Orkla falls on 'soft' Q1, cost pressure amid Middle East conflict

Orkla ASA

20/05/2026 09:19

** Shares in Orkla ORK.OL slide around 8% after the Norwegian industrial investment company posted a decline in its core profit for Q1 and warned of increasing expenses amid the Middle East conflict

** Orkla's adjusted EBIT in the quarter falls 1.3% to 1.74 billion Norwegian crowns ($187 million) and the company cites negative currency effects

** CEO Nils Selte says that while the conflict in the Middle East did not have a material impact on Q1, he expects higher energy and raw material costs to affect Orkla's portfolio in coming quarters

**  Pareto analyst Phillihp Bjerke says the Q1 EBIT was soft and especially the very weak performance of the Orkla Health segment is expected to continue, while noting also negative outlook comments that weighed on shares

** Orkla shares wipe off YTD gains and fall to the bottom of STOXX 600 .STOXX

($1 = 9.2923 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki)

((boleslaw.lasocki@thomsonreuters.com))