And the final batch of randomly selected Norwegian stocks. The random generator turned this into a “Salmon & Sparekassen” episode, but in between we have a few interesting ones. This was the last post with the short analysis and I am glad that I finished this in 2023. There will be another Norway Summary post in a few days. To keep the tension high, I will only reveal the next country then. Enjoy !!!
256. Aker ASA
Aker is the Top Holdco of the Aker Group, which has several other listed companies that I have covered already. Created by “self-made” billionaire Kjell Inge Rogge, Aker is valued at 4,4 bn EUR, of which 68% is owned by Rogge.
What I like about Aker is that they have very good reporting where you can easily see how the value is distributed across the Group companies. This is from the Q3 presentation:
Oil & Gas is clearly their largest exposure. The long term track record of Aker is really good, although in recent years, for instance the entry into renewable energy (Aker Horizon) was really bumpy.
If I would invest into Aker, the Holdco would clearly be my first choice, maybe followed by Aker Carbon Capture. One aspect that is a little bit concerning is that the founder, now at age 65 seems to be at the “Mega Yacht” stage and has commissioned one of the largest private yachts ever. To be fair, the REV Ocean at an estimated cost of 500 mn will become a “reseach vessel” but it is not clear if and how Rokke still focuses on his company. His son is also working in the company as CEO of Aker Horizon, however the track record is mixed at best. In addition, in 2022 Rokke announced that he will move to Siwtzerland which might have cost him some sympathies in Norway.
Nevertheless, Aker ASA is clearly one to “watch”.
257. Sparebank 1 Ringerike Hadeland
With 420 mn EUR, Spareanken Ringerike Hadeland is a mid sized savings bank. Like all the others, it looks cheap (P/E 9x) and pays a decent dividend. Anyway, I will stay clear of Sparebanken, “pass”.
258. M Vest Water
M Vest Water is a 18 mn EUR market cap “environmental technology company, provides solutions for water and wastewater treatment.” At first sight, this looks like another early stage VC company with a 2023 sales run rate of 1 mn EUR and losses. “Pass”.
259. Mintra Holding
Mintra Holding is a 69 mn EUR market cap company that “provides digital learning and human capital management software solutions worldwide”. For a change, this 202 IPO is profitable, however it is not growing much. They seem to have paid out big special dividends in 2022 and 2023. A P/E of 15 and an EV/EBITDA of 11 look reasonable. “Watch”.
260. Sandes Sparebanken
Surprisingly, there are still Sparebanken left in the list. Sandnes, with a market cap of 175 mn EUR is one of the smaller ones and looks similar to all the others (P/E 9x, 7% dividend). “Pass”.
261. Sparebanken Vest
With a market cap of 1 bn, this is one of the larger ones. With 8x P/E and a 7% dividend yield it looks equally cheap as all the others. “Pass”.
262. NTS
NTS is a 960 mn EUR “Aquaculture Infrastructure” company that is operating ships to service and maintain ocean fish farming facilities. That sounds interesting, but margins have been declining steadily since 2017, return on capital is low and the company has a lot of debt. “Pass”.
263. Sparebank 68 Nord
A tine, 40 mn EUR market cap Sparebank who would only stand out if they would rename themselves to “Sparebank 69”, which of course they don’t. “Pass”.
264. MOWI
With 8,1 bn EUR, MOWI is clearly one of the “Big fishes” among the Norwegian fish farmers. The stock currently trades at the level of 2018 and looks quite cheap (11x P/E), with the main KPIs quite OK. The fish business seems to be cyclical, but MOWI might be an interesting stock to learn more. “Watch”.
265. Salmones Camanchaca
Salmones, with a market cap of 190 is a little fish compared to MOWI (Nr. 264). Interestingly, this one operates in Chile. It looks quite cheap but has lost 2/3 of its value since the IPO in early 2019. Maybe not the place to start to invest into fish farming, “pass”.
266. Norcod
As “Salmon only” tends to be boring, Norcod, as the name says, is a 39 mn EUR market cap fish farmer that specializes in Cod. As the stock lost -90% since its 2021 IPO, this seems not to be so easy. “Pass”.
267. Next Biometrcis
Next is a 60 mn market cap company that “engages in the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of fingerprint technology and products in Asia”. With a streak of 11 loss years in a row, the only question is why this company still exists. “Pass”.
268. Sparebanken Sor
440 mn market cap, 8x P/E, 7% dividend yield. “Pass”.
269. Nidaros Sparebank
10 mn market cap, 12x P/E, 8% dividend yield. “Pass”.
270. Schibsted
Schibsted is a 5,5 bn EUR market cap company that successfully entered the online classified market. In 2019, they spun-off the online classified business into an entity called Adevinta (Nr. 103). Adevinta received a take over offer from Permira and Blackstone, valueing Schibsted’s stake at around 3,9 bn USD or 3,5 bn EUR.
Schibsted said that they will sell 60% of their position into the tender and stay invested in the remainung 40%. In addition, Schibsted seems to sell its Media business to its main shareholder for around 0,5 bn EUR.
Schibsted has around 500 mn in debt, the remaining business (Nordic market places) seems to have a run rate of ~200 mn EUR per year. The share price has been on a wild ride, but long term value creation is very good.
There is a lot of stuff happening at Schibsted and I think that it is worth to “watch”.
271. Skue Sparebank
42 mn EUR market cap, 7x P/E and 5% dividend yield. “Pass”.
272. Sparebank 1 Sorost-Norge
771 mn EUR market cap, 10x P/E, 4% dividend yield. “Pass”.
