Month: October 2023

NEL reported somewhat weak results. Weak mainly in order intake but as I anticipate challenging investment environment to persist (high interest rates, possibly even a recession) I decided to sell my minor tail position of 2000 shares at 7,05 NOK per share. I sold majority of my position around 30 NOK and original intention was to hold on to this tail long enough to see if NEL will eventually become an established dividend paying company. In current environment I decided to switch to Nordea Bank and bought 100 shares for 9,97 EUR per share as it appears to be very reasonably valued and is benefitting from higher interest rates. It would however be hit by full blown recession but let’s see how the winter goes. Anyway this move positions the portfolio to be more in line with primary strategy of focusing in dividend paying stocks.

See: https://nelhydrogen.com/press-release/nel-asa-third-quarter-2023-financial-results/

Minor maintenance purchases for Fortum and Kesko. Both have been dropping which was to be expected with Kesko. With Fortum I didn’t expect to see these levels as it seemed to be trading at a slight discount even before. Oh well, market knows better but I still decided to buy additional 50 shares of Fortum for 10,58 EUR per share and additional 30 shares of Kesko for 15,2 per share. Especially Kesko could be hit hard as winter truly is coming for Finnish economy. Companies are going under and change negotiations are starting to be a common thing also in sectors which not so long ago were complaining about difficulties in hiring people. Therefore I’ll nibble on Kesko with these small purchases during next three to six months. Might do the same with Fortum but that position is already a bit larger so might hold off a bit (absolute maximum being 1000 shares for now).

As expected, Mandatum Oyj traded below initially expected fair value range. Fair value range is here of course up for debate as times are tough and sector might be challenging during economic slow down. There are also clear technical reasons as all recipients of this spin-off are not willing or even allowed to hold their shares. This might go on for week or even months as at least some funds probably can sell their shares over a longer period and changes in indices will also take time. I had initially defined 3,70 EUR per share as my threshold. Initially it seemed as if I would have missed to boat here but two orders got executed: 500 shares for 3,69 EUR per share and 1000 shares for 3,65 EUR per share. It remains to be seen if some of these will be only short or mid term positions. Total exposure is a bit on the high side for this type of stock but then again there’s some real potential here. Not only because of the technical reasons but the whole sector is ripe for consolidation.

See: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-02/mandatum-set-to-debut-in-helsinki-in-biggest-listing-since-2005