Atlantica - 01.07.2004, Side 83

The Housing Financing Fund was
established and commenced opera-
tions on January 1,1999.
HFF’s main objective is to offer its
loans on the most favourable terms
possible within its means in order to
facilitate affordable renting or owner-
ship of housing, in
compliance with the relevant autho-
rising legislation.
The strategic position of HFF is under-
pinned by its competitive advantages
including:
(I) its ability to borrow at rates simi-
lar to that of the Government,
(II) its very efficient operations illus-
trated by its low cost ratio, and
(III) its not-for-profit status that elim-
inates the need to make dividend
payments thereby reducing the net
margin on its lending activities.
To ensure the low rates, HFF’s financ-
ing strategy is to continue to issue a
limited number of large, State-guaran-
teed inflation-linked bond issues in
ISK which, in the case of the New
Notes, can be settled in one or more
international settlement systems such
as Euroclear.
HFF also plans to lend increasingly to
companies which finance property
purchases through loans from HFF
and which subsequently offer the
property to individuals on the rental
market. Until now the rental market in
Iceland has not been strong, however
this is expected to change in the
future. Government policy is currently
not only to encourage individual home
ownership but also to increase the
availability of rental housing.
Moody´s ratings on HFF is Aaa and
Standard & Poor´s is AA+
The Housing Financing Fund pro-
duced an operating profit amounted to
ISK 1.262 million year 2002 and 1.678
million year 2003.
Total outstanding lending by the
Housing Financing Fund at the end of
2002 amounted to ISK 392.926 million
and 444.829 million at the end of 2003.
Assets of the Housing Financing Fund
were ISK 402 billion at the end of 2002
and ISK 460 billion at the end of 2002.
Kaupthing Bank is one of the ten
largest banks in the Nordic countries
and aims to be one of the leading
investment banks in the region.
Kaupthing Bank offers institutions and
individuals comprehensive investment
banking and financial services. It is a
leading player in all key areas of the
Icelandic financial market, and in
recent years international growth and
development have been a major area
of focus. In Iceland, the bank operates
as both a retail and investment bank
but internationally the bank’s empha-
sis is on investment banking. At the
end of 2003 Kaupthing Bank and its
subsidiaries employed 1,271 people in
ten countries. The Bank’s headquar-
ters are located in Reykjavík.
In 2003 Kaupthing Bank posted an
after-tax profit of ISK 7,520 million,
compared with ISK 5,363 million com-
bined after-tax profit in 2002. Return on
equity was 23.0%, considerably higher
than the bank’s target on return on
equity of 15%.•The bank strengthened
its financial position during the year,
achieving a CAD ratio of 14.2% at year
end 2003, compared with 14.7% at the
former Kaupthing Bank and 10.9% at
Búnadarbanki Íslands at year end
2002.• The bank’s total assets amount-
ed to ISK 559 billion at year end 2003,
compared with ISK 432 billion at the
beginning of the year.
Kaupthing Bank´s shares are listed
on the Icelandic Stock Exchange and
the Swedish Stock Exchange.
Actavis Group, formerly known as
Pharmaco, is an international generic
pharmaceuticals company with oper-
ations in 25 countries. Actavis has
grown in recent years, both organi-
cally and through strategically
focused acquisitions. The company
was founded in 1956 and is headquar-
tered in Iceland.
Actavis has a total workforce of
more than 7,000 employees, which
includes teams of highly-trained phar-
macists, chemists and other scientific
professionals. The company operates
a strong development programme
which aims to bring new products to
market when patents expire. Actavis’
key objective is being first to market
and offering better and faster access
to the latest generic products and a
wide portfolio of affordable, high
quality pharmaceuticals.
Actavis’ revenue for the year 2003
was EUR316 million, a 46% increase
on the prior year (2002: EUR 216 mil-
lion). Earnings before interest tax,
exceptional items, depreciation and
goodwill amortisation (EBITDA) in 2003
increased by 84%, to EUR 84 million
compared to EUR 45.7 million in
2002.Actavis posted a net profit for
2003 of EUR40.5 million, an increase of
24.4% year on year. In 2002 the Group
returned a net profit of EUR 32.6 mil-
lion. Underlying growth in sales from
operations between 1Q 2004 and 1Q
2003 was 18.6%.
Actavis is listed on the Iceland Stock
Exchange and the symbol is ACT.
ANNUAL REPORT CARD
A T L A N T I C A 81
0064 Atlantica403annualrep copy 22.6.2004 17:00 Page 81