Heading towards the target
- Equity under Management increased by NOK 3 billion
- NOK 700 million in proposed dividends to clients invested in direct investments
- Recurring revenues now cover 108% of fixed costs and 93% of fixed and activity-based costs
- The strategic alliance with Wunderlich in the US has highlighted the synergy potential between the organisations. Several new mandates within Corporate Finance in pipeline.
- The group is experiencing a good recruiting position
- EBITDA of NOK 1 million and EBIT of NOK -4 million
The Agasti Group achieved an operating income of NOK -4 million in the quarter, compared with NOK -41 million in the equivalent quarter of 2012. The result continues to be influenced by costs resulting from the comprehensive efforts within the Capital Markets and Investment Management business areas. In the long-term, these efforts will generate significant additional revenues and contribute to improved profitability. The new business model is already having the desired effects, and the operating income has also been improved compared with the fourth quarter of 2012, which ended at NOK -12 million.
“We are on the right track, and well on the way towards meeting our targets. The development of the Group’s new platform is going according to plan, and we are now seeing that synergies are being rendered visible on several fronts. The ambitions and targets we set for ourselves last autumn, and which we have since reiterated, remain in place,” says Alfred Ydstebø, Chief Executive Officer of Agasti Holding ASA.
“During the first quarter the new organisation has seriously taken shape. Within the two newly-developed business areas Capital Markets and Investment Management in particular, a significant amount of time has been invested in developing a successful collaboration between the business units in the Group and establishing solid relations within the markets in which the Agasti Group operates. We can already see that this is starting to give good results,” says Ydstebø.
Following the acquisition of Wunderlich Securities AS, the company has been fully integrated into the Agasti Group. This means that it is now possible to fully utilise the synergies inherent in the acquisition, something which has already resulted in several new mandates relating to M&As and capital raising – both within Norway and the USA.
“The pipeline looks good, and we are working on several concrete projects that will provide us with good earnings throughout the year. We have also simultaneously continued to develop the collaboration with the Wunderlich system in the USA, and even employed both analysts and other competent staff in order to further strengthen our established collaboration with Wunderlich’s energy team in Houston. We will continue to develop the important strategic alliance with Wunderlich in the USA going forward,” says Ydstebø.
An increasing number of investor environments and wealthy individuals desire a dialogue with our recognised fund analysts, and have taken their share of the extra return this team has managed to create for clients who follow our recommendations over time.
“Many have recognised the competence of our analysts in Navigea, and their ability to select funds which provide extra returns for our clients. First and foremost people want investment advice, but many are also opting to invest an increasingly greater portion of their assets in our attractive product range. This secures our position as a leading player within asset management,” says Alfred Ydstebø.
Management company Obligo Investment Management is already seeing positive financial effects following the takeover of investment management mandates from ABG Sundal Collier and Swedbank First in January 2013. However, the most positive development is that as a direct result of good management, it has been proposed that NOK 700 million be paid in dividends to the owners of various limited companies within real estate, shipping, private equity and infrastructure.
“It is extremely satisfying that we can once again deliver solid dividends to our clients. In the past five years we have paid out a total of NOK 2.2 billion to our clients. Despite challenges in the wake of the financial crises, this shows that many of our alternative investments are managed exceedingly well. With a newly-composed organisation consisting of some of the market’s most talented individuals within their respective segments, we see a bright future ahead,” says Ydstebø.
The comprehensive restructuring which the Group has undertaken throughout the past year has highlighted the need to adjust the competence within the Group. This applies to all business areas, and is a direct consequence of the fact that the Group has moved into markets and segments within which it has not had sufficient competence previously.
The Group is seen as an extremely attractive employer, and has recruited a number of skilled individuals from the industry within all business areas.
“From when we changed the Group’s direction in the autumn of 2012, by the end of the first quarter we had recruited 35 new employees, mostly from recognised financial environments in Norway, as well as those based in London and the USA. At the same time, we have let around 70 employees go throughout the last year. The latter is not pleasant, but absolutely necessary if we are to establish ourselves within the desired markets and ensure attractive opportunities for our clients, as well as establish a platform for a profitable company,” explains Alfred Ydstebø.
The Agasti Group has developed a concept which clearly sets the organisation apart from its competitors. In addition to being perhaps the most attractive independent distributor of selected equity and fixed income funds, we have established one of the market's most experienced teams within real estate, shipping and private equity, as well as within energy through the strategic alliance with Wunderlich’s energy team in Houston.
Through investment management company Obligo Investment Management, the Agasti Group has become an overall manager of all direct investments made by clients through the Group. This has enabled the takeover of investment management mandates from ABG Sundal Collier and Swedbank First Securities, which also included the acquisition of 12 highly skilled investment managers within real estate, shipping and private equity, among other areas.
“The past year has been extremely demanding, but when I look at what we have managed to establish and the people we have managed to attract along the way, there is no doubt that the restructuring and establishment of our new Group has so far been a success. This motivates the entire organisation. Our expectations and ambitions for the future remain fixed, and we shall once again move into profitable territory by the end of 2013,” concludes Alfred Ydstebø.
A complete English version of the interim report of the 1st quarter is attached on www.newsweb.no and on Agasti's Investor Relations web pages www.agasti.no.
Contact details:
Deputy CEO Jørgen Pleym Ulvness, mobile phone: (+47) 906 67 877
CCO, Tor Arne Olsen, mobile phone: (+47) 900 90 470
CFO, Christian Tunge, mobile phone: (+47) 450 65 850
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.