So, one more Norwegian stocks post before Christmas. Another 20 randomly selected stocks with some Sparebanken, early stage VC suff but also 4 companies that made it onto the watch list.
EDIT: Apologies, I got the numbering wrong, this is actually post number 17 and the companies 236-255. So less than 20 to go…..
236. Standard Supply
Standard Supply is a 78 mn EUR market cap company that was formed and IPOed in 2022. They own a couple of ships that supply oil platforms and according to the presentation have been bought cheaply. As I have little knoweledge on the sector, I’ll “pass”.
237. Romerike Sparebank
With 29 mn EUR market cap, Romerike is one of the smaller savings banks. As the others, the stock looks cheap and they pay a decent dividend, but as with the others, I’ll “pass”.
238. Desert Control
This is a 24 mn market cap “climate technology company specialized in reclaiming degraded soil and turning desert sand into fertile soil. The patented product LNC (Liquid Natural Clay) is a liquid clay compound that enables sand and degraded soil to retain water and nutrients.”
This 2021 IPO has only lost -50% from its IPO price, has almost no sales and losses. It really sounds like an interesting concept but in reality its an early stage VC case with a very uncertain outcome. “Pass”.
239. Romsdal Sparebank
Not surpisingly, this 20 mn EUR market cap savings bank is cheap, pays a decent dividend and even less surprisingly, I’ll “pass”.
240. LUMI Gruppen
LUMI Gruppen, with a market cap of 67 mn EUR, “is a leading Norwegian private education provider founded in 1989. Today, Lumi Gruppen consists of two main divisions; Sonans Utdanning and Oslo Nye Høyskole. Sonans Utdanning is the market leader in Norway within private candidate exam preparation courses, and Oslo Nye Høyskole offers high quality bachelor’s degrees within health, social sciences and psychology, both on campus and online”.
That sounds in principle interesting, but since its 2021 IPO, the stock has lost around -75%. Operating margins had conveniently peaked before the IPO in 2020 and since then things go downhill financially. At 24xEV/EBIT this still looks expensive, “pass”.
241. Black Sea Property
Black Sea property is a 2,5 mn EUR market cap company that seems to have developed a Sea side ressort in Bulgaria. Looking at the shrae price, this was not very successful. “Pass”.
242. AKVA Group
AKVA, with a market cap of ~200 mn EU “is the leading provider of technology to the fish farming industry and the only with global distribution. The products consist of software, sensor systems, feed systems and cage systems.”
So one could call that one a “Fishtech” company, which sounds interesting. However, the company is loss making and even on a normalized basis, trades at a very high valuation which is not justfied by margins. “Pass”.
243. Aker Carbon Capture
Aker Carbon Capture, a part of the Aker Group, is a 713 mn market cap company that focuses on Carbon Capture by the way of “point capture” of CO2, which means capturing CO2 at industiial chmineys or exhausts in contrast to Direct Air Capture, where players like Climework try to filter CO2 out of pristine air.
The company which was created as a “venture” and floated in 2022 actually seems to have traction, sales have been increasing nicely to over 100 mn EUR, however margins are yet super thin and the company runs at a loss. However the Order Book looks healty and with the current cash burn they have enough runway for a few years,
From what I understand, thay manufacture the equipment but also offer “Carbon Capture as a service”. As an early mover, they might benefit from their experience .
Overall, this is despite the losses a stock that miht be worth to “watch”.
244. B2 Impact
B2 Impact is a 240 mn EUR market cap company that claims to be “one of the leading pan-European debt management companies”. If I understand the business correctly, they buy defaulted loans and then try to collect as much as possible all across Europe.
So far, value creation has been relatvely limited, returns on capital are somehow limited and even a bit below Nordic banks. Valuation looks cheap. like all the nordic banks, but if I would need to decide, I would go for a bank. “Pass”.
245. Gigante Salmon
Gigante, is a 100 mn EUR market cap fish farmer that focuses on “land based” farming. So far they have no sales and only losses. Not my cup of tea, “pass”.
246. Sparebank Ostfold Akerhus
With 345 mn EUR market cap, this Sparebank is a mid size bank. As the others, it looks cheap at a P/E of ~8 and a dividend yield of 5,6% and P/B of 0,9. The stock made ~3x over the last 10 years which is quite remarkable. Anyway, no Sparebanken for me, “pass”.
247. Lytix Biopharma
Lytix is a 19 mn EUR market cap company that develops some kind of cancer therapy. It#s main candidate seems to be still in Phase II clincial trials. “Pass”.
248. Northhealth AS
Northhealth is a 167 mn market cap “cloud-based healthcare software-as-a-services (SaaS) in Nordic region and internationally. The company acquires, manages, and builds SaaS practice management software (PMS) for approximately 50,000 veterinary and therapy, such as physiotherapy, psychotherapy, occupational, and speech therapy professionals across 13,000 clinics and hospitals located in 30 countries.“
This 2021 IPO, as other of its vintage, is down around -50% since its IPO. The company is loss making and growth has slowed down in 2023. The only profit they showed was the period before the IPO. “Pass”.
249. Ocean Geoloop
Ocean Geoöoop is a 38 mn EUR market cap “green tech company, develops point source carbon capture and Geoloop column environmental units in Norway.” Ipo’ed in 2022, the stock lost around 2/3 since then. The company actually has some sales, but is still loss making. However, the first 6M looked significantly better and the company still has some cash runway. They also have a kinf of unique technology (in test phase) that captures CO2 from the Ocean.
They cooperate with some of the largest Norwegian Industrials (Yara, Norske Skog) and Norway in general seems to be a forerunner in Carbon Capture.
As I find Carbon Capture quite interesting, I’ll actually “watch” this one.
250. Gjensidige Forsikring
Gjensidige is a 7,8 bn EUR market cap insurance company that is active across the Nordics and the Baltics. With ROE’s in the 2ß% range, Gjensidige is clearly one of the most profitable ones in Europe and has been growig nicely. With a P/E of 15, tehy are expensive compared to its peers, but not so expensive on an absolute basis.
The chart shows decent value creation since 2012:
What I also like is that the profits are insurance driven and do not rely too much on capital markets. The only question is how much growth opportunites are left within the Nordics and the Baltics. “Watch”.
251. Akastor
Akastor is a 240 mn EUR market cap off shore oil field services company that seems to operate vessels that help in the construction of off shore oil wells. The company had more unprofitable years in the past decade than profitable ones. “Pass”.
252. Golden Energy Offshore Services
Golden Energy, with a market cap of 60 mn EUR, is another offshore oildfield services company, specializing on plattform supply vessels. Looking at the consistent losses, the business seems rather unattractive. “Pass”.
253. Nordic Nanovector
Nordic Nanovector is a 40 mn EUR market cap reverse merger (July 2023) biopharmaceutical company, that develops therapeutics for hematological cancers in Norway. No sales, only losses, “pass”.
254. Salmon Evolution
Salmon Evolution is a 240 mn EUR market cap, “land based” Salmon farming company that seems to be still in the ramp up phase. So far only losses, “pass”.
255. Aker BP
Aker BP is a 16,5 bn EUR market cap oil upstream company that is nimority owned by Aker (around 20%) and BP (16%). In 2022 it was merged with Swedish Lundin. As many oil companies, it looks cheap with a P/E of ~8 and a dividend yield close to 7%.
What I find interesting is that they only have reserves in the North Sea, have very low productaiuon costs and a very good value creation over a long term:
If I would by an oil stock, Aker BP would clearly be one of the favorites, maybe next to Occidential. But at the moment, I would not feel comfortable with a position in an oil stock. Still worth to “watch”.
