CriteriaCaixa increases profit by 40% and exceeds 1,000 million

CriteriaCaixa closed the first half of the year with a net profit of 1,044 million euros, 40% more than in the same period of the previous year, due to the improvement in the results of its two main investees, CaixaBank and Naturgy, reported in a statement this Monday.

CriteriaCaixa's gross asset value (GAV) amounted to 26,425 million in the first half, 7.5% more than at the end of 2022, and net value (NAV) was 22,084 million, 12.3% more .

The entity distributed a dividend of 210 million euros to the La Caixa Foundation, its sole shareholder, according to Europa Press. CriteriaCaixa attributes the improvement in GAV to the “good performance” of the prices of its variable income portfolio, which represents 84% of assets.

Regarding the improvement in the NAV, it is a consequence of the behavior of the Naturgy (+12.1%), Grupo Financiero Inbursa (+23.8%), CaixaBank (+3.1%) and Cellnex (+19, 6%).

CriteriaCaixa has highlighted “the strength of the operating cash flow”, which was 724 million, due to the increase in dividends received: 558 million from CaixaBank, 129 from Naturgy, 20 from Telefónica, 10 from Bank of East Asia and 74 from the diversified portfolio.

BRIEFCASE

Its strategic portfolio is made up of shares in CaixaBank (32.24%), Naturgy (26.71%), Grupo Financiero Inbursa (9.10%), The Bank of East Asia (19.09%), Cellnex (4 .36%) and Telefónica (2.40%), and that the market value as of June 30 was 19,847 million.

During the semester, CriteriaCaixa increased its investment in this portfolio by 48 million, which were allocated to Telefónica shares.

CriteriaCaixa maintains a diversified portfolio that includes different minority stakes in 80 listed companies in 13 countries, prioritizing companies belonging mainly to European countries and the United States.

In the first half of the year, portfolio management focused “on capturing value through company turnover”, and as of June 30 the market value amounted to 2,410 million euros.

CriteriaCaixa's real estate portfolio reached a value of 2,696 million, while it increased its exposure to listed fixed income, with a portfolio reaching a market value of 124 million euros, after investing 43 million.

The Criteria Group's gross debt was €4,341 million at the end of the first half, below the €4,911 million at December 2022, after amortizing a senior bond issue of €750 million that matured in May.

CriteriaCaixa continued to “actively manage its funding sources”, signing new bilateral loans for a total amount of 245 million.

Liquidity levels were “comfortable”, with 777 million as of June 30 between cash and equivalents, as committed and unused credit policies.