AIC reports on profitability growth

The Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) achieved a net profit of 23.7 million manats in 2020-2022, as inoted in the company's audited financial statements.

As for 2023, the audit of financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS) is still ongoing for this period.

This became known from the message of the AIC, dedicated to the results of the institution's activities for 18 years since its creation.

"As a result of the restructuring carried out in the company since 2020, the effective work has been carried out to increase international experience, create a modern management institute, and increase human resources potential.

Accordingly, the investment and risk management policies have been improved and brought into line with modern operational standards. A three-year strategy development plan has been prepared for all AIC portfolio companies, new oversight mechanisms have been introduced to manage their activities, and owners have been instructed to create a more effective business model and apply corporate governance standards," the report says.

It said that 42% (17.5 million manats) of the company's revenues for 2020-2023 were generated through the dividends, the sale of shares and the payment of interest accrued on the founder's debt from the companies in which it invested.

Thus, as of December 31, 2023, the company's total investment portfolio is 325 million manats. If you look at the income structure, 42% (17.5 million manats) of the company's income for 2020-2023 was generated by dividends, the sale of shares and the payment of interest accrued on the founder's debt from the companies in which it invested.

As of December 31, 2023, the company's total investment portfolio is 325 million manats, including 228 million manats (70%) for shares, portfolios of shares and investment instruments equivalent to shares, 80 million manats (25%) for a fixed income portfolio and 17 million manats (5%) for free funds.

During 2020-2023, the AIC received more than 200 applications for investment projects, and based on the results of the analysis, the Supervisory Board decided to invest in 15 of them. "Total investment value of 15 completed projects is 805 million manats, and the share of AIC is 70.4 million manats," the AIC noted.

At the same time, 9 of the 15 projects in which the company participates are implemented jointly with foreign investment partners, as a result of which the volume of foreign direct investment attracted to Azerbaijan totals 410 million manats, it is planned to create more than 1,600 new jobs.

At present, negotiations are underway with partners on 22 projects with a total investment value of $2.3 billion, covering the fields of light and heavy industry, pharmaceuticals, alternative energy, food industry, seawater desalination, waste energy, healthcare and other areas. In particular, such well-known companies as "Masdar" UAE, the Chinese largest manufacturer of cars and electric batteries "BYD Auto-Industry Co" Ltd and the largest manufacturer of anodes "Sunstone Development Co" Ltd, one of the largest holdings of Turkey "Aksoy" and the manufacturer of glass products and glass packaging "Gurok Group" are involved in them.

As a result of these projects, it is planned to attract foreign direct investment in the amount of $1.6 billion and create about 2,000 new jobs.

"At the same time, the company has achieved positive results in the effective management of free funds at its disposal, in accordance with international practice widely used by investment funds of developed countries. In 2020-2023, the average annual income received from effective management of liquid funds rosee by 3 times. Besides, work is underway to improve the company's investment portfolio," the AIC said in a statement.--