Stolt-Nielsen seemed to satisfy analysts with its second-quarter result but that did not keep its shares from taking a battering on the Oslo Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Analysts from DNB and Norne described the company’s financial performance as “in line” with their forecasts, but that did not stop investors from selling off the stock, which fell NOK 30.50 ($2.83) to NOK 444 from Wednesday’s close.
The slip represented a 6.5% drop, or a 4.2% drop from the open, where shares fell NOK 19.50.
It was a deeper drop than expected for veteran analyst Jorgen Lian from DNB. He expected shares to rise between 1% and 3% in an otherwise flat market.
“We believe the underlying [second-quarter] result came in broadly in line with expectations adjusting for a larger-than-expected negative contribution from corporate and other,” he said.
The company’s corporate and other line turned in a $14.3m loss, down from a $2m profit year over year.
It stood out against gains from the tanker segment, the world’s largest, which posted a $107m operating profit, up from $96.8m from the same period last year, plus a tick up from its terminal business and a drop from its tank container segment.
But the corporate and other line was still enough to drag its Ebitda down by 6%.
Still, Lian expected the jump in tanker rates from $30,880 per day to $32,862 per day to carry shares into the green.
“The underlying result came in broadly in line with consensus expectations adjusting for the increased negative result in the corporate and other division, and with a positive guidance for tankers” quarter over quarter, he said.
Norne’s Mindaugas Cekanavicius said it was “another strong quarterly” performance from the company.
“Higher spot freight rates due to ongoing transit restrictions in the Red Sea resulted in record-high average [time charter equivalent] earnings of $32,862 per day.”
He added that terminals had remained “stable and solid” while tanker container shipment volumes jumped to nearly 42,000, although offset by lower margins, and its sea farm segment hit $8.2m in Ebit.
Overall, the company reported a $137m operating profit, up from $10.1m a year ago, although the consensus among analysts was a $139m bottom line and net profit of $105m against real figures of $89.7m.
The jump in profit came from Stolt-Nielsen removing a $155m loss provision due to a fatal explosion aboard the 6,732-teu MSC Flaminia (built 2001) in 2012.
The blast killed three seafarers and kicked off several years of litigation in multiple US jurisdictions, with a settlement reached last week.
