“The high demand by Danish companies for advice and risk capital from IFU continued in 2012. It shows that Danish companies are generally aware of the investment opportunities in developing countries, where the economic growth is significantly above the level of Europe and the US”, says Finn Jønck, Managing Director of IFU.
In 2012, IFU contracted investments of DKK 524m. The investments were distributed with approximately DKK 160m in Africa, DKK 240m in Asia and DKK 50m in Latin America. The remaining investments were made in Europe and globally.
DKK 315m were invested in 33 new project companies. IFU only contributes part of the financing, thus the total investment is expected to amount to around DKK 1.8bn.
IFU recorded net income of DKK 84m.
“The result for 2012 is satisfactory, and it shows that we can contribute to reducing the risk for Danish companies who want to enter new emerging markets and at the same time make a profit for IFU”, says Finn Jønck.
Investments create development
The investments of IFU and Danish companies also contribute to development in the investment countries. Thus, the investments in 2012 are expected to create close to 8,000 new jobs. Furthermore, 90 per cent of the project companies will carry out training programmes for their employees.
IFU as a fund manager
In recent years the number of funds managed by IFU has increased. In 2012, IFU was appointed as fund manager of a new climate investment fund established by the Danish government. The Danish Climate Investment Fund will develop and finance climate projects in developing countries, thereby contributing to reducing global warming. The fund will also promote Danish climate technology. The state and IFU have injected DKK 275m into the fund, and the objective is a total capital base of DKK 500-700m.
“The Danish Climate Investment Fund is an interesting challenge, and we expect that we can create a commercial business in cooperation with the investors to contribute to climate improvements in the developing countries and promote the sale of Daish climate technology”, says Finn Jønck.