DNB Markets expects the company to report core operating profit of $120 for the three months to the end of June, which would be its best quarterly showing since the final three months of 2013.
The bank's net profit projection of $65m for the quarter is $10m ahead of consensus, with Korean exports, increased Chinese imports and an uptick in mining sales from Caterpillar all contributing to the optimism.
DNB analysts Nicolay Dyvik, Oyvind Berle and Petter Haugen suggest the company’s shipping division will repeat its 12% margin from the first quarter, a figure which represented the best showing since the end of 2013.
“We see a more favourable cargo mix and cost improvement driving the better results, which we expect to continue,” the trio said in a pre-results report.
Late last week Bjorn Kristian Roed of Danske Bank tweaked his numbers of WW ASA, suggesting it was heading for core operating profit of $114.7m in the second quarter, thanks to stronger vehicle sales.
However, Roed noted John Deere recorded a 23% fall in agricultural equipment sales in the second quarter, suggesting continued distress in the high and heavy market.
“The weak H&H market leads us to conclude that it will be difficult for WW ASA to improve margins further based on developments in its markets; this potential still lies in cost efficiencies and cost cutting in our view,” Roed said.
In the second quarter of 2014, WW ASA logged a core operating profit of $94m with its bottom line at $22.6m.
