Norsk Hydro shares rise despite mixed Q4 guidance

Investing.com -- Swedish mining and smelting company Boliden has provided throughput and grade guidance for its mining assets in 2026, indicating slightly lower production than analysts expected.

Based on the guidance and assuming 2025 year-to-date recovery levels, implied zinc concentrate production would reach 426,000 tonnes, 3% below RBC estimates and 6% below consensus forecasts. Implied copper production would be 118,000 tonnes, 2% below both RBC estimates and consensus.

For the Aitik mine, Boliden expects throughput of 41 million tonnes with copper grades of 0.18%. At Garpenberg, throughput is projected at 3.7 million tonnes with zinc grades of 2.9%.

The Kevitsa mine is expected to process 10 million tonnes with copper grades of 0.24% and nickel grades of 0.17%. For the Boliden area, throughput guidance is 1.8 million tonnes with zinc grades of 3% and gold at 1.6 grams per tonne.

Tara mine is projected to process 1.8 million tonnes with zinc grades of 5.6%, while Somincor is expected to handle 2.2 million tonnes with zinc grades of 6.7%. Zingkruvan’s throughput is forecast at 1.1 million tonnes with zinc grades of 7%.

In its smelting operations, Boliden announced that commissioning of the Odda expansion project has been delayed by two months, with first feed now expected in the first quarter of 2026. At the Rönnskär facility, a final reassessment of recoveries will lead to a SEK400 million adjustment in the third quarter, representing 5% of the expected full-year 2025 consensus operating profit.

The company also noted that planned maintenance shutdowns are expected to impact operating profit by SEK450 million in 2026.

Boliden’s capital expenditure for fiscal year 2026 is projected at SEK15 billion, 7% below RBC estimates but 11% above consensus forecasts.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Hemnet Group AB on Friday announced two major strategic initiatives on Friday, aimed at addressing the challenge of vendors using free alternatives in a soft market.

The first initiative, "Sell first, pay later" (SFPL), will launch nationwide in a phased approach. This product responds to changing seller behavior where sellers are selling their properties before buying new ones, resulting in delayed listings on Hemnet.

The company believes this trend distorts the market and causes sellers to miss valuable early pre-market exposure.

The SFPL rollout will begin in Stockholm in February 2026, expand to Västra Götaland in March, and go nationwide in April. According to Hemnet, the autumn pilot received positive feedback from both agents and sellers, achieving the goal of earlier property listings on the platform.

The second initiative involves Strategic Partnership Agreements (SPA) with agent franchisors. These agreements aim to secure franchisor-level commitment to encourage agent franchisees to recommend Hemnet throughout the selling process. Access to the SFPL product will be conditional on entering into an SPA.

Hemnet has already signed three such agreements and is now offering them to all agents on equal terms and a non-exclusive basis. The agreements include performance-based compensation for increasing the share of pre-market listings on Hemnet.

These initiatives represent a decisive step forward by the CEO as he approaches the end of his first year in the role. Hemnet’s stock currently trades at SEK159.20, with analysts setting a price target of SEK360.00.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Derichebourg (EPA:DBG) shares rose more than 10% on Friday after the recycler reported a 63% jump in annual net profit to €122 million, lifted by a sharply stronger contribution from Elior Group, according to its full-year results.

Paris-based Derichebourg, a metal recycling and public services company, said consolidated revenue for the year ended Sept. 30 fell 7.5% to €3.34 billion as prices and volumes weakened in both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. 

Recycling revenue declined 7.7% to €3.15 billion, with ferrous scrap revenue down 15.2% after the average selling price fell to €321 per ton from €349. 

Volumes of ferrous scrap slid 7.7% as European steelmakers cut production amid higher energy costs and increased competition from low-priced Chinese exports.

Non-ferrous volumes decreased 8.7%, while the average selling price rose 8.4% to €2,651 per ton due to a higher share of copper granulate, the group’s most expensive product. Revenue from non-ferrous metals dipped 1% to €1.68 billion. 

Copper was the main contributor, representing 37% of non-ferrous revenue, as volumes increased 3.8%. Aluminum volumes declined 13.5%, stainless steel was down 13.3%, brass fell 8.9%, and lead dropped 9.7%. Zinc volumes rose 2.7%, and miscellaneous metals gained 3.8%.

Recurring EBITDA slipped 3.2% to €319.5 million, but the margin improved to 9.6% from 9.2% as cost reductions offset volume pressure. 

The group said September deliveries of recycled raw materials produced a higher-than-expected sales margin, exceeding its earlier €300 million to €310 million estimate.

Operating profit fell 10.3% to €157.9 million. Profit before tax dropped 10.1% to €119.1 million after €33 million in financial expenses, though that figure narrowed from last year due to lower rates and reduced debt. 

Income from associates swung to a €43.9 million gain from a €19 million loss, driven by Elior Group’s €42.4 million contribution. The effective tax rate was 32.8%, with corporate income tax of €39 million.

Chairman Daniel Derichebourg said, “The improvement in net profit is spectacular, thanks to the scale of the successful turnaround at Elior Group… This allows us to be optimistic for the years to come.” 

Chief executive Abderrahmane El Aoufir said the group “managed to improve its operating margin rate and post strong growth in net profit,” citing measures to adapt the cost structure, expansion into niche segments and diversification through the interest in Elior.

Net financial debt fell €30.9 million to €682.8 million. The company invested €131.7 million in tangible assets, equal to 41% of recurring EBITDA, and proposed a dividend of €0.13 per share, unchanged from last year. 

Working capital needs rose €54.8 million due to higher inventories, increased receivables and lower trade payables.

For 2025-26, the group expects revenue at least in line with this year and forecasts recurring EBITDA between €320 million and €350 million. 

It said two European regulatory changes on steel imports taking effect in 2026 are expected to raise the cost of imported steel and support recycled ferrous volumes.

Investing.com -- Coinbase users are experiencing difficulties accessing the cryptocurrency exchange’s site because of a Cloudflare outage, the company announced in a post on X on Friday.

The company stated that its team is actively working to resolve the issue. Coinbase also reassured users that all funds remain safe despite the access problems.

The outage appears to be related to Cloudflare’s services, which many websites rely on for content delivery and security features.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Cloudflare is investigating an increased number of errors affecting customers who use its Workers scripts, according to information posted on the company’s status page.

The cloud services provider stated it is currently working to analyze and mitigate the problem. The company has not provided details about the cause of the errors or how many customers might be affected.

Workers is Cloudflare’s serverless computing platform that allows developers to deploy code without managing infrastructure.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Leapfrog Acquisition Corporation priced its initial public offering of 12.5 million units at $10.00 per unit, raising $125 million. The units began trading December 5 on Nasdaq under the symbol LFACU.

Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and half of one redeemable warrant with a strike price of $11.50 per ordinary share, exercisable within five years of completing an initial business combination. The ordinary shares and warrants will trade separately under symbols LFAC and LFACW, respectively.

The special purpose acquisition company is led by Chief Executive Officer Matthew R. Pollard, President and Chief Investment Officer Abhay N. Pande, and Chief Financial Officer Kevin M. Murphy. The company was formed to pursue mergers, acquisitions or similar business combinations.

BTIG served as sole book-running manager for the offering. Underwriters received a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.875 million units at the offering price to cover over-allotments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission declared the registration statement effective December 4. Leapfrog plans to focus on businesses in the international energy supply chain and critical minerals sectors, including related infrastructure, when searching for merger candidates.

The company is based in Summit, New Jersey, according to information from a press release.