Fondul Proprietatea recorded an audited net profit of RON 2,769,448,871 for the financial year ended 31 December 2022. The main contributors to the profit recorded in 2022 were: the net gain from equity instruments at fair value through profit or loss of RON 1,843.8 million (mainly generated by the valuation updates for Hidroelectrica SA), and the gross dividend income from portfolio companies of RON 934.9 million.

The NAV total return in 2022 was 19.1%, the total return for the shares was 12.2%, while the total return for the GDRs was 3.9% (due to a stronger US dollar). Since the start of the calculation of the Fund’s performance, the NAV total return was 325.5%, while the total return for local shares was 651.4%, and 237.6% for the GDRs.

On the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the shares traded throughout last year at a discount to NAV between 2.1% and 39.4%. The average discount for shares in 2022 was 21.6%. In the period between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022, the discount to NAV was below 15% in 81 trading days (32.3% of the period), while in the remaining 170 trading days it was above 15% (67.7% of the period).

On London Stock Exchange the Fund’s GDRs were traded throughout the year at a discount to NAV between 1.7% and 39.5%, while the average discount for GDRs was 22.4%.

The total amount of the gross dividend income recorded by the Fund in 2022 was RON 934.9 million, and the most significant amounts relate to Hidroelectrica SA (RON 764.0 million) and OMV Petrom SA (RON 133.6 million).

The net unrealised gain from equity investments at fair value through profit or loss in 2022 of RON 1,961.5 million was mainly generated by the increase in the fair value of unlisted portfolio holding Hidroelectrica SA (RON 2,107.9 million), partially offset by the decrease in the fair value of the holdings in Engie Romania SA (RON 82.0 million) and Enel companies (RON 141.2 million).

The liquid assets increased with RON 493.7 million at the end of 2022. Most important inflows relate to the proceeds from disposal of shares in OMV Petrom SA (RON 1,781.9 million) and net dividends received (RON 928.2 million), partially offset by the dividends paid net of withholding tax (RON 1,074.3 million) and the amounts paid for the acquisition of treasury shares (RON 1,146.6 million).

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.