Aker ASA: Report for the fourth quarter 2011
Net asset value (NAV) of Aker ASA and its holding companies (Aker) was NOK 19.4billion as of 31 December 2011; the figure corresponds to NOK 268.50 per share,compared with NOK 223.80 as of 30 September 2011 and NOK 253.80 as of year-end2010.
Aker has continued building a solid foundation for value growth and itsoperating companies reported strong operational performances in the fourthquarter. The Board recommends payment of a NOK 11 per-share dividend for the2011 accounting year.
Aker ASA's shares rose 30 percent in the fourth quarter, outpacing a 10 percentadvance in the Oslo Stock Exchange benchmark index (OSEBX). Year-on-year thestock gained 11 percent, or 18 percent, including dividend. The OSEBX declined12 percent in the period.
Net asset value (NAV) advanced 20 percent in the quarter to NOK 19.4 billion androse 5.7 percent from NOK 18.4 billion as of 31 December 2010. The increase islargely attributable to a gain in the value of Aker's investment in Det norske,partially offset by the NOK 724 million paid-out dividend in 2011.
The value of Aker's Industrial Holdings portfolio was NOK 12.4 billion as of theclose of the fourth quarter, up NOK 0.3 billion from 30 September 2011.
Share investments in the listed companies Det norske, Aker Solutions andKvaerner increased in value by a total of NOK 3.2 billion in the fourth quarter,while the value of the investment in Aker BioMarine slipped NOK 173 million.
Aker Drilling was taken out of the Industrial portfolio following the sale ofAker's 41.1 percent ownership interest in the rig company to Transocean. TheAker Clean Carbon shareholding was written down from NOK 147 million to NOK 0 atthe close of the third quarter and transferred from Aker's Industrial Holdingsto its Financial Investments portfolio as of the fourth quarter.
The Funds portfolio amounted to NOK 1.4 billion as of 31 December 2011, comparedto NOK 1.8 billion as of 30 September 2011. Repayment of capital from Convertoto Aker amounted to NOK 664 million in the fourth quarter.
Aker's Financial Investments portfolio amounted to NOK 8.9 billion as of 31December 2011, up from NOK 5.7 billion at the close of the third quarter. As aresult of the NOK 2.85 billion settlement received from the sale of Aker'sownership in Aker Drilling to Transocean, cash rose to NOK 4.0 billion from NOK2.3 billion in the third quarter. Loans to subsidiaries and associated companiestotaled NOK 3.2 billion, up NOK 1 billion from the close of the precedingquarter mainly as a result of a draw down facility issued for Fornebuporten ASthat was partly replaced by a NOK 440 million bank loan in the first quarter of2012.
In the fourth quarter Aker bought NOK 76 million of Det norske's outstandingconvertible bond with ticker AKX01 in connection with the company's announcedsale of bonds held in treasury.
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to §5-12 vphl(Norwegian Securities Trading Act)
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