Turnaround takes time

Europris (Hold, TP: NOK73.00) - Weak earnings trend

The Q3 results disappointed on weaker gross margins than expected and soft results from Sweden. We reiterate our HOLD, but have lowered our target price to NOK73 (75) after cutting our 2024e EPS by 4%. While we view Europris as attractively valued versus its Nordic peers, we believe it needs to reverse the negative earnings trend to restore investor confidence in its growth outlook.

Europris (Hold, TP: NOK75.00) - Slightly soft Q3

We consider this a slightly weak report, including figures below expectations, a hiked store guidance and no significant change in outlook. We expect consensus 2024e EBITDA to come down 1% and believe a neutral to slightly negative share price reaction is warranted.

Edda Wind (Buy, TP: NOK30.00) - Well positioned

While EBITDA was broadly in line with expectations, the Q3 report gave early signs of improved operational reliability, which we believe will be key to narrowing the discount to underlying values (the stock is trading at 0.6x P/NAV). Recent contract awards (including a new 12+12-month contract announced with the results) have made the fleet fully booked until the 2025 summer season, and three of the four 2025 newbuild deliveries are now booked directly following yard delivery. We reiterate our BUY and NOK30 target price.

Valuation and market update

In this note, we show updated valuation and market statistics for the Offshore Drilling sector.

Petrobras FPSO delays may hit service volumes but lengthen cycle

Being the largest global consumer of deepwater oil services, Petrobras’ strategic plans tend to get investor attention. On the positive side, its latest 5-year plan sees 5% higher E&P spending than the previous one, and has a more stable phasing between the years, which is supportive for the cycle duration. However, several FPSOs are facing significant delays, which is on the downside for oil services, leading to delays for deepwater oilfield services (primarily drilling and subsea), likely resulting in lower ‘peak volumes’ and demand being spread over a longer period. The rig count is said to...