Market Week | A giant order, a Nokia rumor and the world’s most anticipated result – HS times the week’s most important financial news

Turku shipyard won the giant order

The Turku shipyard announced on Tuesday that it had signed an agreement with the American shipping company Royal Caribbean Cruises for the fourth Icon class cruise ship. The contract also includes options for the construction of the fifth and sixth Icon ships.

The value of one Icon-class cruise ship is roughly 1.5 billion euros.

“This order is an important milestone for the future of Finnish shipbuilding and maritime industry. Icon of the Seas is a joint achievement of the shipyard and all partners, which has raised shipbuilding, energy efficiency and customer experience to a whole new level,” says the shipyard’s CEO Tim Meyer in the bulletin.

The shipyard calculates the employment effect of the order to be 13,000 person-years.

“This is great news for Finland. Royal Caribbean’s commitment and investments in Finland say a lot about the strength of our maritime cluster and our world-class shipyards,” says the Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in the bulletin.

Last year, the first Icon-class ship, the Icon of the Seas, was handed over from the Turku shipyard.

Later in the week, the finance minister of the state of Lower Saxony Olaf Lies said that the German federal government and the states will invest 400 million euros to save the shipyard company Meyer Werft, which is in serious financial difficulties.

In return for the investment, the federal government and the state will acquire a temporary 80 percent stake in the shipyard company, according to Reuters. The rescue plan also includes 2.6 billion euros worth of guarantees for Meyer Werft’s loans.

The Meyer family owns the Turku shipyard, which is legally independent from Meyer Werft.

Rumors of a purchase are swirling around Nokia

An acquisition rumor mill started this week around Nokia, which manufactures network equipment. The news agency Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Nokia has held discussions about the fate of its mobile network businesses, and the sale of the businesses is also one of the possibilities.

According to Bloomberg, Nokia has considered several options in the matter. They include selling the mobile network business in whole or in part, separating it into a separate company or merging it with a competitor.

According to the news agency, Nokia’s plans are still in the early stages. Therefore, it is not at all certain that the company will make any kind of solution in the matter.

Last year, the turnover of mobile phone network businesses was 9.8 billion euros. It is almost half of Nokia’s entire turnover. Nokia commented on the matter in a press release sent on Thursday evening Finnish time.

“Nokia has nothing to say regarding the speculations published in today’s article, and there is no related insider project of any kind,” the company wrote.

The Finnish economy turned to the wind

Finland’s gross domestic product grew by 0.3 percent in April–June from the previous quarter, Statistics Finland reported on Friday.

The modest economic growth was mainly supported by exports, which grew by 8.1 percent from the previous quarter. Investments, on the other hand, shrank by 2.1 percent. It means that construction is still relatively low.

Gross domestic product, which measures the standard of living, means the total value of goods and services produced for final use.

“It seems that a turn for the better in the Finnish economy has taken place at the beginning of the year. Investments have shrunk, especially due to the weakness of residential construction, while exports have started to recover,” says the Head of Forecasting at the Institute for Economic Research Päivi Puonti.

Despite the positive signs, Puoli emphasizes that, based on current data, economic recovery will be slow this year.

In April–June, the gross national product of the euro area grew as much as in Finland, i.e. 0.3 percent from the previous quarter.

Nvidia made huge profits, but the stock slumped

Chip company Nvidia’s turnover in May–July increased by 122 percent from a year ago and was a good 30 billion dollars. The growth from the previous quarter was 15 percent.

The company’s operating profit increased to 18.6 billion dollars, which meant a 168 percent increase from a year ago and a 10 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The announcement of the results late on Wednesday Finnish time was loaded with exceptionally high expectations. It was characterized, among other things, as “the most important results announcement in years”.

Nvidia announced its results after the stock market closed on Wednesday in the United States. The result exceeded many analysts’ expectations, but in the secondary market its share price fell by more than eight percent after the result. This week, the stock had fallen by more than 9 percent by Thursday evening.

Verkkokauppa.com will cut a maximum of 45 employees

Verkkokauppa.com, which specializes in home electronics, begins change negotiations. The company’s stock exchange announcement states that the negotiations may lead to the termination of the employment of a maximum of 45 employees. Around 220 employees are involved in the negotiations. In total, the company has approximately 700 employees.

With the planned changes, the company aims for annual savings of around 2.5 million euros in personnel costs. It is estimated that the savings will be realized in full next year.

The negotiations starting on September 4 are based on Verkkokauppa.com’s plans to renew and enhance its organizational structure. The company says that the goal is, among other things, to ensure profitable growth and sufficient resources to promote strategic projects.

Managing director Panu Porkan according to the company’s strategy is to accelerate the transition of trade online.

Economic confidence in the euro area strengthened

Confidence in the euro area economy strengthened in August.

The indicator produced by the European Commission strengthened to 96.6 points, as the outlook has brightened in industry, service sectors and retail trade.

The confidence of consumers and the construction industry in the economy remained more or less unchanged.

In August, the indicator predicting employment also strengthened after several months of weakening. Companies operating in service sectors in particular anticipate hiring more employees.

The confidence of consumers and companies is relatively important to the economic recovery of the euro area. Several signs suggest that economic growth has continued, albeit at a shaky pace.

In April–June, the economy grew by 0.2 percent from the previous quarter and 0.8 percent from the corresponding time last year, based on preliminary data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency.

According to the forecast published by the International Monetary Fund in July, the economy of the euro area will grow by 0.9 percent this year and 1.5 percent next year. Last year, the economy grew by 0.5 percent.