Just before 1 p.m., the OMXS30 was down 0.6 percent, to the level of 2,529, with shares worth SEK 11.1 billion traded on the exchange as a whole. The picture in Europe spread at the same time, with the German DAX 0.7 percent lower and the French CAC40 down 0.9 percent, while the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE100 instead rose 0.6 percent.
A contributing factor to the rise in the index in London was also the Stockholm-listed pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca, which was thus the big winner in the opening trade. The interim report was received with a price climb of 6.4 percent, since the first quarter was summed up with a relatively clearly higher turnover ($12.7 billion against the expected $11.8 billion) and a better result per share than expected ($2:06 against 1:93 dollars). The forecasts for the whole year were repeated at the same time.
A couple of Friday’s reporting companies were also found in the OMXS30 lead, in the form of the white goods manufacturer Electrolux 2.8 percent up and the forest company SCA which climbed 1.6 percent. Medical Technology Company Wasp rose 0.3 percent.
The report release from the telecom operator Telia would not render in as little drama as could be assumed at first glance. Turnover and results came in basically in line with expectations and forecasts for the whole year, which the CEO described himself as “comfortable” with, were repeated. On closer inspection, however, the cash flow was on the weaker side, and the report as a whole did not satisfy the market at all, potentially with concerns about the future dividend as the cause. The Telia share was found 6.4 percent lower.
Swedbank showed the books, last out of Stockholmsbörsen’s quartet of big banks, with Wednesday’s flop report from Handelsbanken in the rearview mirror. The report was relatively well in line with Infront’s estimate – slightly lower net interest than expected, but the profit lines showed slightly better numbers than expected. The stock rose 0.1 percent.
The toilet paper manufacturer Essity in turn climbed 1.3 percent, after the report showed turnover just below expectations, organic sales growth of -4 percent against expectations of -2.6 percent but a margin that was higher than expected and thus a result that was slightly stronger than consensus.
The retail company New Wave could however sum up a clear deterioration during the first quarter, when the operating profit fell to SEK 186 million from last year’s comparable SEK 314 million. Here, the margin fell from 14.7 percent to 9.3 percent. Turnover was also down, from SEK 2,136 to SEK 1,995 million. The stock fell 7 percent.
The gaming company Still front was also not successful with Thursday’s interim report. The adjusted ebitdac result amounted to SEK 358 million, lower than the estimate of SEK 399 million. Increased costs for user acquisition, which are expected to decrease, however, explained large parts of the drop in profits. The stock plummeted 15 percent.
Other notable sinkers in the flood of reports was the market research company Cintwhich fell 13 percent, and the technology and industrial group Indutrade, which was down 9 percent.
A notable turnaround could be seen in the wind and solar power company OX2 which initially plummeted 20 percent, but later reversed course to find its way up just above the zero mark. CEO Paul Stormoen says in an interview with Nyhetsbyrån Direkt that the company, which did not make any project sales at all during the first quarter, which led to a strong negative result, is supposed to carry out sales during the second quarter.
High up on the winning page was found Sedana Medical, active in inhalation sedation, which showed a clearly lower loss and higher turnover than the first quarter last year. The stock rose 30 percent.
Pricer, which develops price information systems, in turn rose 20 percent after turning a profit and increasing revenue in the first quarter.
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