Kadri Laanvee
Good day to all our investors and everyone else listening in today. Welcome to webinar presenting Infortar Group fourth quarter and 12-month 2025 results.
My name is Kadri Laanvee, I am responsible for investor relations, and I am joined today by our Managing Director Martti Hääl. We will begin with an overview of Group's operations and key developments in the fourth quarter of 2025.
After the presentation, we will answer the questions. If you would still like to submit a question, please use Q&A button at Teams.
Today's webinar is being recorded and will be available on Infortar's investor webpage after the event. Let's start with an overview of fourth quarter, and I will hand over to Martti now.
Martti Talgre
Good afternoon, dear Infortar shareholders and investors. I'm very pleased to share with you today our results for the Q4 2025 and then for the total year as well.
Quick recap regarding Infortar. Infortar is one of the largest investment companies in the Baltic States, founded back in 1997.
Our business is mainly in maritime transportation, energy, and real estate, but we have also diversified our portfolio and have interests also in agriculture and engineering. When we talk about the main investments, I think that Tallink doesn't need much introduction, one of the largest companies in the region, and we own 68.5% of the company.
In energy, our interests are mainly related with Elenger Group, which is a leading energy company in the Baltic countries and Finland, and we are also now expanding in Poland. In real estate, we have about 141,000 square meters in and around of Tallinn.
Additionally to that, we have recently invested quite significantly into agriculture sector, and our engineering business has also demonstrated a nice growth. Let's move to the key messages of the previous year.
I would start from that although the year as such was quite a challenge, we are proud with the total results we delivered. We managed to grow our sales last year by roughly one third.
Our EBITDA also demonstrated a good development, 61% of growth to €233 million. Net profit was €72 million, which is less, significantly less than the year before, but I would point out here that when we look at the ongoing business operations, then the profitability is actually better in 2025 versus 2024, because 2024 profit also included quite a few one-off transactions, one-off profits from transactions, acquisition transactions, what we did.
In general, we have been stressing this all the time is that Infortar is after growth, but not just after growth, we are after profitable growth, and delivering a good return on invested capital is really the key. To grow, we've seen that really what we have to do is to have expansion internationally.
What we've seen over the past quarters is that those investments we've done in Latvia and in Poland have really proven their profitability. Last year, the most important acquisitions what we carried through was the acquisition of Estonia Farms, and that resulted the agriculture segment EBITDA being three times bigger than before.
For Infortar, dividend payment is always a very important. We believe that a good company has to be capable to pay stable dividend for the shareholders, and then we can proudly report that for the third consecutive year we are increasing the dividend payout from Infortar for Infortar shareholders.
Just a few words regarding the key events in our main segments as well. In shipping, in maritime transportation, as I mentioned before, the year as such was a challenge, especially Q1, but the fact that Tallink has managed to reduce significantly the loan burden and has a strong liquidity allows us and allows Tallink to continue with dividend payments.
In energy, the year was solid. We had a very stable and strong performance in infra part of energy business, and also the acquisition in Poland was very successful.
The company is very nicely integrated and has become part of the family. When it comes to real estate, the performance there is very stable and solid.
Last year, the key event there was the completion of Rimi logistics center, which is now nicely operational. When it comes to the DEPO DIY store development, then that goes according to the plan.
Kadri, maybe you now comment a little bit on the numbers, and then...
Kadri Laanvee
Yes. On the screen, you can see consolidated figures for Q4 2025 alongside with full-year results for 2025 and comparative data from last year.
Our annual revenue amounted to €1.84 billion, representing approximately 34% growth compared to 2024. The 60% increase in EBITDA was mainly driven by consolidation of Tallink Group's results over the full 12 months, and also approximately €12 million improvement in Elenger's EBITDA, and the addition of the agriculture sector, including Estonia Farmid and Halinga, to the consolidation group.
The 2025 net profit includes the effects of consolidating Tallink and also our subsidiary Elenger Polska for the whole year. The fourth quarter net profit amounted to €14 million compared to a loss in previous year, definitely improved.
Total assets amounted to €2.59 billion, with a slight decrease due to portfolio optimization and sale of some assets. The cash balance at the end of the period remains strong, and compared to previous year, free cash has also increased.
This shows that the company is ready for further investments. Liabilities and net debt have decreased.
The ratio of net loan to EBITDA remains stable and controlled. The year 2025 confirms that Infortar is profitable, financially strong, and ready for sustainable growth.
Quarterly results show clear improvement compared to previous year. Infortar continues to move forward with a balanced growth and solid risk management.
Let's move on with more details.
Martti Talgre
Very good. Quick recap on our share price performance as well.
It has been relatively stable over the past year, but it's good to see is that not us are happy with the last year results, but seems that our shareholders as well, today the share price is up by approximately 3%, it's good to see that reflection from the stock exchange as well. Let's move forward to the dividend proposal.
Infortar management board proposes to pay shareholders a dividend of €3.02, and that is an increase of the payment by 2 cents compared to last year. When we listed our shares, then we said that our dream is to build a crisis-proof, inflation-proof company, which is also a dividend aristocrat.
When you look at the dividend payments what we have paid to our shareholders over the last years, we have shown a third consecutive year when the dividend payment is increasing. Back in 2024, we paid €61 million to our shareholders.
Last year, it was €62 million, and then this year, the combined amount is €63 million what we propose. As usually, we pay out dividends in two parts, semi-annually.
The first payment is going to be made in July, and that is then €1.51 per share, and the second one in December 2026. This dividend proposal is very nicely in line with our current dividend strategy, our ordinary or guaranteed dividend is €1 per share.
In addition to that, we pass through the dividends what we received from Tallink, and that corresponds to €1.48 per share, and additional dividend is 54 euro cents per share. All together, that means that our dividend yield is approximately 6.5%, which is, I think, quite a solid number.
I think that from Infortar's financial point of view, that is very nicely justified. We have a strong cash flow, we have a strong liquidity position, and I think it's a good indication of our solid financial result.
Now let's dig a little bit deeper, and let's talk about our segments as well. I start from Tallink, which is the largest segment and the largest subsidiary we have within the group.
As Tallink corresponds to approximately half of our balance sheet, then the performance of Tallink is really important for the whole group. As I mentioned before that last year in total definitely was a challenge, especially the Q1 for Tallink when we had four ships standing idle.
I think it's very positive to see that all those four ships have found their solution. Three of those ships have been sold, and one is chartered out.
As of today, none of the ships is standing idle. What is, I think, also very important to point out here is that over the past three years, Tallink has reduced the leverage or loan burden significantly.
Versus 2022, in three years, Tallink reduced the investment loan amount by half, and only in 2025, the number was €100 million of loans repaid. That actually gives us a lot of confidence on the financial well-being of Tallink.
The balance sheet is very strong and solid. As we've seen the positive development when it comes to fundamental numbers over the past months and quarters, then we truly believe that the Tallink is going to have a very, very good future.
What's important to point out regarding Tallink is that Tallink out of our all businesses is suffering the most from the consumer confidence and general macro and geopolitical environment. Knowing that even under those rather challenging circumstances Tallink managed to deliver strong results, then we believe that when the environment will get better, I think also the Tallink long-term outlook is going to be very positive.
When we look at the seasonality, it's always very important to bear in mind that the Tallink's business is very seasonal, most of the money is generated in Q2 and Q3, and that actually also impacts a lot of Infortar's total consolidated numbers. Usually, Q1 is the weakest for Tallink, whereas for energy, Q1 is the strongest, but I would say that those segments don't fully eliminate or even out each other.
From Infortar's total performance point of view, the summer quarters are always stronger than the winter quarters. Now moving forward to Elenger and our energy business.
Elenger is the most international part of our portfolio and has shown the fastest growth over the past years. What you see in this picture is our new business line, which is bio-LNG.
We have been fueling Tallink shuttle vessels with LNG now for almost 10 years, but since Q3 last year, we have started bunkering Tallink shuttle vessels with bio-LNG as well. That is a very good example of the synergies within our group.
Tallink and Elenger together can create an access to international CO2 market as well. From Tallink's point of view, it's definitely also a very positive sign from that point of view that our ships are going to be even more environmentally friendly and also reduce the cost for emission charges.
We hope that by the end of the year, the great majority of the fuel used by our vessels on Tallinn-Helsinki route will run on bio-LNG, what makes Tallink kind of the greenest bridge between Estonia and Finland. Digging more into the details of our energy business.
As of today, the biggest part of our energy business is the regulated infrastructure part, and that includes the largest, actually the monopolistic gas distribution network in Latvia, which is owned and operated by our subsidiary GASO, and also gas distribution networks in Estonia where we own the largest network, and in Poland, what we acquired back in 2024 and which is the second-largest privately owned gas distribution network. All together, it's approximately 9,500 kilometers of gas networks, so that's a lot, and we serve approximately half million customers all over the geographies.
The energy sale is from the sales point of view the biggest part of our energy business, but when it comes to cash flow generation, the infrastructure part is bigger. This is a business area where we are a leading player in the Baltic-Finnish market, but we see very positively the future development possibilities in Poland, so that was actually the reason why we made the investment and expanded to Poland back in 2024 as well.
Last but not least, we have also invested into energy production, we've invested into grids, we have biomethane production, and we have also done the first battery investments as well. Now going to the keywords of 2025.
Firstly, starting from the numbers, I think it's very important to bear in mind that weather as such has a significant effect on natural gas business. And 2025 was one of the warmest years in history, but nevertheless, we actually managed to deliver a very strong revenue number, we managed to increase the revenue number a little bit versus the year before.
We also increased EBITDA, and we managed to maintain the energy sales volumes and market shares in the Baltic-Finnish market. Of course, in Poland, where we are so small, less than 1% of the market, so that's the market where we see a clear potential for the further growth.
Regarding the key messages from the energy sector, the most important is the new investment what we did in Poland. That has been performing very well and has been integrated very nicely, we are very proud that we managed to do that investment.
We're also very proud of the whole infrastructure segment in total, GASO in Latvia and Gaasivõrk in Estonia delivered very strong EBITDA numbers, and currently Elenger's major part of the cash flows is generated from regulated infrastructure gas distribution businesses. I think that makes our EBITDA generation outlook very solid and stable for the future as well.
What is also important is the decarbonization. Estonia is a good example where nowadays almost 10% of the natural gas which is consumed is locally produced biomethane.
It's good for decarbonization, and it's good for energy independence as well. That's clearly a focus area for the group in total.
Cooperation of Elenger and Tallink in global FuelEU market and CO2 markets, definitely we see a future growth potentials there as well. Also, we have made our investments into the battery storage solutions in Latvia, and we plan to continue with those looking forward as well.
Then regarding real estate, this is when it comes to our three main business segments, this is the smallest, but still I think in Estonian terms, we have quite a substantial real estate portfolio what we own and operate. What's good to see is that when we look at the numbers, there is a stable growth in that segment, so that mainly comes from the addition of new assets into the portfolio.
Both the value of the assets what we own, the sales we generate, or EBITDA, or net operating income, all those numbers, a nice and stable growth over the years. We have received lots of questions regarding our supporting segment as well.
As mentioned before, the biggest part of the supportive segment are our agriculture business and our engineering, and we prepared some additional information regarding those parts of the business as well. I start from agriculture.
Agriculture was the part of the business which grew fastest last year, we tripled EBITDA generating there. What I think makes our approach very unique is that we don't look at this business solely like agriculture, we actually see that as a integrated biogas and milk production, and I think we are the only one in the region looking at the business in that way.
When we look at the numbers, that part of the business has grown quite large, the total assets we have in that segment is €131 million, which is approximately 5% of our total balance sheet, and we actually see a possibility to continue with the growth in that segment. Last year was a very strong year financially as well.
There was a very good tailwind from the milk price, we generated close to €17 million of EBITDA in agriculture, and our revenues are approaching to €50 million. When we look at the numbers, we are among the largest milk producers in Estonia, producing 57,000 tons of milk per year, that is approximately 160 tons of milk a day.
We have 8,700 animals, we operate close to 14,000 hectares of land, and we employ approximately 230 people. We believe that looking forward, the agriculture and biomethane definitely allows us to continue with the diversification of our group and creates a lot of synergies with our energy company and shipping business as well.
Now moving forward to our engineering business. This is another part of the group what we're very proud of.
We have posted quite stable sales numbers over the past three years, but what's good to see here is the nice development of the profitability. Last year, the sales were close to €70 million, and EBITDA was €6.3 million, I think quite strong marginality for engineering business.
When we talk about the largest projects from last year, then INF Engineering built the Rimi logistics center for us. They also completed the Pärnu bridge, which got lots of coverage locally.
We employ approximately 180 people in INF Engineering. What is maybe the part what is not so much kind of seeable or visible is our production of construction aggregates.
We are among the three largest players in Estonia, operating 22 quarries across the Estonia, and actually that part also demonstrates a very strong and stable result. To wrap this up, Infortar, as I said before, has always had a long-term goal to build a crisis-resilient company which is inflation-proof and which can be a dividend aristocrat.
For that, we have diversified our portfolio, we have built up a very strong asset base which gives us a possibility to continue with the growth looking forward. We understand that growth doesn't happen itself, you need to always work for that.
You need to make acquisitions, you need to capex, you need to go international, and then those are all the things what we're doing and we have experience of doing. I think one of the great strengths of Infortar is our very business-minded and very agile management style, versus our peers, we can act really fast.
We have built up a very strong balance sheet, we have a very decent leverage and very strong liquidity. When any of those investment opportunities arise, we can handle them very fast.
To sum this up, we believe that a good company is the company which can demonstrate growth and then pay strong dividends, and then that is clearly our ambition looking forward.
Kadri Laanvee
Thank you, Martti, for the good overview. Let's move on to questions now.
Before the webinar, we received several questions about dividends that Infortar will pay in 2026. For now, we can talk only about the proposal, but still, for example, some investors ask that how is it possible that during 2025 they only got €1.5 of dividends, maybe let's go through this slide one more time and explain how it will be this year.
Martti Talgre
Yep. Infortar is paying out dividends two times a year.
Usually that happens in July and in December. The cutoff date, I think we haven't proposed those yet, but it's usually two or three weeks before the dividend payment date.
If you own shares at that date, then you are entitled to receive dividends. If any of the shareholders sees that they just received €1.5 of dividends, then most probably for one of those cutoff dates they didn't own the shares.
When we look at what is the logics or what is the dividend policy of Infortar, then we have also received questions regarding how does this Tallink dividend pass-through works. The logics we have is that €1, basically 50 cents and 50 cents during both payments, is paid from other Infortar businesses.
All dividends what we receive from Tallink will be passed through. I think the rule of thumb is that basically for every Infortar share, Infortar owns 25 Tallink shares, it's easy to remember that.
If Tallink pays 6 cents per share, then Infortar shareholders receive €1.5, or actually that's approximately, the exact number is €1.48 per share. We also pay that out in two tranches, 74 cents then in July and 74 cents in December.
Then additionally, looking at the financial position of Infortar, we are proposing to pay additional dividend of 54 cents, and that is also paid in two halves. All in all, I think from Infortar's shareholder point of view, it's easy to see that the payment is received twice in a year.
Last year, it was both times €1.5, and this year, if the proposal gets approved by shareholders, then it's €1.51 per share twice in a year.
Kadri Laanvee
Thank you. As we have not received more questions, then I think we can wrap this up for today.
Thank you to everyone who joined us live or watching the recording later on. If you have any further questions regarding Infortar as an investment or the fourth quarter results, you can reach directly out to me or write to [email protected] address, and also you can call.
Thank you for watching, and goodbye.
Martti Talgre
Thank you.
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