Research

NORDEN (One-pager): Asset-flexible shipping generating strong ROIC through cycles

Summary

NORDEN reported a net profit of USD 120m, with USD 50m from operating earnings and USD 70m from vessel sale gains, while group EBITDA was USD 454m.
The Tanker business unit contributed USD 116m EBIT, and Dry Cargo turned positive with USD 29m EBIT, supported by reduced losses in the large dry operator segment.
NORDEN's stock trades at a discount to its NAV, with a P/NAV of approximately 0.7x, and is undervalued compared to peers on EV/EBITDA metrics.
The company maintains a strong capital return policy, distributing DKK 8 per share in dividends and USD 43m in share buybacks, achieving a 65% payout ratio.

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Today we publish our updated research on NORDEN following the company's FY2025 annual results. The report covers the investment case with key investment reasons and risks, a peer group comparison against dry cargo and product tanker peers, and a historical and relative valuation overview.

NORDEN delivered a net profit of USD 120m (2024: USD 163m), split between USD 50m in operating earnings and USD 70m in vessel sale gains from 23 vessels sold during the year. Group EBITDA came in at USD 454m (2024: USD 514m), with the Tanker business unit anchoring earnings at USD 116m EBIT (2024: USD 215m), while Dry Cargo turned positive at USD 29m EBIT (2024: USD -56m), driven by a significant narrowing of losses in the large dry operator segment. Operating cash flow remained strong at USD 378m, and NORDEN continued its disciplined capital return policy with DKK 8 per share in dividends and USD 43m in share buybacks, resulting in a total payout ratio of 65%.

The portfolio of 90 purchase options, 40 of which were in the money at the time of the annual report, provides meaningful optionality for additional value realisation beyond the FY2026 guidance range of USD 30-100m net profit, which currently includes USD 20m in already-signed vessel sale gains.

Disclaimer: HC Andersen Capital receives payment from NORDEN for a digitalIR/corporate visibility subscription agreement. / Philip Coombes 13:13 26/02/2026, updated 17:23 26/02/2026

NORDEN is an internationally operating shipping company with 12 global offices, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and listed on Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen. The company is present in the dry cargo and product tanker markets with a combination of operator and asset trading activities. NORDEN’s trading-oriented business model is based on the two business units ‘Assets & Logistics’ and ‘Freight Services & Trading’ – dividing the business into asset trading and operator activities. The company’s business activities are based on an asset-light trading strategy, only owning a small percentage (~5%) of its total operated vessel fleet consisting of close to 500 vessels. The agility of the business model enables NORDEN to continuously adjust short-term market exposure towards dry cargo and product tanker market developments while capitalizing on asset trading opportunities. In-house data and advanced analytics, risk management, and market research provide a data-driven approach to shipping, making proactive use of volatile markets.