Folksam in Sweden revealed it wrote down the entire value of its holding in troubled local battery firm Northvolt in 2024, while its investment in another problem asset – residential firm Heimstaden Bostad – picked up in value during the year.
Reporting annual results, Folksam posted an 8.0% return on investments in 2024, with its municipal pensions subsidiary KPA Pension producing an 8.2% return, as total assets increased to SEK920bn (€82bn) for the group, up SEK97bn from the year before.
Folksam, which owns a 0.7% stake in Northvolt, said in the statement on Friday: “The market value of the Folksam Group’s investment in Northvolt was written down to zero during the last quarter due to the situation the company finds itself in.”
However, the group added that it had very good risk diversification in its portfolio, and the investment in Northvolt – initially made in 2019 – constituted a very small part of the whole.
“But of course, it is not satisfactory to write down the value of an investment,” Folksam said.
The pensions firm said that the value development of another of its holdings that had attracted attention – Heimstaden Bostad – had been slightly positive in 2024.
“As of September 30, the value of the holding amounted to SEK20.2bn, which is the value reported by the Folksam Group in the annual accounts. At the same time last year, the value amounted to SEK19.8bn,” it said.
The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority’s investigation of Folksam’s investment in the company was still going on, Folksam added.
Meanwhile, AP2 and AP3 – two of the four Swedish national pensions buffer funds which own a 3.5% stake in Northvolt via their joint venture 4 to 1 Investments – have reported that the holding was written down to zero.
AP3 said in its annual report published today that the past year had been “challenging” for Northvolt, with the firm having filed for Chapter 11 restructuring in the US at the end of 2024.
“In light of this, 4 to 1 Investments decided to write down its investment in Northvolt to zero as it is not possible to assess any remaining value in the company,” it said.
Danish statutory pension fund ATP said in December that the value of its 5.3% stake in Northvolt – previously worth DKK2.3bn (€308m) – had become almost worthless.
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