The Increase in Ferd’s Value-Adjusted Equity and Investments Revealed in First Half of the Year

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Ferd’s value-adjusted equity increased to NOK 44.1 billion at the end of the first half of the year, it became clear when the group presented its report on Friday morning. This is an increase of one billion from the end of 2022.

Overall, the return on value-adjusted equity was 3.6 per cent. The return in NOK, adjusted for dividends to the owners of NOK 440 million, was NOK 1.5 billion.

Ferd is wholly owned by the Andresen family’s Ferd Holding and has investments in everything from listed securities to funds and property.

Five businesses

Ferd Capital, which controls investments in private and listed companies, makes up by far the largest share of Ferd’s total value-adjusted equity, with just over 65 per cent. This is where holdings in companies such as Elopak and Lerøy Seafood are located.

In the first half of the year, Ferd Capital had a return of 0.6 per cent, which gave a portfolio value of NOK 28.8 billion at the end of the period. The privately owned investments accounted for 62 per cent of Ferd Capital’s values.

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– In the first half of the year, a total of NOK 700 million was invested and realizations were made and dividends received for a total of NOK 1.8 billion. The investment in Forte Digital was Ferd Capital’s largest new investment in the first half of the year. In the listed portfolio, no new investments were made, but Ferd, among other things, increased the investment somewhat in Cloudberry, the company writes.

For Ferd Eiendom, which made up nine percent of the total value-adjusted equity, the return was minus 3.6 percent in the first half of the year. The total property value, of which just under half consists of housing, was NOK 10.7 billion at the end of the first half of the year.

– The housing price increase in Oslo in the first half of the year meant that the housing projects increased somewhat in value, while the business portfolio continued to experience a decrease in value as a result of higher yield requirements for commercial property in central Oslo, as well as increased expected development costs for projects under development, Ferd writes in the report .

The continued decline in Ferd’s property values ​​after the first six months of 2023 comes after a nine percent drop for Ferd Eiendom last year. Regarding the largest project, NRK’s ​​head office at Marienlyst, which was purchased in 2020, the company writes that the project had an almost flat value development in the first half of the year.

Heavy last year

In addition to the share and property portfolio, Ferd consists of the businesses Ferd External Management, Ferd Social Entrepreneurs and Ferd Impact Investing. The former constitutes the second largest share of the total value-adjusted equity and is responsible for the group’s investments with external managers.

In the first half of the year, the business had a return of 8.1 per cent.

The development after the first six months of the year comes after a difficult 2022. In addition to the fall in value for the property portfolio, the value of the listed investments fell by 27 per cent.

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– If interest rates persist or increase, there are players who may have interest costs that are higher than the rental income in a commercial building. The banks are not going to sit idly by and watch, and we expect that more will breach loan terms in the coming quarters, said Ferd CEO Morten Borge.

Johan Andresen and his daughters took out NOK 600 million in dividends last year.

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