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Oslo Børs NewsWeb: Kongsberg inngår milliardkontrakt med Lockheed Martin

Business News, Defense / Security,

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (KONGSBERG) har inngått kontrakt med Lockheed Martin Aeronautics akkumulert til 2 milliarder kroner for levering av deler til F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. NOK 700 millioner av kontrakten er allerede produsert og levert kunde. Det resterende er for leveranser fremover i tid. Avtalen omfatter produksjonspartiene 12-14 for leveranse av halerorsdeler og strukturdeler til flykroppen for alle tre variantene av F-35, totalt mer enn 500 fly.

“Denne kontrakten befester KONGSBERGs sterke og langsiktige posisjon i F-35 programmet. Produksjonen for flyet vil løpe i mange år og sikrer kontinuerlig produksjon ved KONGSBERGs fabrikk, og like viktig, baner vei for ytterligere fremtidige oppdrag», sier Eirik Lie, Administrerende Direktør Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS.

Les hele saken HER.

Elektrek: Tesla becomes best-selling brand in Norway, pushing electric car market share to almost 50%

Automobile / Transport, Business News

Tesla’s deliveries increased significantly in June in Norway – making Tesla the best-selling brand for the year and pushing the electric market share across all vehicles sold in the country to almost 50%.

As Elektrek has previously reported, Tesla tried to deliver a record number of vehicles in the second quarter and based on our data, it looks like Tesla was ‘very close’ to its delivery record at the end of the period.

The official global delivery numbers are not expected to be released until later this week.

However, Elektrek is already getting some registration data from some markets like Norway.

Tesla’s sales jumped to 3,760 units in June – making Tesla the best-selling brand for the month with a 24.5% market share and also for the whole year-to-date with a 16.1% market share.

Read entire article HERE.

World Oil: ConocoPhillips submits re-development plan for Tor field

Business News, Energy, , ,

On behalf of the licensees, operator ConocoPhillips has submitted a Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for a re-development of Tor field, in the Greater Ekofisk area in the North Sea.

The field was in production from 1978 until it was shut down in 2015 when the installation reached the end of its lifetime. At shutdown, just 20% of the resources in place had been produced.

Read entire article HERE.

American Wine Club Summer Tasting

AmCham News, Food & Beverage,

American Wine Club Summer Wine Tasting

To welcome the start of summer, AmCham Norway hosted a casual summer wine tasting for members of the recently formed American Wine Club.

Featuring wines from California producers such as Joel Gott, Mandolin, and Ferrari-Carano, among others, guests were able to sample a broad range of wines while also enjoying an assortment of pastries provided by Hotel Bristol’s new in-house bakery. Along the way, attendees deepened their understanding of California wines and had the opportunity to experience vintages from a geographically diverse array of producers from the Golden State.

More tastings are in the works for the future, so be sure to join the American Wine Club today to make sure you don’t miss out on our next tasting!

About the American Wine Club

The American Wine Club is a joint AmCham / member wine importer initiative. Founded in March 2019, the club is a testament to the excitement American vintages are inspiring across Norway. The club’s Facebook group is a digital meeting place for American wine lovers from all over the country, featuring relevant reviews, wine-oriented news articles, and food pairings.

Would you like to be the club’s next member? Sign up HERE today!

Bloomberg: DNB Eclipses Nordea as the Biggest Bank in the Nordic Region

Accounting / Financial, Business News, Financial / Investment, , ,

Norway’s DNB ASA has eclipsed perennial Nordic powerhouse Nordea Bank Abp as the biggest lender by market value in the Nordic region.

DNB’s market value has now exceeded that of Nordea for the first time since the Helsinki-based lender was created through the merger of four Nordic banks at the end of 2001.

Read entire article HERE.

Bloomberg: Walmart Is Now Ethical Enough for Norway’s $1 Trillion Wealth Fund

Accounting / Financial, Business News, Financial / Investment,

Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund revoked its more than decade-long exclusion on Walmart Inc. after the U.S. retailer tightened control over potential human rights abuses in its supply chain.

Walmart has made “positive developments” in monitoring its suppliers, the fund’s Council on Ethics said in a statement released Tuesday.

“Furthermore, the company engages actively in selected, high-risk areas in order to help bring about improvements in working conditions,” the council said in a letter. “There seem to be fewer reports of poor working conditions in Walmart’s supply chain now than there were before.”

The fund also decided to revoke exclusions to Grupo Carso SAB de CV, General Dynamics Corp., Nutrien Ltd., Rio Tinto Ltd. and Rio Tinto Plc, as well as Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV, according to a statement.

Read entire article HERE.

Energy Voice: ExxonMobil’s Norway exit could break records, Rystad says

Business News, Energy,

US supermajor ExxonMobil could be looking to fetch as much as $3.1 billion through the sale of its Norwegian portfolio, according to Rystad Energy.

Rystad Energy partner Simon Sjøthun notes that a sale of this magnitude could be the largest private transaction ever recorded on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“The valuation implies that a combined divestment of the entire portfolio would put the transaction at the very top of pure Norwegian transactions since the SDFI spin off in 2001,” Sjøthun said, with reference to the divestment of 15% of the State’s Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) in Norwegian offshore licenses when then Statoil was partially privatized 18 years ago.

Read entire article HERE.

Forum Summary: AmCham CFO Forum – June 2019

AmCham News

Forum Summary: AmCham CFO Forum - June 2019

How Can International CFOs Be More Efficient?

AmCham welcomed 18 invited CFOs and financial industry leaders to Sonitor Technologies’ Lysaker offices for our latest CFO Forum. Group CFO Hannah Tofteberg first outlined Sonitor’s development and leading ultrasound location technologies. Participants represented member companies ranging in size, scope, and nationality, allowing for a truly in-depth discussion of what it means to represent Norway in an international organization.

The discussion started with a brief presentation by Henrik Stobbe, Finance Director at Discovery Networks Norway. He posed the question of how and if those around the table had already implemented any of the takeaways from our Q1 meeting on how to be a more efficient and effective financial leader.

Stobbe noted that 80% of the forum’s Q1 findings were low-investment solutions, which allowed his team, and several others, to already actively implement them. One such approach was a re-working of meeting structures to both be more efficient and more actionable.

In agreement was Sven Torgersen, Finance Director at Pfizer, who noted that he had moved All Other Business to the front of the meeting agenda, and Action Points to the end – a small change he had found to make meetings much more proactive. Another CFO commented that she does not even attend meetings without agendas.

The lively discussion pivoted to the importance of time-management, for both participants and their teams, along with a variety of thoughtful methods that had been implemented with success at the companies represented around the table. Included were:  More defined roles within teams, streamlining forecasting systems, and discovering new tools to assist in risk-assessment.

Answering the question of how CEOs react to these changes, the resounding response was, as long as processes are delivered and guaranteed, they are pleased.

Internal Controls: Simplicity, Trust & Why

Charlie Lea, Partner at KPMG, then led dialog on internal controls and their organizational impact. He posed a question of the importance of these controls and how the processes surrounding them are affected by board activities, financial reporting, and compliance.

The resounding response from forum participants was that internal controls, while potentially cumbersome, are helpful and positive, providing a safety net and a sense of reassurance. Knowing that they could answer 99.5% of an internal auditor’s questions immediately was of great relief, but they also noted the importance of not “killing it with controls” and maintaining balance.

Several participants shared their own experiences, both positive and negative, with internal controls and the importance of trust and oversight, especially in an international setting and with increased outsourcing. It was agreed that the most important aspect to these controls was recognizing why they had been implemented and communicating this with impacted teammates. The underlying theme in these discussions was the necessity of buy-in from all involved in every stage of the process.

About

AmCham’s CFO Forum is a cross-industry platform upon which financial leaders can interact, share best practices and learn from each other about what it takes to run a successful international finance department in Norway.

If you are interested in participating in our Q3 meeting, hosted by Discovery Networks Norway, please contact us.

GlobeNewswire: Intertrust acquires Viteos for USD 330 million

Accounting / Financial, Business News, Financial / Investment,

Amsterdam, the Netherlands – 18 June 2019 – Intertrust N.V. (“Intertrust”), a leading global provider of expert administrative services to corporate, fund, capital markets and private wealth clients, today announces the acquisition of Viteos1, a provider of leading-edge technology solutions for U.S. funds, from PPC Enterprises LLC, FiveW Capital LLC (an affiliate of 22C Capital) and Viteos management.

Viteos is a tech-enabled alternative funds industry leader providing end-to-end middle and back office administration for top tier hedge funds, private equity, real estate, private debt and other alternative asset managers. Viteos has approximately 715 employees and operates a global delivery model with its headquarters and sales team in the U.S. supported by Centres of Excellence in India. Viteos delivered revenues of USD 52 million2, 94% in the U.S., having grown at an organic CAGR of 22% over the last two years, and an EBITDA margin of 36.6%.

Read entire article HERE.

Kahoot! joins the Microsoft Partner Network and adds integration with Microsoft Teams

Business News, Technology,

In addition to our existing Microsoft single sign-on and two Windows apps, we’re launching an integration with Microsoft Teams. The new “Share with Teams” feature will make it possible to assign Kahoot! challenges as homework directly to groups within Microsoft Teams. Students will receive a notification and teachers can provide feedback – all within Microsoft Teams.

Read entire announcement HERE.