Oppgang på Oslo Børs – Odfjell Drilling stiger

Oslo Børs opened the market on a mixed note, later dipping slightly around 9:45 am. The index fell by 0.11 percent. Oil prices surged following a rally on Monday evening. Brent crude (Nordjøolje) is currently trading at $91.1 per barrel, up more than two dollars since the close of trading on Monday. The main index has risen eight days in a row before Tuesday.

The last two days have seen a new record high for the index, standing at 2,096.12 points after trading closed on Monday. The index also set a record intraday, surpassing 2,096 points as the highest level ever recorded on Tuesday morning. Oil company Odfjell Drilling reported Q2 earnings of $251 million, with an EBITDA of $162 million and a profit before tax of $42 million.

All three figures exceeded last year's figures and were better than expected. One of Odfjell Drilling's rigs was offline for most of the quarter due to an incident. Insurance payouts boosted the result, giving a positive EBITDA effect of $32 million. Excluding the insurance matter, EBITDA would have been $129 million. This figure still outpaced analysts' expectations of $118 million.

Mining company Nordic Mining collapsed on the Børsen earlier in August after reporting cash needs. In the short term, the company is working to secure 10-15 million dollars to continue operations into November. Nordic Mining announced a sharp increase in losses in the second quarter, posting a profit before tax of minus 223 million kroner.

The company has invested over three billion kroner in the Engebø project and continues working to boost production. However, progress has been slower than expected. Nordic Mining has therefore revised production forecasts downward and stated that more money will be needed. "Engebø production continued in the quarter, with increased throughput and strengthened operational routines.

At the same time, we are realistic about the challenges ahead and the time needed to achieve full operation and reliability," said Nordic Mining CEO Finn Ivar Marum. Large fishing company Mowi, where John Fredriksen holds a significant stake, released its full Q2 report. The dividend held steady at 2.3 kroner per share for the second quarter, the same as the previous quarter.

Total dividends to shareholders exceeded 1.2 billion kroner. Earlier, Mowi had warned of an operational profit increase due to rent and tax deductions, as well as valuation adjustments for fish caught in the sea, such as the price of lumpfish, fish volume, etc., which increased to 231 million euros. The company also reported a record profit for the second quarter of 150,000 tons of lumpfish.

Profits increased as volumes were high and lumpfish prices rose. Meanwhile, cost reductions were achieved. Results for Q2 were also reported by several other companies on the Børsen.