Norden Gains as SEB Sees Product Tanker Boost

D/S Norden A/S (DNORD) rose to its highest price in five weeks in Copenhagen trading after SEB AB said Europe’s biggest commodity shipping company will benefit from higher product tanker rates.
Norden jumped as much as 2.8 percent to 189.20 kroner, the highest since April 4. The stock advanced 2.2 percent to 188.10 kroner at 12:26 p.m. in the Danish capital, with trading volume 115 percent of the three-month daily average. The shares have gained in four consecutive sessions, the longest winning streak since February.
Hellerup, Denmark-based Norden, which is due to report first-quarter earnings tomorrow, is battling overcapacity and falling freight rates in its dry cargo segment. SEB today raised its recommendation on the share to buy from hold and said the company will benefit from better market conditions in its products tankers division, which will outperform the dry cargo unit for the first time in four years.
“Product tanker rates are likely to be the main positive trigger this year,” Mikkel M. Nielsen, a Copenhagen-based analyst with SEB, said in a note. He said he expects Norden’s first-quarter earnings to beat market forecasts and raised a price estimate on the share by 10 percent to 204 kroner.
Norden’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization may have declined 65 percent in the first quarter to $17.3 million, according to the average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Nielsen said he expects Ebitda of $26 million.
Source: Bloomberg