Massive improvement y-o-y; stock up

Adj. PTP +23% vs IR cons (UW & financials), -1% vs ABGSCe (financials); Expect repricing to continue to filter trough and increase profitability; Cons. est. up 3-6% for 25e-26; stock to follow 3-6%

Market hit it hard for financials

Seafood - Fat Trout Weekly

Seafood - Fat Trout Weekly

Elkem (Buy, TP: NOK30.00) - Back to its roots

We have upgraded Elkem to BUY (HOLD), as we see upside potential from a possible divestiture of the Silicones business, following its announced strategic review. We believe the Silicon Products and Carbon Solutions divisions could be worth cNOK20bn, in addition to the potential cash consideration for Silicones. Cash returns should come up with sharply lower capex. In our opinion, the main risk is the divestment not materialising. Our Q4e EBITDA is NOK1.2bn, and we have raised our target price to NOK30 (20).

Pareto Bank (Buy, TP: NOK76.00) - Strong growth, but loan-loss uptick

Helped by solid NII and firm cost efficiency, Pareto Bank reported a Q4 ROE of 12.2%, despite increased loan losses. With strong lending growth of 6.7% QOQ, the CET1 ratio fell ~1.1%-points QOQ to 17.2%. The board proposed a 2024 DPS of NOK4.15, implying a ~50% payout ratio and a 6.0% dividend yield. We have raised our 2025–2026e EPS by ~1%, and with the stock trading at a 2026e dividend-adjusted P/E of 7.2x, we continue to find the valuation attractive. Thus, we have raised our target price to NOK76 (73) and reiterate our BUY.