On Friday, the Helsinki Stock Exchange began trading with a decline, but by the end of the day, the trend had shifted to a clear rise. The general index closed up 0.7 percent at 9,838 points. The most traded stock of the day was Nordea, which had announced its results on Thursday. The bank’s stock rose 1.4 percent on Friday. Nokia, which also released its earnings on Thursday, was the second most traded stock and gained 2.5 percent during the day. Despite missing analyst expectations in its first-quarter figures, Nokia expressed confidence that it has laid the foundation for growth in its mobile network business.
During Friday’s trading session, Elisa experienced the largest gain of 4.4 percent after announcing its earnings for January-March period. Although the telecom operator’s operating profit fell slightly below analyst expectations, Elisa maintained its revenue and EBITDA growth targets for 2024. Several other companies also announced their results on Friday, including Middle Soul, Morning and QPR Software.
Alma Media’s first-quarter earnings were marginally below analyst expectations and saw no change in its stock price. Gofore struggled with slower growth compared to previous quarters and experienced a drop in stock prices by 3.9 percent as investors adjusted their valuations based on lower profitability.
QPR Software posted a positive operating result for the first time since 2019 but experienced an decline in stock prices by 8.5 percent as investors sold off shares ahead of further revenue growth opportunities.
Valoe secured funding for a restructuring program while Ponsse lowered its guidance for next year due to weaker demand from customers.
The market saw mixed movements based on these earnings announcements and guidance updates from various companies throughout Friday’s trading session.
Overall, despite some positive gains in certain sectors like telecommunications and software development, investors remained cautious about future growth prospects and made adjustments to their portfolios accordingly.