Industrivarden NAV/Share Drops 39% This Year; Volvo Holding Key

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Swedish investment company Industrivarden AB (INDU-A.SK) said Wednesday it wants to be a long-term active owner in Swedish truck-maker Volvo AB (VOLV-B.SK), and that its net asset value per share dropped 39% since the start of the year to Sept. 30, as the equity value of its holdings fell when declining stock markets weighed on industrial companies.

   MAIN FACTS: 

-Net asset value per share as of Sept. 30 was SEK91, compared with SEK149 at the start of the year.

-The equity portfolio fell in value to SEK52.2 billion on Sept. 30 from SEK71.1 billion at the start of the year.

-The total return fell 34% for Class A shares and 36% for Class C shares during the first nine months.

-The comparative return index meanwhile fell 20%.

-Net profit

-In 3Q, it made net purchases of SEK1.2 billion. So far this year, net purchases amount to SEK4.7 billion.

-In 3Q, another SEK1.3 billion were invested in Volvo, bringing its total investment this year to SEK2.9 billion and corresponding to about 15% of votes. This "clearly illustrates our ambitions as a long-term active owner in a quality company with considerable value potential," CEO Anders Nyren said.

-It also invested SEK1.1 billion in Svenska Handelsbanken AB (SHB-B.SK) and SEK700 million in Sandvik AB (SAND.SK).

-Shares in Industrivarden closed at SEK67.40.

-By Anna Molin; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]