On the busy results day of the Helsinki Stock Exchange, at least Kone, Valmet and SSAB are in the spotlight. The general index struggled again above 10,000 points.
The Helsinki Stock Exchange opened on Wednesday up 0.4 percent, with the general index at around 10,020.7 points.
At the top of the exchange were Nokia with a 1.5 percent increase and Nordea with a 0.7 percent decrease.
The most drastic course movement was seen Reka Industrialissa, whose share price was down about 32 percent. The move was expected, as the company paid an exceptionally large dividend of two euros per share today. Dividends are also released today from Viking Line, Tokmann, Elecster and Atria.
Given the earnings period
10 listed companies announced their interim results today, and among the largest of them was an elevator company Konea steel company SSAB and a machine shop Training. Valmet will not announce its results until the afternoon.
The machine the result improved from a year ago, but the orders received decreased slightly. In the first quarter of the year, the company made an adjusted operating profit of 262.4 million euros, and it almost exactly met analysts’ expectations.
The company specified its outlook for this year. Kone now estimates revenue growth to be 0–5 percent at comparable exchange rates in 2024. Adjusted operating profit margin is estimated to be between 11.5 and 12.3 percent. At the same time, the company slightly raised its market prospects for the new construction market in Europe and the modernization market in America. In China, a rapid decline in new construction is still expected.
Kone’s share was up 3.8 percent in the morning.
Steel company SSAB,’s operating profit fell sharply from the comparison period, but still significantly exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company’s operating profit in the first quarter was SEK 3,157 million, while the average of 16 analyst forecasts collected by the information service Factset expected SEK 2,641 million.
In January–March last year, the operating profit was 4,733 million kroner. Managing director Martin Lindqvist according to the report, the weakening was mainly due to the prices of plates in the United States, which turned down from their high level. The European market continued to be relatively weak, while the high-strength steel market was more stable. According to Lindqvist, the market was weak, and the political strikes in Finland had a negative impact of around SEK 350 million.
The company’s share was up 4.4 percent.
Food company Fodelian the operating result in the first quarter of the year was a good 0.8 million euros, while it was almost 0.5 million in the corresponding period last year. The company’s turnover at the beginning of the year was 13.7 million euros, while a year ago the turnover was 11.7 million euros.
Managing director Mikko Tahkolan according to the year 2024 has started promisingly in the Fodelia Group, especially for Feelia. The increase in turnover has come especially from customers in the care sector and early childhood education, and in addition to our own products, intermediary products have also brought growth.
Fodelia’s share was up 5.0 percent in the morning.
Information security company Withsecure announced a stronger interim report than the comparison period, but the figures of the interim report were weaker than expected. The company’s adjusted EBITDA improved to 0.0 million euros from a loss of 6.2 million euros a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a margin of 0.7 million euros on average.
In the morning, Withsecure’s share was down 3.3 percent.
Manufacturer of heating and cooling systems at Purmo Group adjusted EBITDA rose to 26.6 million euros in the first quarter from 26.4 million euros in the comparison period.
“There were no significant signs of improvement in the activity of the construction market in our key markets. However, we saw continued growth in radiator orders in Central and Eastern Europe. This was mainly due to the gradual replenishment of stocks and a slight increase in optimism regarding the recovery of demand”, CEO of John Peter Lees said in the results release.
Purmo’s share was up 3.9 percent.
Outokumpu arranges the order in Germany, for AIforia
Outokumpu said it had concluded negotiations on the restructuring of its German operations. The restructuring affects a total of 200 company employees in Germany.
The negotiations were related to Outokumpu’s previously announced decision to close the Dahlerbrück and Hockenheim locations.
The Hockenheim service center will be closed at the end of the second quarter of 2024 at the earliest, and the Dahlerbrück factory at the same time at the end of 2024 at the earliest. The reorganization will bring annual savings to the company of approximately 15 million euros.
Aiphoria said that he had signed a new contract with a US veterinary company.
In its announcement, the company does not disclose the name of its client. The agreement concerns artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis of animal samples. The total value of the contract to the company is approximately 200,000 US dollars.
