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Press release

CriteriaCaixa’s net profit up to €744 million in the first half of 2022
01 September 2022
  • CriteriaCaixa’s gross asset value (GAV) reacher €24,732 million, up 3.9% compared to the end of 2021, thank to te recovery of share prices in the listed equities portfolio.
  • Net asset value (NAV) reached €19,970 million, a 10.4% more than at year-end 2021.
  • During the first half of 2022, CriteriaCaixa distributed €205 million dividends to its sole shareholder, “la Caixa” Banking Foundation.

Barcelona, 1st September 2022.- CriteriaCaixa, the company managing the business assets of “la Caixa” Banking Foundation, recorded recurring consolidated net profit of €744 million in the first half of 2022, up 26% year-over-year, thanks to a 12% improvement in the contribution of its bank investees (mainly CaixaBank) and to a 49% improvement in the industrial and services portfolio (Naturgy, among others).

Consolidated net result decreased by 50% due to the extraordinary results of €891 million achieved in 2021, corresponding to the impact attributable to CriteriaCaixa from the merger of CaixaBank and Bankia, which was formalised at the end of the first quarter of 2021. CriteriaCaixa’s gross asset value (GAV) at 30 June 2022 amounted to €24,732 million, up 3.9% from the end of 2021. 82.7% of GAV corresponds to listed equities, 10.5% to real estate business, 3.4% to non-listed equities, 0.8% to fixed income and others, and 2.6% to cash and equivalents. This breakdown demonstrates the high liquidity of the portfolio, given that listed assets and cash and equivalents account for over 85% of the total.

Net asset value (NAV) amounted to €19,970 million in the six months, up 10.4% compared to the end of 2021. This improvement is mainly due to the improvement in the CaixaBank share price performance (+37.4%).

Dividends received in the first half of 2022 totalled €564 million, and already exceed those received during the full financial year 2021 (€525 million), thanks to the improvement in the results of the main investees after the initial impacts of the pandemic and the end of restrictions on renumeration policies recommended by the ECB for financial institutions. Of the total dividends received in 2022, €354 million came from CaixaBank, €129 million from Naturgy and €20 million from Bank of East Asia.

In the first half of 2022, CriteriaCaixa distributed €205 million in dividends to its sole shareholder, “la Caixa” Banking Foundation. In 2022 the Foundation has a budget of €515 million: for social programmes (59.8%), culture and science (21.4%), research and health (10.3%) and education and scholarships (8.5%).

Portfolio management

In recent years, CriteriaCaixa has been diversifying its portfolio into different minority stakes in listed companies, prioritising companies belonging to OECD countries (mainly European and US). This portfolio currently features over 80 companies across 15 countries. The vast majority of the names included in this portfolio are large companies being leaders in their respective industries, with some 63% of them being large cap (companies with a stock market capitalisation over € 10 billion).

In the first half of 2022, a €172 million net investment was made to expand the diversification portfolio. In the area of divestments, in January 2022 CriteriaCaixa sold 5.8% of its stake in Suez for a total of €737 million, following the public takeover bid initiated in 2020 by Veolia over 100% of the company.

The market value of this portfolio amounted to €2,171 million at the end of the first half of 2021, by sectors: Consumption (28.5%), Health (20.3%), Materials and others (13.3%), Automotive and components (12.3%), Telecoms and Technology (11.2%), Infrastructure (9%), Capital goods (4.2%) and Energy and utilities (1.2%).

On the other hand, CriteriaCaixa’s real estate portfolio recorded €2,599 million in the first half and the company carried out new investments worth €98 million.

As part of its investment process, CriteriaCaixa considers ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria, seeking to pick companies with robust sustainability policies that are included on renowned international sustainability indices.

Financial profile

At 30 June 2022, the Criteria Group’s gross debt was €4,762 million, compared to €5,713 million on 31 December 2021, following the repayment of a senior bond with a nominal value of €1 billion, which matured in April. CriteriaCaixa continued to actively manage its financing sources during the period.

CriteriaCaixa has maintained its financial position with comfortable liquidity levels, up to €1,199 million, which includes both cash and cash equivalents plus committed and undrawn credit lines. The average debt maturity is 2.9 years.

In April, rating agencies confirmed CriteriaCaixa’s credit rating at BBB+, by Fitch Ratings (improved outlook from negative to stable), and Baa2, by Moody’s (stable outlook).

APPENDIX

CriteriaCaixa’s consolidated income statement for the first half of 2022:

Group Structure – First Half of 2022: