Aker Solutions Surges on Brazil Progress, Outlook: Oslo Mover

17 February 2012

Aker Solutions ASA (AKSO), Norway’s biggest maker of oil platforms, surged the most in more than two years in Oslo trading after avoiding further delays to a project in Brazil and affirming revenue targets until 2015.

The shares rose as much as 17 percent, the most since November 2008, and were up 13 percent as of 12:55 p.m. local time, the largest gain in the benchmark OBX index. The stock has risen 48 percent this year, making it the second-biggest gainer on the STOXX 600 Oil & Gas Index.

The company said that a project in Brazil was going according to plan, after delays in deliveries of subsea systems to Petroleo Brasileiro SA had cut earnings by 500 million kroner ($67 million) in the third quarter. The company affirmed a target for sales to grow 9 percent to 15 percent a year until 2015.

"They have had issues in the subsea business in Brazil and now they actually say that operations in Brazil are going according to their last plan,” said Goeran Andreassen, an analyst with RS Platou Markets AS. "That’s obviously positive considering the concern among investors with Aker Solutions operations in that region. That has been weighing on the share definitely.”

Net income was 675 million kroner in the fourth quarter, beating the 346 million-krone estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales grew 18 percent to 11.6 billion kroner from a year earlier.