Thursday saw the Helsinki Stock Exchange commence trading in a downward direction, indicating a potentially challenging day for investors and traders.
After the beginning hours of active trading, the general index of the stock exchange showed a decrease of 0.1 percent, settling at 9889.38 points. Whilst this is a marginal decrease, it sets the tone for the rest of the trading day.
One of the most heavily traded stocks of the morning was that of the fuel company, In this, which saw its share price decrease by 0.2 percent, to EUR 25.60. This downward trend was not unique to In this, with the majority of the twelve most traded stocks also following a downward direction.
Despite the downward trend, there were some noticeable risers in the market. These included a used car dealership, Weather, a gaming company, Remedy, and a logistics company, Nurminen Logistics. Weather’s share price rose by a notable 8.7 percent to EUR 0.50, Remedy’s shares were up by 5.4 percent at EUR 16.74, and Nurminen’s shares increased by 2.9 percent, reaching EUR 1.26.
On the flip side, some shares experienced a decrease. These included series combiner, Boreo, and forest company, Stora Enso. Following the announcement of their results, Boreo’s shares fell sharply by 13.9 percent to EUR 21.70, while Stora Enso’s shares decreased by 2.9 percent to EUR 11.90.
In other news, Nordea made the significant move of cancelling a total of 15,912,565 of its own shares, which were held by the company for the purpose of optimizing its capital structure. These shares had been acquired through share buybacks, and the cancellation leaves Nordea with a total of 3,505,587,395 shares.
Despite this strategic move, Nordea’s share price was down by 0.3 percent at EUR 11.33 in the morning trading.
Several companies, including logistics company Nurminen Logistics, medical technology company Nanoform, series combiner Boreo, filter company Eagle Filters, marketing technology company Digitalist Group, investment company Springvest, and construction technology producer EcoUp all released their earnings reports on Thursday.
The reaction to these earnings reports in terms of share prices has been compiled in the table below.
Nurminen Logistics had a strong year, with this momentum continuing into the end of the year. The company’s turnover increased significantly, from 50.8 million euros in the previous period to 71.2 million euros in July-December. This exceeded the prediction made by the company’s successor, Inderes, which had forecast a turnover of 75.5 million euros.
Nurminen’s adjusted operating profit also showed improvement, rising from 2.2 million euros a year earlier to an impressive 12.3 million euros. This exceeded Inderes’ expected figure of 11.1 million euros.
Nurminen’s board of directors has proposed a maximum return of capital of EUR 0.06 per share, which is equivalent to the dividend from the invested unrestricted equity fund. This would result in the company paying its owners a maximum of 4,687,671.30 euros.
In contrast, Boreo’s turnover decreased to 37.1 million in October-December 2023 from 45.0 million a year ago, contrary to the expectations of Inderes, which had predicted an increase to 45.3 million euros.
Boreo’s operating profit also decreased slightly to 2.1 million euros from 2.2 million in the comparison period. This was lower than Inderes’ anticipated growth to 2.6 million euros.
Reflecting on these results, Boreo’s board has proposed that no dividend be paid for the ended financial year. This is a significant change from last year, when a dividend of EUR 0.44 per share was distributed. Inderes had predicted that the dividend would remain at the previous year’s level.
In terms of stock recommendations, Inderes has reduced the target price for Digital Workforcen to EUR 3.40 (previously EUR 3.80), and also lowered the recommendation to ‘reduce level’ (previously ‘increase’).
However, Inderes has increased its recommendation for Administer to ‘increase level’ (previously ‘decrease’), while maintaining the target price at 2.80 euros.
For Toivo Group, Inderes has revised the target price to EUR 1.20 (previously EUR 1.25), and has retained the ‘add recommendation’.
Meanwhile, OP has reduced the target price for Housing portfolio to EUR 72.00 (previously EUR 86.50), and has also lowered the recommendation to ‘reduce level’ (previously ‘increase’).