– As amateur as it gets

Billionaire Ivar S. Løge (85) set up as a mail-order entrepreneur, but is today an active investor on Oslo Børs and has a great commitment to the debate on the salmon tax.

Løge also made a good purchase when he increased his holding of shares in the farming company Salmar last week – from 44,000 to 50,000 shares. After Thursday’s news of a settlement on the salmon tax in the Storting, the Salmar share jumped up around 12 per cent.

Shaking his head

The sudden price rise gives Løge an additional paper profit of around NOK three million, but he is still not particularly impressed by either the news itself or the politicians’ timing.

– It is completely incredible. After all the criticism that has been in the past about how the politicians have to deal with stock exchange-sensitive matters such as the salmon tax, it is happening again. It’s as amateurish as it gets, says Løge.

He is once again clear that the news of a settlement and salmon tax of 25 per cent should have been announced after the stock exchange’s closing time or before the stock exchange opens in the morning. Among other things, it is about giving the investors time to take in all the details of the settlement. Løge has also previously criticized the Ap/Sp government for coming up with big news about the salmon tax in the middle of the stock exchange’s opening hours.

– For all exchanges in the world, there are rules for exchange-sensitive information and the authorities must comply with them. First and foremost, this is about investors’ trust in Oslo Børs. Especially towards investors from abroad, who make up the majority.

– But isn’t it just nice that the share bounces up?

– You cannot expect foreigners to follow the screen in the middle of the night. Those who are lucky can make a bullet while the stock is bouncing up, but this is too random, says Løge.

Administrator Leif Eriksrød in Alfred Berg had a different view on the matter on Thursday.

– It is important that the information comes out as soon as an agreement is reached. That it happens during opening hours is not optimal, but you cannot expect them to just negotiate without opening hours, said Eriksrød.

Expect more changes

About his own paper gain, Løge says:

– It is, after all, a relatively small part of a larger portfolio. The loss I suffered when the Ap/Sp government presented the salmon tax last autumn was greater. Today, I resent the process more than I am happy about increased values ​​of shares over a few hours.

– What do you think will happen to the salmon tax in the long term?

– Ap and Sp cannot in the long run benefit from losing as many mayors in Western Norway and Northern Norway as predicted in the autumn if the opinion polls hold. This requires that one does not put too many obstacles in the way of a salmon industry that is doing well. It is unreasonable that there should be so much higher tax within an industry, compared to the Faroe Islands and Iceland. I think the Conservative Party will change the whole model when they hopefully come to power in 2025, says Løge.

Løge has previously been a strong campaigner for a production tax on salmon, as in the Faroe Islands, instead of land rent tax.

Last autumn, his private fortune was estimated at NOK 1.3 billion by the magazine Kapital.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using links, which lead directly to our pages. Copying or other forms of use of all or part of the content may only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For further terms see here.