Helsinki shares higher midday, led by Nokia ahead of Q3 results; Cargotec gains

Helsinki shares higher midday, led by Nokia ahead of Q3 results; Cargotec gains

	Published : Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:17 By : Agencies Print this Story

HELSINKI (Thomson Financial) - Shares were higher in midday trade, with Nokia gaining ahead of the release of its third-quarter results shortly.

At 12.13 pm, Nokia was up 1.05 pct at 25.87 eur, while the OMX Helsinki 25 index was 0.26 pct higher at 3,259.40.

Cargotec rose 6.99 pct to 38.42 eur after reporting a strong set of third-quarter results and saying it expects its order intake for the full year to grow by close to 30 pct.

Stora Enso was also higher, up 0.92 pct at 12.02 eur, as investors brushed aside a warning from the company that its third-quarter earnings were impacted by rising wood costs and a weak dollar.

'We had a series of major broker downgrades to Stora Enso shares a couple of weeks earlier and there was a lot of steam taken out of the shares at that time. And then after that we had the UPM-Kymmene profit-warning, which took the shares another leg down. So they have been hit twice already in as many weeks,' said Harri Taittonen, analyst at Nordea Markets.

The paper producer said it expects wood and recycled fibre cost pressure to continue during the fourth quarter, however deputy CEO Hannu Ryopponen told Thomson Financial News that the company's previous forecast that overall costs are estimated to rise 3.5 pct this year remains intact.

Fortum was up 0.28 pct at 28.26 eur after the group reported third-quarter earnings broadly in-line with expectations.

Elsewhere, Konecranes was down 2.75 pct at 29.03 eur and YIT up 1.39 pct at 19.65 eur. Deutsche Bank has upgraded YIT Corporation to 'buy' from 'hold', while leaving its target unchanged at 25 eur, saying it finds the current valuation compelling and that housing woes have been overrated, according to traders.

james.etheridge@thomson.com

je/lht

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