of minus NOK 1.3 billion, down from NOK 324 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. The stock fell 0.09 percent on Thursday morning.
• Otovo reported pre-tax earnings of minus NOK 111 million in the fourth quarter. At the same time the previous year, profit before tax amounted to NOK 93 million. At the same time, the company fired 15% of its employees. The stock fell by 2.97 percent.
• Norske Skog had a pre-tax profit of NOK 586 million in the fourth quarter, down from NOK 1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of the previous year. The stock fell 1.62 percent.
• Veidekke's sales amounted to NOK 12.1 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, up from NOK 10.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Veidekke's share rose by 10.37 percent.
• Technology supplier Cyviz achieved operating profit of NOK 20.1 million in Q4 2023, up from NOK 17.6 million in Q4 2022. The stock fell 8.14 percent.
• Atea will increase the dividend to NOK 7 per share from NOK 6.25 last year after strong results in 2023. The stock fell by 6.88 percent.
• Airthings had $10.3 million in sales in the fourth quarter of 2023. That's up from $9.5 million at the same time a year earlier. The stock fell by 2.88 percent.
• Tekna Holding had a negative gross operating profit of minus C$0.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. This is an improvement from minus C$2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The stock fell 1.35 percent.
• Bergen Carbon Solutions (BCS) reduced its loss to NOK 8.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, from NOK 15 million at the same time in 2022. BCG shares fell by 0.92 percent.