The client assets under management of the companies that are part of Invalda INVL, the leading investment management and life insurance group in the Baltics, exceeded EUR 2.0 billion at the end of March this year. That is 28.5% more than a year earlier and 7.5% more than at the start of 2023 (when the total was EUR 1.9 billion).
In the first quarter of this year, INVL clients earned a total of EUR 50.6 million. The number of clients rose to 307,000 at the end of March, up 17.2% from a year earlier and 1.1% from the start of 2023.
Invalda INVL had a net profit of EUR 1.1 million in January-March this year, compared to a loss of EUR 8.1 million in the same period last year.
“The global geopolitical and economic situation remains uncertain. It is encouraging that in this environment most of our clients’ investments are performing positively, and the Group’s client assets under management have now surpassed EUR 2 billion,” says Darius Šulnis, the President of Invalda INVL.
The company’s equity at the end of March this year was EUR 131.7 million, or EUR 11.14 per share. The figures were 0.67% and 0.63% larger, respectively, than at the end of 2022.
The investment management and life insurance business
Invalda INVL’s revenue from the operational part of its investment management business, i.e. the management of clients’ assets, was EUR 3.96 million in the first quarter and grew 17.8% compared to the same period last year.
The investment management and life insurance business, including investments in collective investment undertakings managed by INVL, had a pre-tax loss of EUR 0.8 million in the first quarter of 2023, when a pre-tax profit of EUR 1.1 million was obtained in January-March last year.
“The investment environment is rather complex. That creates more opportunities and choices in the market but requires much higher professional abilities to make optimal decisions as well as effort and creativity to execute them successfully,” Darius Šulnis says.
“We have continued to see growth in funds raised from INVL clients for investments in our region and, with special intensity, for investments in traditional Western markets. We are also very focused on the upcoming retail business merger and related internal restructuring,” Invalda INVL’s president adds.
In late February, Invalda INVL’s shareholders’ meeting approved a EUR 40.16 million deal with Šiaulių Bankas, completion of which is planned at the end of 2023.
In private equity and alternative investments, the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund (INVL BSGF), the INVL Sustainable Timberland and Farmland Fund II, and the INVL group’s other specialised funds continue to invest actively.
The INVL BSGF’s portfolio companies made five add-ons in the first quarter, including InMedica’s acquisition of the Vilniaus Implantology Centre Clinic. The start of the year was also highly intense for INVL BSGF-backed Eco Baltia, the largest environmental and waste management group in the Baltics. The company held a successful bond offering, with demand exceeding the supply 3.5 times, and the group’s subsidiary PET Baltija, in collaboration with Piche, is undertaking a more than EUR 35 million project for a new PET recycling plant in Latvia. INVL BSGF portfolio currently consists of seven companies with pro-forma revenues of around EUR 500 million in 2022, normalised EBITDA of around EUR 50 million and approximately 8,000 employees.
In the first quarter of 2023, INVL’s private equity and alternative asset funds raised roughly EUR 20 million euros.
Equity investments
Invalda INVL’s other equity investments, aside from the investment management and life insurance business, generated a pre-tax profit of EUR 2 million. The outstanding performance of Moldova-Agroindbank (maib), Moldova’s largest bank, had a positive (EUR 3 million) impact on the value of Invalda INVL’s investments.
The value of the investments was reduced EUR 0.6 million by the investment in Šiaulių Bankas, reflecting a general drop in the value of publicly listed banks, and EUR 0.4 million by the investment in Litagra, one of Lithuania’s largest agribusiness groups. The Litagra group’s results are being affected by a significant drop in the market prices of milk and cereals.
About Invalda INVL
Invalda INVL is a leading Baltic investment management and life insurance group. Growing and developing with an open approach, it creates well-being for people through its work. The group’s companies operate across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and serve over 300,000 private and institutional clients from the Baltic region and abroad. Those clients have entrusted the Invalda INVL group with the management of more than EUR 2 billion of assets in a variety of asset classes including pension funds, mutual funds and life insurance commitments as well as individual portfolios, private equity and other alternative investment activities.
The shares of Invalda INVL have been traded on the Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange since 1995. Invalda INVL’s equity at the end of March 2023 was EUR 131.7 million.