Ljubljana, 25 April (STA) - Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) estimates to have posted a 6.3% return on equity last year, which is 0.2 of a percentage point below the peak figure posted the year before, but above the target of 6.1%.
SSH released the first return on profit estimate as it published the annual report for 2018 on Thursday, noting that the target appears to have been exceeded despite of the modified portfolio due to the sale of the majority stake in NLB bank.
SSH collected EUR 266.8m in regular dividends from its own equity stakes and those managed on behalf of the state in 2018 for 2017.
"Taking into account 'additional' dividends by Telekom Slovenije and NLB, considered as one-off events", SSH said the total amount of all dividends collected amounted to EUR 487.3m (up from EUR 259.7m for 2016).
Of the total of dividends, EUR 446.9m were collected from equity stakes owned directly by the state and EUR 40.4m from those owned by SSH.
SSH expects the total sum of dividends received this year will be lower, also due to the fact that the state stake in NLB bank has decreased.
SSH generated EUR 43.1m in net profit last year, an increase of 30.8% on 2017. "The result generated is higher than in 2017 mainly due to reservations formed in that year with the purpose of satisfying denationalisation liabilities," SSH said.
SSH continues to actively participate in denationalisation proceedings, now mainly dealing with the most complex cases.
The holding posted an income of EUR 59.7m, of which 77.4% was financial income. Expenditure amounted to EUR 14.8m.
SSH said that operating expenses rose significantly mainly due to costs incurred from the sale of capital assets although operating income was higher for the same reason as these costs are reimbursed by the state.