EVLI BANK PLC PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 9, 2015, AT 9.00 AM
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN THE USA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE OR SOUTH AFRICA, OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY WHERE THE DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLISHING WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
Evli Bank Plc ("Evli" or "the Company") is planning to become listed on the official list of NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd ("Helsinki Stock Exchange").
The planned listing is an important step for Evli, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The purpose of the IPO is to strengthen the Company's capital base, and promote growth and the expansion of operations in line with the Company's strategy. The aim of the IPO is also to increase the number of the Company's shareholders and the general public's interest in the Company, to improve awareness of the Company, to enable the Company to gain entry to the capital markets and to increase the liquidity of the Company's shares. The IPO will also make it possible for shares to be used more efficiently to reward the Company's personnel and key employees, and as a form of payment in any M&A transactions.
"Throughout its entire 30-year history, Evli has been a pioneer in the investment industry. The purpose of the IPO is to promote growth and the expansion of operations, both organically and through acquisitions, in line with Evli's strategy. By participating in the IPO, investors can benefit from this growth," says Henrik Andersin, Chairman of Evli's Board of Directors.
"Our revenue has developed positively and our financial situation is steady. Our clients include Finland's main institutional investors and wealthy present and future high net worth private individuals. We are constantly scanning the markets in order to be able to develop our operations, and are able to provide our clients with high-quality products and services. I believe that commitment to our clients and our solid expertise will keep us on a growth course also in the future," says Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO of Evli.
Evli in brief
Evli is a private bank that specializes in investment and helps private persons and institutions increase their wealth. The Company offers asset management services, various services related to the capital markets including brokerage of equity and other investment products, market making and investment research, and Corporate Finance services. The Company also offers a comprehensive selection of funds, and banking services that support clients' investment operations.
The Company's management consider the following to be the Company's strengths:
Evli's financial key figures
Evli's revenue was EUR 59.7 million in 2014. Over the period 2012-2014 revenue increased by 11 percent per year on average. In the same period, Evli Group's operating profit increased by an average of 66 percent per year and was EUR 9.8 million in 2014. Over the period 1-9/2015, Evli's net revenue was EUR 46.2 million (EUR 46.4 million over the period 1-9/2014) and operating profit was EUR 9.2 million (EUR 9.1 million). Operating profit in the third quarter of the year was adversely affected by non-recurring items.
Evli's three most important financial key figures are the development of assets under management, return on equity and the proportion of recurring revenue to operating expenses.
Evli has a total of EUR 8.5 billion in client assets under management (net 9/2015). The amount of Evli's client assets under management grew by 23 percent over the period 31.12.2012-31.12.2014. In 2015 the Company started to report the assets in incentive programs managed by Evli Alexander Management. Therefore the total net assets from 2015 is not comparable with previous years.
Return on equity has also developed positively in recent years. During the first 9 months of 2015, Evli's return on equity was 18.0 percent. Evli's long-term target for return on equity is 15.0 percent.
The central key figure that describes the nature of Evli's business is the proportion of recurring revenue to operating expenses. During the first 9 months of 2015, the proportion of recurring revenue to operating expenses was 90 percent. Evli's long-term financial target is for recurring revenue to cover operating expenses in full, in other words, the key figure should be 100 percent or more.
The table below presents a summary of Evli's financial key figures for the 9-month periods ending on September 30, 2015 and on September 30, 2014, and for the financial years ending on December 31, 2014, December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012.
| 1-9/2015 | 1-9/2014 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | |
| Return on equity (ROE) * | 18.0% | 18.2% | 15.2% | 11.5% | 4.3% |
| Expense/income ratio | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Evli Group's capital adequacy ratio, % | 13.5% | 13.3% | 15.2% | 13.9% | 14.6% |
| Earnings/share, diluted, EUR (IFRS)* | 0.27 | 0.30 | 0.31 | 0.24 | 0.08 |
| Equity/share, EUR* | 2.35 | 2.52 | 2.47 | 2.34 | 2.39 |
| Dividend/share paid out, EUR* | 0.21 | 0.13 | 0.21 | 0.24 | 0.12 |
| Return of capital/equity paid out, EUR* | 0.20 | - | - | - | - |
| Personnel at end of period | 240 | 252 | 242 | 245 | 243 |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 0.4% |
| Equity/total assets ratio | 6.8% | 7.0% | 10.7% | 8.5% | 8.3% |
*Split-adjusted number of shares
Financial targets and dividend policy
Evli's long-term target is to be a growing and profitable private bank with a unique clientele and broader international business operations than at present. Revenue growth is sought primarily organically, and as far as possible also through acquisitions. The operational focus is on asset management business operations, where growth is sought by increasing the amount of assets under management and the number of new client relationships. The Company's financial targets are as follows:
The Company's Board has established the Company's dividend policy, according to which the Company's target is to be an interesting object of ownership, taking into account the value increase of the dividend yield and the company. Evli will distribute dividends to shareholders in the framework of distributable assets, so that in all situations the Company's capital adequacy will remain high and solvency will remain good. If dividends are distributed, all of the Company's shares will entitle the holder to the same dividend.
Information about the Company's shares and planned listing
The Company has two share series. A series A share confers twenty (20) votes and a series B share confers one (1) vote at the General Meeting. The share series have identical entitlements to dividends and other profit sharing. The Company has 16,971,136 issued and fully-paid series A shares and 4,242,784 issued series B shares, in total 21,213,920 Company shares.
In the planned listing, the Company would issue new series B shares. The Company will apply for its series B shares to be traded on the main list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The Company will not apply for its series A shares to be traded.
Alexander Corporate Finance Oy would be the lead manager of the planned listing and Evli Bank Plc would be the place of subscription. Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd is the Company's legal advisor.
Evli Bank Plc
Maunu Lehtimäki
CEO
For additional information, please contact:
Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO, Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 9 4766 9304 or +358 50 553 3000
Henrik Andersin, Chairman of the Board, Evli Bank Plc, tel +358 9 4766 9200 or +358 (0)400 406 391
Evli in brief
Evli is a private bank that specializes in investment and helps private persons and institutions increase their wealth. The Company offers asset management services, various services related to the capital markets including brokerage of equity and other investment products, market making and investment research, and Corporate Finance services.
DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this release is not intended for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore or South Africa. This written material does not constitute an offer for the sale of securities in the USA, nor may the securities be offered or sold in the USA unless they have been registered according to the United States Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) and the rules and regulations issued pursuant to it, or unless there is an exemption to the obligation to register. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the IPO of securities in the USA or conduct an offer of securities to the public in the USA.
Specific judicial or legislative restrictions have been placed on the issue, use and/or sale of securities in certain countries. The Company and Alexander Corporate Finance Oy are not liable if such restrictions are violated.
This release shall not be interpreted as an offer to sell or an invitation to make an offer to purchase the securities mentioned herein, nor will securities be sold in areas in which the offering, acquisition or sale of the securities in question would be unlawful before their registry or exemption regarding the obligation to register, or the gaining of other approval according to the securities legislation for the areas in question. Investors should not accept an offer regarding securities or acquire the securities that this document refers to unless they do so based on the information contained in the applicable prospectus published or distributed by the Company.
The Company has not authorized an offer of securities to the public in any member state of the European Economic Area other than Finland. With the exception of Finland, no measures have been or will be made to conduct an offer of securities to the public in any member state of the European Economic Area that has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each "Relevant Member State") in such a way that would require the publication of a prospectus in the Relevant Member State. As a consequence, securities can only be offered in the Relevant Member States to (a) legal entities considered to be a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive or (b) any other situation according to Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive. In this paragraph the expression "offer of securities to the public" means a communication to persons in any form and by any means, presenting sufficient information on the terms and conditions of the offer and the securities to be offered, so as to enable an investor to decide to use, purchase or subscribe to these securities, as the expression may vary as a consequence of the implementation measures carried out in the member states. The expression "Prospectus Directive" refers to Directive 2003/71/EC (with amendments including the 2010 Amending Directive, to the extent that it has been implemented in the Relevant Member State), and it contains all the relevant implementation measures in the Relevant Member State, and the expression "2010 Amendment Directive" means Directive 2010/73/EU.
The information presented here is only directed at (i) persons outside the United Kingdom or (ii) persons with professional experience in matters relating to investments as referred to in article 19(5) of the United Kingdom's Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 ("the Order") and (iii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2) of the Order, or other persons to whom the document may lawfully be communicated (all the above-mentioned persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). The investment activities related to this release are only available to the Relevant Persons and are only undertaken with the Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act on the basis of this document or rely on its contents.