Romania-based Fondul Proprietatea in first nine months of 2024 made RON209.6 million net profit, compared with a loss of RON968.9 million in January-Sepetember 2023.
Fondul was established in 2005 and seeded with stakes in state groups as a way of trying to compensate the persons abusively expropriated. Starting 2010, US investment firm Franklin Templeton has been the Sole Director of the Fund. Since 2011, the Fund’s shares have been listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). Since 2015, the Fund’s GDRs issued by The Bank of New York Mellon as GDR Depositary, having the Fund’s shares as support, have been listed on the Specialist Fund Market of London Stock Exchange.
In 2022, FSA authorised Fondul Proprietatea as an AIF closed-end type intended for retail investors, with BRD – Groupe Societe Generale as depositary. The Fund’s investment objective is the maximisation of returns to shareholders and the increase of the net asset value (NAV) per share via investments mainly in Romanian equities and equity-linked securities.
The equity exposure amounted to 87.2% of the Fund’s NAV as at 30 September 2024. As at that date,
the portfolio was composed of holdings in 24 companies (5 listed and 19 unlisted), a combination of
privately held and state-controlled entities.
During 9M 2024, the Fund recorded annual dividends from 7 companies in the Fund’s portfolio
related to the 2023 financial year. There were no special dividends declared by the portfolio companies during the reporting period. The total amount of gross dividend income recorded by the Fund during 9M 2024 is RON 145.8 million, lower than the RON962.8 million in January-September 2023.
The Bucharest and London-listed vehicle has returned nearly $7bn in capital through dividends and buybacks to shareholders including Romania’s government since listing in 2011. The Fund has a significant weight on the Bucharest Stock Exchange counting for almost 20% of the benchmark BET index.
