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Norwegian sovereign wealth fund makes record loss – despite higher gas prices

2022-08-17T16:11:17.264Z


Norway's sovereign wealth fund is the world's largest and is seen as a successful model. But now he is recording a record loss, because many shares in the fund are suffering from massive price slumps.


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Norwegian oil rig (archive image): The sovereign wealth fund is fed by oil revenues

Photo:

AP / Statoil

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund posted a record loss in the first half of the year due to the weakening stock markets.

The minus totaled 1.68 trillion Norwegian kroner (170 billion euros), said the world's largest sovereign wealth fund.

The EUR 1.3 trillion fund suffered a loss of 14.4 percent between January and June.

"The market was characterized by rising interest rates, high inflation and the war in Europe," said Norges Bank Investment Management chief Nicolai Tangen.

Some of the losses -- largely due to the 28 percent drop in technology stocks -- have since been recouped.

The markets have been recovering since July.

The sovereign wealth fund recorded the biggest loss in its stock portfolio with its shares in Facebook parent company Meta, the value of which fell by 3.8 billion euros, followed by Amazon with a minus of 3.5 billion and Apple with 3 billion.

Tech and social media companies are struggling with higher interest rates and increased competition between platforms.

In addition, central banks in many countries have raised interest rates aggressively this year to combat inflation.

This leads to higher borrowing costs and lower profit margins for companies.

Established in 1996, the sovereign wealth fund invests the revenues from the Norwegian oil and gas sector.

He has interests in more than 9,300 companies worldwide, owning 1.3 percent of all listed shares.

Its valuation of €1.3 trillion is roughly the size of Mexico's economy, which was ranked 16th as the world's largest economy according to the latest calculations.

hey/Reuters

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2022-08-17

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