Flat Profits At Hafslund Nycomed

Norwegian company Hafslund Nycomed's financial results for the first quarter of 1996 have disappointed, leading Goldman Sachs analysts to downgrade their forecasts for the firm's earnings per share through to 1998.

Pretax profits in the first quarter of 1996 at HN were flat at 456 million Norwegian kroner ($70.3 million). It is understood that some analysts had expected pretax profits to come in at around 500 million kroner. EPS were 3.02 kroner, down from 3.07 kroner in first-quarter 1995.

Before R&D costs, operating profits were 676 million kroner, down 12.7%. R&D costs for the quarter were 206 million kroner, falling from 235 million kroner a year earlier. Revenues were 3% lower than a year ago at 2.36 billion kroner.