Nordic countries business
jueves, 31 de enero de 2013
lunes, 28 de enero de 2013
Hints on global and regional economy growth from Nordic Financial Group
POHJOLA'S ANALYSTS: YIELDING RETURNS IN A SLOW GROWTH ENVIRONMENT
There is a fragile global economic recovery underway. Emerging economies, led by China, will once again remain the main engines of global economic growth while developed countries will plod along. The US economy will slow to around 2% and the euro area expects zero growth. The fiscal policy is still a drag on growth in developed countries. Fiscal policy adjustment has advanced more in the euro area than in the USA. The current extremely easy global monetary policy will help compensate for the negative effects of fiscal policy on growth.
- In asset allocation, we will overweight equities and corporate bonds and underweight government bonds. Our recommendation for the allocation of commodities is close to neutral. According to the analysts, the recommendation is affected by reasonably positive attitude to risk appetite, return potential in equities supported by accelerating profit growth and dividends, expectations of higher long-term rates in the USA and the higher return/risk potential of high-yield corporate bonds in dollars than bonds in emerging markets.
The overweight equity exposure is justified by the fact that the gradual global economic recovery will give some support to companies' profit performance. Companies in Europe and the USA are revising down their profit forecasts to a lesser extent.
- Stocks have gained considerably but the continued decline in equity risk premiums as the euro crisis eases, declining trend of corrections to negative forecasts and low return expectations of alternative investments argue for our positive view of equities, explains Jarkko Soikkeli, Equity Strategist.
- Our favourite sectors for early 2013 are energy, consumer goods and construction. When it comes to other sectors, we take a more cautious view of media, forest industry and healthcare. Our favourite stocks for early 2013 are Metso Corporation, Metsä Board, Neste Oil Corporation, Nokian Tyres Plc and YIT Corporation. At the same time, we recommend avoiding the following stocks: Orion Corporation, Pöyry PLC, Sanoma Corporation, Tieto Corporation and UPM-Kymmene Corporation, continues Soikkeli.
In the bond market, Pohjola's analysts expect the Riksbank to cut its key rate twice by 25 basis points and the ECB once by 25 basis points. Economic fundamentals in both Sweden and the Eurozone also argue for lower money market rates and short swap rates. With respect to long-term rates, the greatest upward pressure is on US interest rates. According to the analysts, the recommended duration in the Eurozone is seven years.
- We expect corporate bonds to continue to gain momentum and risk premiums to continue to decline moderately. In our asset allocation recommendation, we shift to an overweight in high-yield bonds and, to a moderate extent, Investment Grade bonds. We recommend maturities of over three years. When it comes to Finnish corporate bonds, our view is that Nokia Corporation and Nokian Tyres Plc exhibit the most attractive the risk/return potential, says Jukka Ruotinen, Head of Fixed Income and FX Research.
- Although we believe that the euro will strengthen against the US dollar in the long run, we expect the currency pair to weaken in the next few months, sent down by lowering euro rates. We also expect heightening expectations of interest rate cuts to weaken the Swedish krona. In the meanwhile, the Russian rouble will benefit from higher crude oil prices and the stabilisation of capital flows.
Our favourite commodity is crude oil due to geopolitical risks and the constrained demand/supply picture. A positive macroeconomic sentiment is also a driver for movements in crude prices. It is possible of investors to benefit from this because the forward curve for crude oil market price development is declining. The change of power in China will, for its part, foster developments in investments in the country and thus demand for base metals too. Pohjola's analysts keep, however, commodity allocation neutral because of the risks associated with the prices of natural gas and agricultural products.
Pohjola Bank plc
Pohjola is a Finnish financial services group which provides its corporate and institutional customers with a diverse range of banking, non-life insurance and asset management services and private individuals with an extensive range of non-life insurance and private banking services.
Pohjola Bank plc (Pohjola) is part of OP-Pohjola Group, the leading financial services group in Finland. Pohjola acts as the Group's central bank and is responsible for the Group's international operations. OP-Pohjola Group consists of over 200 member cooperative banks and the Group's central institution, OP-Pohjola Group Central Cooperative, with its subsidiaries and closely-related companies, the largest of which is Pohjola.
source: Thomson Reuters One
viernes, 25 de enero de 2013
Economic Outlook - Sweden 2013: Unemployment and business climate.
The significant decline in industrial production seen earlier in the fall continues. The business cycle will bottom out by summer 2013 followed by weak recovery. Unemployment will rise despite an unused labour market potential corresponding to one million jobs. Forecasted GNP growth for Sweden in 2013 is 0.3% lower. All this according to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise economic outlook report for the fourth quarter entitled ‘The Million-wide Gap’.
”Exports to Europe shrink significantly due to cutbacks many countries have implemented to address their run-away national debt problems. Swedish manufactures were first out with redundancy notices, but this wave has spread to domestic sectors as household spending is negatively impacted by fears of rising unemployment,” noted Stefan Fölster, Chief Economist for the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
The current forecast shows increasing unemployment, which will remain high even as GNP growth begins to recover in the fall.
The report outlook also shows that Sweden has unused labour potential comparable to a million jobs annually. This potential includes currently unemployed, part-time underemployed, or those forced into early retirement. The unused potential in the Swedish markets is greatest in Örebro County and least in Gotland.
”The level of structural unemployment in Sweden has increased in every recession over recent decades. Unfortunately, redundancies issued today will also lead to lost jobs that never return. This trend can be reversed, though. To ensure these jobs remain after the current downturn, Sweden should invest in further legislative reforms promoting work and improving the business climate,” concluded Mr. Fölster.
An international review shows that a wave of such reforms is on the way in many countries Sweden competes with. The debt crisis has created the basis for significant structural reform throughout Europe, and in connection with debt reduction plans, many of these countries are preparing structural reforms to improve their international competitiveness and capability to create growth and new jobs.
Source: Svenskt Näringsliv
”Exports to Europe shrink significantly due to cutbacks many countries have implemented to address their run-away national debt problems. Swedish manufactures were first out with redundancy notices, but this wave has spread to domestic sectors as household spending is negatively impacted by fears of rising unemployment,” noted Stefan Fölster, Chief Economist for the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
The current forecast shows increasing unemployment, which will remain high even as GNP growth begins to recover in the fall.
The report outlook also shows that Sweden has unused labour potential comparable to a million jobs annually. This potential includes currently unemployed, part-time underemployed, or those forced into early retirement. The unused potential in the Swedish markets is greatest in Örebro County and least in Gotland.
”The level of structural unemployment in Sweden has increased in every recession over recent decades. Unfortunately, redundancies issued today will also lead to lost jobs that never return. This trend can be reversed, though. To ensure these jobs remain after the current downturn, Sweden should invest in further legislative reforms promoting work and improving the business climate,” concluded Mr. Fölster.
An international review shows that a wave of such reforms is on the way in many countries Sweden competes with. The debt crisis has created the basis for significant structural reform throughout Europe, and in connection with debt reduction plans, many of these countries are preparing structural reforms to improve their international competitiveness and capability to create growth and new jobs.
Source: Svenskt Näringsliv
miércoles, 23 de enero de 2013
Sweden To Charge TV Tax For Anyone With A Computer or Tablet
Laugh your way to the bank: Sweden's SVT public television network is transitioning to the digital age and now offering all of its content free of charge, online. Unfortunately this also means that anyone with a computer or tablet will now have to start paying television license fees.
Tax supported broadcasters across the Nordics have been looking for ways to collect new income in recent years as more and more people cut cable and watch content online. The fee rings in at 2,076 SEK (€240) a year, and is enforced by Radiotjänsten.Thelocal.se reports that there has been a law in place since 2006 that states that a person who can access an entire TV channel on any device is required to pay the fee.
Tax supported broadcasters across the Nordics have been looking for ways to collect new income in recent years as more and more people cut cable and watch content online. The fee rings in at 2,076 SEK (€240) a year, and is enforced by Radiotjänsten.Thelocal.se reports that there has been a law in place since 2006 that states that a person who can access an entire TV channel on any device is required to pay the fee.
SVT's content is also available on mobile, but it sounds like they will not be collecting fees from everyone with a smartphone.
"The spectrum of mobile phones is so broad and we don't see their primary use as being watching a single TV channel," Radiotjänsten spokesman Johan Gernandt told Computer Sweden.
Finland essentially did the same thing starting January 1 of this year. Perviously Finns had a similar system of a TV tax enforced individually for anyone that owned a TV. But under a new law, the public service broadcasting tax is now collected from general taxes, rather than on an individual basis.
Are these new revenue streams logical or too broad? Personally I'm on the fence. Let us know in the comments.
By Greg Anderson
Source: ArticStartUp
martes, 15 de enero de 2013
Guidelines on Hygiene of Food for exporting to Norway
If you export processed food products to Norway, you have to make sure that your products meet all hygiene requirements. The Norwegian legislation on hygiene of foodstuffs is based on EU Regulation (EC) 852/2004. This legislation is based on the methodology of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP).
The full content of the regulations for download is here:
http://www.cbi.eu/marketintel/Norway%20legislation:%20Hygiene%20of%20foodstuffs%20(HACCP)/159458
Source: CBI - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands
The full content of the regulations for download is here:
http://www.cbi.eu/marketintel/Norway%20legislation:%20Hygiene%20of%20foodstuffs%20(HACCP)/159458
Source: CBI - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands
viernes, 4 de enero de 2013
Finland hopes to sell power to Russia to make cables pay
Up to 350 MW of Finnish exports to Russia technically possible - Russian capacity payments skew price differentials.
OSLO/HELSINKI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Finland's grid hopes within a year to be able to sell power to Russia, partly to earn more from underused interconnectors between the two countries, but the two markets are so different such exports may be tough to achieve.
Fingrid reported earning 6 million euros ($7.8 million) less on Russian interconnections in the first half of this year than a year earlier, as a rise in Russia's electricity prices made it less attractive to send power to its neighbour. Total revenue was 264 million euros in the first half.
The Finnish and Russian grid operators last year made technical changes to also allow power flows from Finland to Russia - a development the companies hope will boost trading volumes on their three connecting cables.
"Some trading (of exports) to Russia may well be possible within the next 12 months. But we still need to agree on the terms," Juha Kekkonen, the executive vice president of Finnish grid operator Fingrid told Reuters.
Russian power prices jumped this year partly due to an increase in payments to guarantee power plant availability, which has created a commercial need for imports and sharply reduced electricity transfers to Finland.
The technical changes have made it possible to export 350 MW of electricity from Finland to Russia, but different factors that determine prices in both market still make it unattractive for traders to send electricity to Russia, experts said.
TRADE VERY COMPLICATED
"Exports to Russia are technically possible, but as long as the designs of Nordic and Russian power markets remain so different, the trade will be very complicated," said Satu Viljainen, a professor at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland.
One differences is that Nordic power generators are paid for producing electricity, while in Russia producers get income both from selling power and having plants available for generation.
These so-called capacity payments are meant to guarantee that sufficient generating capacity is available to the market, but also to give incentives for investors to build new plants.
When Russian power export monopoly Inter RAO buys electricity on the market, it has to pay capacity payments on top of energy costs, and that can double prices.
Traders wishing to sell Nordic electricity to Russia, however, do not receive a capacity payment, leaving them with a high discount to prices national generators receive.
Kekkonen said capacity payments in Russia can add about 25 euros a megawatt-hour on top of the electricity price in Russia, driving total cost up to 50-60 euros a MWh during peak hours.
Wholesale power prices in Russia rose by 15 percent to 1,143 Russian roubles ($37.14) per MWh during the third-quarter from a year ago, Finnish utility Fortum, which owns power plants in Russia, said last week.
During the same period, the Nordic power prices fell by 42 percent to 20.8 euros ($27.23) per MWh, dented by abundant rain that increased supply of cheap hydro-power, it added.
The rise in Russian prices and fall in Nordic power reduced electricity imports from Russia to Finland to 3.0 terawatt-hours (TWh) in January-September, from 8.5 TWh during the same period a year ago, Finnish Energy Industries statistics showed.
"At the moment it makes no sense for Inter RAO to buy electricity from the Russian exchange and to export it (to Finland)," said Kekkonen.
Viljainen estimated that Russian exports to Finland could be profitable when prices in the Nordic market rise to at least 50 euros a MWh, an average level unlikely to be hit this winter.
In the opposite direction, Nordic power prices would have to fall below 20 euros a MWh, also unlikely as year-ahead power prices are currently trading at 38 euros a megawatt-hour.
"That creates the "dead-band" in flows when power prices in the Nordic market is between 20-50 euros a MWh," Viljainen added.
Inter RAO said power imports from the Nordics could be possible in future, but expected the impact to be modest.
"Clearly, imports (from the Nordics) might be economically feasible in certain periods," Inter RAO's spokesman Anton Nazarov said in an email to Reuters.
"In the long-run, even considering the recent exports decline, we do not have negative forecasts for future trade (balance) w i th the Nord Pool," Nazarov said, adding that the fall in the Nordic prices was seen as "cyclical".
"In a way, it's a test case that reveals a lot of how two markets of different designs can interact or not," Viljainen said of two-way power trading between Russia and the Nordic market. ($1 = 30.7750 Russian roubles) ($1 = 0.7638 euros) (Additional reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow; Editing by Anthony Barker)
Source: Reuters
By Nerijus Adomaitis and Terhi Kinnunen
OSLO/HELSINKI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Finland's grid hopes within a year to be able to sell power to Russia, partly to earn more from underused interconnectors between the two countries, but the two markets are so different such exports may be tough to achieve.
Fingrid reported earning 6 million euros ($7.8 million) less on Russian interconnections in the first half of this year than a year earlier, as a rise in Russia's electricity prices made it less attractive to send power to its neighbour. Total revenue was 264 million euros in the first half.
The Finnish and Russian grid operators last year made technical changes to also allow power flows from Finland to Russia - a development the companies hope will boost trading volumes on their three connecting cables.
"Some trading (of exports) to Russia may well be possible within the next 12 months. But we still need to agree on the terms," Juha Kekkonen, the executive vice president of Finnish grid operator Fingrid told Reuters.
Russian power prices jumped this year partly due to an increase in payments to guarantee power plant availability, which has created a commercial need for imports and sharply reduced electricity transfers to Finland.
The technical changes have made it possible to export 350 MW of electricity from Finland to Russia, but different factors that determine prices in both market still make it unattractive for traders to send electricity to Russia, experts said.
TRADE VERY COMPLICATED
"Exports to Russia are technically possible, but as long as the designs of Nordic and Russian power markets remain so different, the trade will be very complicated," said Satu Viljainen, a professor at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland.
One differences is that Nordic power generators are paid for producing electricity, while in Russia producers get income both from selling power and having plants available for generation.
These so-called capacity payments are meant to guarantee that sufficient generating capacity is available to the market, but also to give incentives for investors to build new plants.
When Russian power export monopoly Inter RAO buys electricity on the market, it has to pay capacity payments on top of energy costs, and that can double prices.
Traders wishing to sell Nordic electricity to Russia, however, do not receive a capacity payment, leaving them with a high discount to prices national generators receive.
Kekkonen said capacity payments in Russia can add about 25 euros a megawatt-hour on top of the electricity price in Russia, driving total cost up to 50-60 euros a MWh during peak hours.
Wholesale power prices in Russia rose by 15 percent to 1,143 Russian roubles ($37.14) per MWh during the third-quarter from a year ago, Finnish utility Fortum, which owns power plants in Russia, said last week.
During the same period, the Nordic power prices fell by 42 percent to 20.8 euros ($27.23) per MWh, dented by abundant rain that increased supply of cheap hydro-power, it added.
The rise in Russian prices and fall in Nordic power reduced electricity imports from Russia to Finland to 3.0 terawatt-hours (TWh) in January-September, from 8.5 TWh during the same period a year ago, Finnish Energy Industries statistics showed.
"At the moment it makes no sense for Inter RAO to buy electricity from the Russian exchange and to export it (to Finland)," said Kekkonen.
Viljainen estimated that Russian exports to Finland could be profitable when prices in the Nordic market rise to at least 50 euros a MWh, an average level unlikely to be hit this winter.
In the opposite direction, Nordic power prices would have to fall below 20 euros a MWh, also unlikely as year-ahead power prices are currently trading at 38 euros a megawatt-hour.
"That creates the "dead-band" in flows when power prices in the Nordic market is between 20-50 euros a MWh," Viljainen added.
Inter RAO said power imports from the Nordics could be possible in future, but expected the impact to be modest.
"Clearly, imports (from the Nordics) might be economically feasible in certain periods," Inter RAO's spokesman Anton Nazarov said in an email to Reuters.
"In the long-run, even considering the recent exports decline, we do not have negative forecasts for future trade (balance) w i th the Nord Pool," Nazarov said, adding that the fall in the Nordic prices was seen as "cyclical".
"In a way, it's a test case that reveals a lot of how two markets of different designs can interact or not," Viljainen said of two-way power trading between Russia and the Nordic market. ($1 = 30.7750 Russian roubles) ($1 = 0.7638 euros) (Additional reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow; Editing by Anthony Barker)
Source: Reuters
By Nerijus Adomaitis and Terhi Kinnunen
jueves, 3 de enero de 2013
Outokumpu becomes global steel leader with acquisition of Inoxum from ThyssenKrupp
Outokumpu completed the acquisition of stainless steel company Inoxum from ThyssenKrupp. The deal makes Outokumpu the new global steel leader.
Outokumpu now has roughly a 40 per cent steel market share in Europe and 12 per cent share globally. The company has the broadest portfolio in the industry and unparalleled technical expertise and customer knowledge.
“The rationale for building this new industry powerhouse remains as strong as ever; optimizing our production structure, expanding both our product portfolio and market presence to growth markets in the Americas and Asia and reaching annual synergy savings of approximately 200 million euros,” says Mika Seitovirta, Chief Executive Officer of Outokumpu.
Source: Outokumpu, Deutche Welle
miércoles, 2 de enero de 2013
¿Qué será de Finlandia después de Nokia?
El país escandinavo enfrenta el difícil panorama que tiene la compañía en el mundo móvil de la mano del desarrollo de nuevos emprendimientos tecnológicos, con Angry Birds como uno de los exponentes de esta etapa
Hasta hace muy poco, Nokia dominaba el mercado de los teléfonos móviles en el mundo. Pero la compañía finlandesa está pasando por momentos complicados, y el sector tecnológico en el país que la vio nacer podría verse afectado.
Entre 1998 y 2012 la firma finlandesa fue la mayor fabricante de teléfonos celulares en el mundo y, en 2011, ocupó el puesto número 143 en la Fortune Gobal 500, la famosa lista de las 500 compañías más ricas del mundo.
Con la llegada de fuertes competidores como Apple y Google, el precio de la acción de Nokia cayó desde 40 dólares en 2007 a menos de 3 este año.
Tras el declive la compañía de teléfonos, ¿hay vida en Finlandia después de Nokia?
La conferencia de tecnología The Slush -que tuvo lugar en la capital Helsinki el pasado noviembre- fue una demostración de lo que puede ser el futuro de la tecnología en Finlandia.
"El futuro está muy presente entre las start-ups. Para mí es obvio que de aquí van a venir los trabajos del futuro. Tenemos que romper con el pasado y mirar dónde invertir".
"La confianza y el entusiasmo es palpable en The Slush", dice Mark Bosworth, periodista de la BBC que estuvo presente. "Y el gobierno finlandés reconoce que la creación de nuevas empresas es importante para el futuro económico del país".
En abril pasado, Nokia comenzó un proyecto para ayudar a los empleados altamente cualificados que habían salido de la compañía a crear sus propias empresas, ofreciendo ayuda financiera y capacitación.
Hasta el momento, el antiguo personal de Nokia ha lanzado 220 nuevas empresas en Finlandia.
Los proyectos que se ven en la conferencia, cuenta Bosworth, van desde una aplicación móvil para la pesca hasta un servicio de comida y ejercicio para perros.
"Vamos a darle la vuelta a su salud", afirma uno de los emprendedores.
"La que estamos viendo en este momento será la marca más reconocida en el mundo", afirma otro.
La aplicación que ganó el concurso del mejor proyecto el año pasado en The Slush fue WildChords, un juego para iPad que le enseña al usuario a tocar guitarra.
La compañía creadora, Ovelin, pasó en el último año de tener cuatro trabajadores a emplear a 12 personas. Y recibe financiación que llega desde Silicon Valley.
¿Y NOKIA?
Nokia ha anunciado recientemente planes para vender su sede central en la ciudad Espoo para ayudar a recaudar dinero.
La venta se produjo mientras la gigante compañía china de telecomunicaciones Huawei reveló que pondrá en marcha un nuevo centro de desarrollo en Finlandia para aprovechar la experiencia del país en tecnología móvil.
Hasta hace muy poco, Nokia dominaba el mercado de los teléfonos móviles en el mundo. Pero la compañía finlandesa está pasando por momentos complicados, y el sector tecnológico en el país que la vio nacer podría verse afectado.
Entre 1998 y 2012 la firma finlandesa fue la mayor fabricante de teléfonos celulares en el mundo y, en 2011, ocupó el puesto número 143 en la Fortune Gobal 500, la famosa lista de las 500 compañías más ricas del mundo.
Con la llegada de fuertes competidores como Apple y Google, el precio de la acción de Nokia cayó desde 40 dólares en 2007 a menos de 3 este año.
Tras el declive la compañía de teléfonos, ¿hay vida en Finlandia después de Nokia?
La conferencia de tecnología The Slush -que tuvo lugar en la capital Helsinki el pasado noviembre- fue una demostración de lo que puede ser el futuro de la tecnología en Finlandia.
"El futuro está muy presente entre las start-ups. Para mí es obvio que de aquí van a venir los trabajos del futuro. Tenemos que romper con el pasado y mirar dónde invertir".
"La confianza y el entusiasmo es palpable en The Slush", dice Mark Bosworth, periodista de la BBC que estuvo presente. "Y el gobierno finlandés reconoce que la creación de nuevas empresas es importante para el futuro económico del país".
En abril pasado, Nokia comenzó un proyecto para ayudar a los empleados altamente cualificados que habían salido de la compañía a crear sus propias empresas, ofreciendo ayuda financiera y capacitación.
Hasta el momento, el antiguo personal de Nokia ha lanzado 220 nuevas empresas en Finlandia.
Los proyectos que se ven en la conferencia, cuenta Bosworth, van desde una aplicación móvil para la pesca hasta un servicio de comida y ejercicio para perros.
"Vamos a darle la vuelta a su salud", afirma uno de los emprendedores.
"La que estamos viendo en este momento será la marca más reconocida en el mundo", afirma otro.
La aplicación que ganó el concurso del mejor proyecto el año pasado en The Slush fue WildChords, un juego para iPad que le enseña al usuario a tocar guitarra.
La compañía creadora, Ovelin, pasó en el último año de tener cuatro trabajadores a emplear a 12 personas. Y recibe financiación que llega desde Silicon Valley.
¿Y NOKIA?
Nokia ha anunciado recientemente planes para vender su sede central en la ciudad Espoo para ayudar a recaudar dinero.
La venta se produjo mientras la gigante compañía china de telecomunicaciones Huawei reveló que pondrá en marcha un nuevo centro de desarrollo en Finlandia para aprovechar la experiencia del país en tecnología móvil.
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