The equity capital of INVL Technology, a company that invests in IT businesses, was EUR 19.75 million, or EUR 1.62 per share, at the end of the first half of this year. The latter figure increased 0.1 per cent from the start of the year and 2.5 per cent during the second quarter.
The company’s investments in the businesses it owns totalled EUR 16.6 million at the end of June 2017 and decreased by EUR 0.1 million from the start of the year. The change reflects a gain of EUR 0.2 million in the value of investments and EUR 0.3 million of dividends paid out by Inventio UAB, which negatively impacted the value of investments. In the second quarter, positive financial results at owned businesses boosted the value of the holdings by EUR 0.6 million.
INVL Technology’s cash balance increased during the first half of this year from EUR 3.1 million to EUR 3.2 million. The company had a net profit of EUR 21 000 for the six-month period. INVL Technology, which continues looking for new opportunities to expand its business portfolio, plans to conclude its phase of active acquisitions this year.
“Changes in the latest period suggest that the investments made so far in products and regional expansion are starting to provide a return. Some of our businesses did better in the second quarter of this year than in the same period last year, and we’re also seeing a recovery of IT project demand in Lithuania,” said Kazimieras Tonkūnas, Managing Partner for UTIB INVL Technology at INVL Asset Management.
During the first half of this year INVL Technology businesses began new projects in Bangladesh and Rwanda, countries where they had actively expanded in recent years. In Bangladesh, Norway Registers Development AS (NRD AS) and BAIP UAB consortium in June signed an agreement with the country’s Computer Council on thesupply and deployment of software and equipment to establish a cybersecurity incident response team (CIRT) laboratory for the investigation of incidents. NRD CS will provide the technology required for project implementation. In Rwanda, NRD East Africa together with BAIP signed an agreement on expanding modernisation work at the National Bank of Rwanda.
Moreover, the Banktron mobile banking software developed in recent years by Etronika got attention this year when it was one of the 11 European solutions examined in the “IDC MarketScape: European Mobile Banking Software Solutions 2017 Vendor Assessment”. This study, released by “IDC Financial Insights”, is an important criterion for financial institutions to consider when making a mobile banking investment decision.
INVL Technology businesses currently have offices in nine countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Moldova, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Bangladesh. The newest offices have been opened over the last two years: Norway Registers Development Rwanda Ltd was established in Rwanda last year, while NRD Bangladesh, which began operating in Bangladesh in February of this year, represents the services of NRD Companies and other businesses owned by INVL Technology and helps implement NRD Companies projects in the regions of South and Southeast Asia.
An Advisory Committee for INVL Technology also began functioning in April this year, composed of Invalda INVL board members Alvydas Banys and Indrė Mišeikytė, Lietuvos Draudimas’s Investment Director for the Baltic countries Gintaras Rutkauskas, and one of the owners of the E-energija group of companies Virginijus Strioga. The committee’s purpose is to advise the Investment Committee of INVL Technology on investment decisions.
Business climate improvement and e-governance
NRD Companies, a global information technology and consulting group of companies specialized in governance and economic digital infrastructure development, in the first half of this year continued projects in Lithuania, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Bangladesh and other countries as well as actively participated in new tenders in countries of East Africa and South Asia. In the second quarter of this year NRD AS together with NRD CS completed a project in Bangladesh to establish a cybersecurity incident response team (CIRT).
In the first half of this year, NRD Companies had revenue of EUR 2.7 million and EBITDA of EUR 157 000. Compared with January-June 2016, revenue shrank 5.6 per cent while EBITDA increased from a negative EUR 107 000 last year. Comparing second-quarter results this year and last, revenue grew 70.6 per cent while EBITDA increased from a negative EUR 176 000 to a positive EUR 256 000.
Andmevara, which operates in Estonia and Moldova, this July completed the development of the “Presidency Gateway” information system for the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The system will simplify and speed up the organization of events related to the presidency. In the first half of this year, Andmevara had revenue of EUR 562 000 and a negative EBITDA of EUR 129 000. The company’s data have been published since 1 May 2016 when control of the company was acquired and thus are not comparable. In the first half of 2016 Andmevara had revenue of EUR 190 000 and a negative EBITDA of EUR 50 000. For the second quarter of this year, Andmevara had revenue of EUR 254 000 and a negative EBITDA of EUR 107 000. In the second quarter of 2016 its revenue was EUR 190 000 with a negative EBITDA of EUR 50 000.
IT infrastructure
In the first half of this year the revenues of BAIP and Acena, which operate in the area of IT infrastructure, increased 3.3 per cent compared with the same period last year to EUR 5.2 million, while their EBITDA grew 34.3 per cent and totalled EUR 329 000. Comparing second-quarter results this year and last, the companies’ revenues fell 2.1 per cent to EUR 2.75 million, while their EBITDA increased 68.4 per cent to EUR 224 000. In early May, BAIP redeemed from INVL Technology the nominal EUR 1.55 million of short term BAIP UAB bonds which were intended to ensure the participation of INVL Technology group companies in a foreign tender.
Cybersecurity
NRD CS, which operates in the area of cybersecurity, in the first half of this year participated actively in a variety of projects in this area and also developed its intellectual capital and own products in the areas of open-source intelligence (OSINT) and cyber-attack prevention sensors. The company’s first-half revenue was EUR 705 000 and increased 4.9 per cent from the same period last year, while its EBITDA shrank 43.6 per cent to EUR 53 000. Comparing second-quarter results this year and last, the company’s revenue increased 13.1 per cent to EUR 474 000 and its EBITDA nearly tripled to EUR 123 000.
Solutions for IT-intensive industries
The revenue in the first half of this year at Algoritmu Sistemos, which operates in the area of solutions for IT-intensive industries, was EUR 880 000, while its EBITDA was a negative EUR 14 000. The company’s data have been published since 1 April 2016 when control of the company was acquired and thus are not comparable. In the first half of 2016, Algoritmu Sistemos had revenue of EUR 624 000 and EBITDA of EUR 138 000. Comparing second-quarter results this year and last, the company’s revenue shrank 14.6 per cent to EUR 533 000 and its EBITDA decreased 47.8 per cent to EUR 72 000.
To date INVL Technology has invested in the Norwegian company Norway Registers Development AS with subsidiaries NRD UAB and Etronika UAB in Lithuania, Norway Registers Development East Africa Ltd in Tanzania, Norway Registers Development Rwanda Ltd in Rwanda, NRD Bangladesh Ltd in Bangladesh, and the associated company Infobank Uganda Ltd in Uganda. It has also invested in BAIP UAB with its subsidiary Acena UAB as well as NRD CS UAB and Algoritmu Sistemos UAB, all in Lithuania, and Estonia’s Andmevara AS with its subsidiary Andmevara SRL in Moldova.
On its receipt of a closed-end investment company license in July 2016, INVL Technology’s management was assumed by INVL Asset Management – a part of Invalda INVL, one of the leading asset management groups in the Baltics. INVL Technology will operate as a closed-end investment company until 14 July 2026.
More information is available in the INVL Technology Interim Report for 6 months of 2017.