Solid profitability after restructuring and strategic changes
- EBIT of NOK 20 million and EBITDA of NOK 23 million in first quarter of 2015
- High level of activity within both business areas resulting in increased management fees and transaction fees
- Positive effects of the restructuring process carried out in 2014 are being observed
- An asset management-based organisation with integrated corporate finance services has been established and has strengthened the group’s dynamic investment management model
- Winding up of old activities according to plan
- High appetite for yielding real-estate due to the current low interest rate environment. Agasti is well positioned to take advantage of this given our attractive portfolio under management
The Agasti Group is experiencing a high level of activity in both business areas and a positive trend in results continues to be observed. In the first quarter, the company achieved EBIT of NOK 20 million and EBITDA of NOK 23 million. These are the best quarterly financial results Agasti has delivered since the second quarter of 2008.
A more targeted, asset management-based business model with a more intense focus on institutional and professional investors has been established, and the group is well on its way to complete the winding up of non-core activities during the first half of the year.
“A high level of activity combined with the positive effects of the restructuring process we completed in 2014 is now having a positive effect on the bottom line. This quarter gives a clear indication of what Agasti is able to deliver under conditions that are closer to a normal operating situation than the group has experienced in a very long time,” says Jørgen Pleym Ulvness, CEO of Agasti Holding ASA.
Since the previous quarterly report was issued in February, Agasti has focused a larger proportion of its activities around the asset management company Obligo Investment Management AS (Obligo), including integrated corporate finance services within the asset management team in order to be able to work with transaction-based restructuring of investment portfolios.
This has been done in order to further strengthen the company’s dynamic asset management model, with the objective of ensuring the best possible returns, liquidity and dividends to clients. Agasti has also established a completely new strategic way of thinking surrounding the development of clients’ investments.
“Based on dynamic portfolio management with solid asset management competence, now with the addition of integrated corporate finance competence, we have moved away from a passive hold-to-maturity strategy and over to a more opportunity-oriented and transaction-based restructuring strategy. This means that we seek to create liquidity events in cases where we see that this will be profitable for our clients. We have already seen that this model can have a positive impact both on clients’ investments and for our owners,” says Ulvness.
An important principle of this asset management strategy is to seek pre-emptive restructuring of portfolios, creating return, improve liquidity and dividends to our clients, and offer clients the opportunity to co-invest with professional and institutional investors. At the same time, the broker desk in Agasti Wunderlich Capital Markets AS ensures improved liquidity in the unlisted market, so that clients may purchase or sell shares whenever they wish at as attractive prices as possible. A business model that functions effectively and a generally high level of activity ensure that good results follow.
“In a demanding restructuring period our new business areas have delivered an adjusted operating earnings of between NOK 9 million and NOK 20 million per quarter since the summer of 2013, after provisions and costs relating to restructuring and the winding up of old activities, and settlement agreements and provisions for potential settlements with clients. Accordingly we are now closer to a situation where we can concentrate exclusively on our core business activities going forward, having a positive effects on the results,” says Jørgen Pleym Ulvness.
A complete English version of the interim report for the first quarter of 2015 is attached on www.newsweb.no and on Agasti's Investor Relations web pages www.agasti.no.
Contact details:
CEO, Jørgen Pleym Ulvness, phone (+47) 906 67 877
CFO, Christian Dovland, phone (+47) 908 84 730
CCO, Tor Arne Olsen, phone (+47) 900 90 470
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.