Norway: Best ideas Q2'25

Still cheap and the Red Sea is still closed

A. P. Møller Mærsk (Sell, TP: DKK9400.00) - Resistance to gravity seem...

The Q1 report was largely as expected, albeit with support in the results related to mostly passing effects. Hence, we retain our view that the chronic oversupply of vessels will deteriorate the current value of the company. On rates converging towards 2016 levels, it should burn through more than USD13bn by the end of our forecast period, with no respite in sight due to the towering orderbook and owners still willing to order. We reiterate our SELL, but have raised our target price to DKK9,400 ...

Q1'25 beat driven by Ocean and Terminals

A. P. Møller Mærsk (Sell, TP: DKK8800.00) - Overcapacity at the gates

We find the recent share price strength surprising and likely short-lived due to a challenging supply/demand balance, only augmented by the escalating trade tensions. While we expect a Q1 beat versus consensus, we believe the company’s outlook is unlikely to satisfy buy-side expectations, and we see sizeable downside risk to the current valuation. We reiterate our SELL and have cut our target price to DKK8,800 (10,800).

Tariffs will hurt, but cons. is too low for Q1

Norsk Hydro (Sell, TP: NOK55.00) - Q1 shipments delayed to Q2

Norsk Hydro’s Q1 results fell somewhat short of market expectations (EBITDA 4% below consensus) and it cut its Extrusions guidance. A large share of the miss appears to reflect late shipments in the bauxite and alumina (B&A) segment following heavy rainfall, which should mean higher volumes in Q2. We have made only minor changes (-1–0%) to our 2026–2027e EPS. We continue to see downside risk to aluminium prices, and reiterate our SELL and NOK55 target price.

Muted estimate changes

Weak deliveries and higher cost

Heads-up for Q1 report 29 April

Another abrupt change

The US Trade Representative on 17 April published revised US port fees with significant changes to the initial proposal based on industry feedback. In its current form, the fees will primarily discourage use of Chinese-controlled maritime trade services to the US, and directly affect the use of Chinese-built vessels in US ports (with several considerable exemptions to avoid harm to US trade). The previous broader fees based on fleet composition and share of Chinese-built vessels has been scrappe...

Flex LNG Ltd: 1 director

A director at Flex LNG Ltd sold 9,000 shares at 23.200USD and the significance rating of the trade was 72/100. Is that information sufficient for you to make an investment decision? This report gives details of those trades and adds context and analysis to them such that you can judge whether these trading decisions are ones worth following. Included in the report is a detailed share price chart which plots discretionary trades by all the company's directors over the last two years clearly sho...

Trade war will hurt demand

Norsk Hydro (Sell, TP: NOK55.00) - Aluminium defying fundamentals

We reiterate our SELL and NOK55 target price, as we believe consensus EPS and aluminium price expectations are too high. We have seen aluminium prices outperform coal prices by 40% since the summer, defying the fundamental relationship where aluminium prices have been set by its cost of production for the past 15 years. We do not believe a balanced global supply/demand situation is likely to break this correlation. We have reduced our 2026–2027e EPS by 3% due to a stronger NOK versus USD. We est...

Norway: Best ideas Q1'25

‘The times they are a-changin’

The recurring theme at our 18th Energy & Shipping Conference was geopolitical uncertainty and a potential trade war, warranting a wait-and-see approach, particularly on the Trump 2.0 effect. The consensus view pointed to high asset values, with no rush to the yards, aligning with below-NAV valuations across most of our coverage. However, panellists generally saw less downside risk than the 25% average discount to steel for our Tanker, Dry Bulk and Gas coverage. Overall, the day highlighted uncer...

Estimates up, share down — for how long?

Norsk Hydro (Sell, TP: NOK55.00) - Soft result in strong market

The Q4 headline results were weaker than consensus and our forecasts, and the proposed 2024 DPS of NOK2.25 was down 10% YOY despite record-strong alumina markets, with aluminium prices at cUSD2,600/t. We still expect aluminium prices to fall towards USD2,200/t as markets remain balanced while input energy costs decline globally, together with weak demand for downstream products. We have raised our 2025e EPS by 7% on high alumina and aluminium prices going into 2025 and 2026e by 1%. We reiterate ...

Underlying inline and cost coming down

Heads-up for report 14 February