The equity of Invalda INVL, a leading investment management and life insurance group in the Baltics, amounted to EUR 129.8 million or EUR 10.98 per share at the end of June this year, down by 0.76% and 0.81% respectively from the end of 2022.
The lower investment value generated a loss of EUR 1.4 million for Invalda INVL in January-June, while the loss for the same period last year stood at EUR 12.6 million.
The clients’ assets managed by the companies of the group constituted EUR 2.173 billion at the end of June this year, up by 40.6% year-on-year and by 14.2% from the beginning of 2023 (EUR 1.902 billion).
In the first half of 2023, INVL earned a profit of EUR 93 million for its clients, while the number of clients who have entrusted their funds to the Invalda INVL group grew by 19.2% to 315 000 year-on-year (by 3.6% from the beginning of this year).
“In the first half-year, the profit earned for INVL’s clients and the additionally attracted funds from them pushed up the managed assets rapidly. We have been working in a changing and hardly predictable geopolitical and economic environment for quite some time, which recently has determined interest rate growth and changes in the value of separate asset classes. We are pleased with the development of the most of product portfolios managed by INVL and the investments balanced for the economic cycle”, says Darius Šulnis, CEO of Invalda INVL.
For clients only of the second-pillar pension funds at the INVL group, the gain after all taxes and deductions amounted to EUR 62.1 million in 6 months of 2023, and compensated the greater part of the losses incurred in 2022, a negative year for the markets.
Investment management and life insurance business
The income of Invalda INVL from the operational part of the investment management business, i.e. the management of the funds entrusted by clients, constituted EUR 7.7 million in the first half of this year, showing a 13.5% increase, compared to the respective period last year.
In the first half-year 2023, the investment management and life insurance business, including the share of investments in collective investment undertakings managed by INVL, sustained a pre-tax loss of EUR 1.57 million, while the pre-tax loss in January-June last year amounted to EUR 0.1 million.
The revenue from investment management and life insurance was on the increase, but the result was negatively affected to a large extent by the adjustment of the success fee and the falling value of investments related to this fee.
The funds under INVL’s management continued their investment operations, including new acquisitions, in compliance with their strategies.
“The major priority of INVL’s investment management business this year is the successful implementation of the transaction with Šiaulių bankas and the preparation for further growth after this change. Upon completing this transaction and receiving the approval of the Bank of Lithuania for his duties, the asset management business of INVL Asset Management will be headed by Paulius Žurauskas who joined our team in mid-July”, claims the chief executive of Invalda INVL.
Invalda INVL expects to close the EUR 40.16 million transaction with Šiaulių bankas by the end of 2023, after the permits of the required authorities are obtained. The Competition Council and the National Security Commission have already issued their permits, and at the end of August the Bank of Lithuania has granted a permit for INVL Asset Management to transfer the management of the second- and third-pillar pension funds and the harmonised investment funds to SB Asset Management, a company of the Šiaulių bankas group, already licensed as an asset management company.
Own investments
The influence of Invalda INVL’s other own investments, excluding the investment management and life insurance business, on the result was insignificant.
In the first half of 2023, both Moldova’s largest bank Moldova-Agroindbank (maib) and Šiaulių bankas posted record operating results and paid dividends to their shareholders. The growing value of maib’s shares and the assigned dividends had a positive (EUR 4.5 million) effect on the result of Invalda INVL, which however was pushed down by the investment in Šiaulių bankas (EUR -2.5 million after evaluating the received dividends), as the market price of the bank’s shares declined.
“We expect the successful operations of the banks to be reflected also in the share price growth”, says Mr. Šulnis.
The value of investments of Invalda INVL was negatively affected (EUR -2.1 million) also by the investment in Litagra, one of Lithuania’s largest agribusiness groups. After the record year 2022, the result of the Litagra group was affected by the plummeting milk prices, the projected lower than average yields and the high cost of fertilisers. The new manager of Litagra group appointed from August is Mr Evaldas Matulis.
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 June 2023 was EUR 129.8 million.