I am Kadri Laanvee, the Investor Relations Manager at Infortar, and joining me today to provide an overview of Infortar activities and results is Mr. Martti Talgre, Managing Director of Infortar. We will start with an overview of our activities and key events in the second quarter of 2024, and then, after the presentation, we'll answer the questions sent to us. If anyone is watching now and wants to ask a question, you can do it via the Q&A button at Teams. We will not disclose the names of the questioners, so no need to worry about that. Today's presentation will be recorded and made available later on on the Infortar website. Let's start with an overview, and firstly, I will hand over to our Managing Director, Mr. Martti Talgre.
Good afternoon from my side as well. My name is Martti Talgre, and I'm the Managing Director for Infortar, and I will give you an overview of our first half of the 2024 results. But before that, a quick summary about Infortar. Infortar is one of the largest investment companies in the Baltic region, and our activities focus on three main sectors, which are energy, shipping, and real estate. These sectors are different but share many similarities. They are all stable. They are capital-intensive. They have high barriers of entry, and they generate strong cash flow. Our group is operating in six markets. The largest market of those is currently Finland, but we also operate in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. We are also starting our activities in Germany, and our affiliated company, Tallink, our investment in the shipping segment, is also operating in Sweden.
Regarding our main investments in the energy sector, the main investment is Eesti Gaas and its subsidiaries. So this is the largest privately owned energy company in the region, which has seen EUR 1 billion now for two years in a row. When we invested in the company as a local Estonian natural gas seller, but we have grown that to be the biggest market participant in the Baltic and Finnish gas market as of now. When it comes to our interest in shipping, then this is represented by our 47% of shareholding in Tallink. So I think when it comes to Tallink, it's just a little introduction, a leading ferry company on the Baltic Sea. It suffered quite a bit from the pandemic, but as of now has left that behind, and then previous or last year was the best year in Tallink's history.
Additionally, we also own a significant real estate portfolio in Tallink, so it's approximately 130,000 sq m, 17 different properties. It's nicely covered with tenants. It's diversified, so it gives a good stable path for our income generation. And on top of that, we have interest in other supporting businesses as well, like engineering and construction, agriculture, etc., etc. So the company's focus has been from the very beginning to find opportunities to grow. As of now, our group has exceeded EUR 1 billion. What is important when it comes to all those numbers here on the screen, it's important to bear in mind that we don't consolidate Tallink's figures here. Tallink is our affiliated company. So if we would be consolidating Tallink as well, then our sales would be close to EUR 2 billion, and EBITDA would be close to EUR 300 million.
But that's not what we are doing as of now. Now moving forward to our first half of 2024 results. 2024 so far has been very active for Infortar, as it's quite usual. We have managed to increase our sales. Our revenues in the first six months this year was EUR 576 million, and we earned a net profit of EUR 73 million. We have grown our asset base to EUR 1.5 billion. One year ago, it was slightly more than EUR 1 billion, so quite a growth. During this year, we have also invested into the growth of our business, more than EUR 41 million, out of which the biggest investment was the increase of our shareholding in Tallink by 4.5% in Q2. We also bought or invested into the major interest stake of Halinga Farm, a dairy farm in Pärnu.
As well, we commissioned our first solar power plant in the Niidu. Regarding the segment results, so when it comes to energy, usually second and third quarters are kind of low seasons, seasonally slightly weaker, but the main result is generated in energy in Q1 and Q4. So when we assess the performance of energy, then we look at the total year numbers, and this is pretty much in line with our expectations of energy performance right now. This has been also supported by the strong results from the infra segment and also the growing volumes because of the market recovery. Regarding Tallink, Tallink has managed quite nicely. The results are not on the level which they were last year, but still, bearing in mind the macro situation, we are quite happy with the deliveries of Tallink.
And also, I think that what we have said before, that Tallink has a strong financial position, moderate leverage, strong liquidity. All those keywords still apply for Tallink. When it comes to real estate, it's stable. We have managed to grow the portfolio a little bit, but also the indexation and all those things support the growth of revenues and net operating income. When it comes to ongoing developments, they are nicely in line with the schedules, both the new logistics center for ICA, subsidiary Rimi, and as well the Pärnu Bridge project. So all in all, good performance in the first half of 2024. We have a very strong liquidity position, which we can use to support the further growth of our business. And what's important also to bring out is that in mid-June, we announced our intention to make a voluntary takeover for all Tallink shareholders.
So the period of that bid is still ongoing, so it's actually lasting up until today afternoon. So quite shortly, we will announce also via the stock exchange the results of the bid.
Thank you, Martti. I will now provide an overview of the results for the second quarter of 2024. For better understanding, we added the results of the second quarter of 2023, also healthier results, which is a better indicator of where the company stands today. Infortar Group's consolidated six-month revenue of EUR 576 million increased by EUR 15.8 million compared to the same period last year.
Next, EBITDA, which is also an important profitability indicator to us, EBITDA was EUR 76 million and net profit EUR 73 million. These results do not reflect Tallink's profit and EBITDA, as Tallink is not consolidated line by line at the Infortar's report. Infortar's equity amounted to EUR 840 million and total assets to EUR 1.1 billion. Also, I think it's worth highlighting again is our cash position after six months. After the dividend payment, which was EUR 30 million, free liquidity is EUR 185 million.
Internally, we monitor the ratio of investment loans to EBITDA, which as of six months is 2.1. Infortar's ambition is to grow mainly in foreign markets, and regarding Infortar business segments, Martti will explain now in more detail.
Thank you, Kadri. I will now walk you through our three main segments and their performance. I start from energy, which is our largest segment. The keyword in the first half of 2024 in energy has been the continuous increasing of our sales volumes. Compared to the first half of 2023, we have managed to increase our volumes by approximately 40%. This is not directly seen now in the revenues because the energy prices have gone down, but which in general is good for our customers and also for us. The increase of sales volumes has mainly come from the increased market share. Last year, our market share in the first half was approximately 21%. Now it's about a quarter, which is, we believe, a very solid number. We are the largest player in the Finnish Baltic market with this market share.
We have seen a very good recovery and strong performance of our infra segment. We now also have Gaso in our group, so that supports strongly the cash flow here because the fact is that now the market has a little bit normalized after the very volatile 2022-2023 winter. But we are pretty much still on similar cash flow generation levels like we were the year before. So it's quite encouraging, and we are very happy with this. The summer normal is also the period when we focus a lot on creating the storages and buffers for the winter. So as of today, the major part of our storages and buffers have been already created. So historically, we did that only in Latvia, but now we also have our storages in Poland and Germany. Germany is now the new addition this year.
So clearly, our focus is moved further westwards to Germany and to the Netherlands countries to create all the licenses and start operating and operations there as well. And we have always told that our focus in energy is very much on prudent risk management. So that means both the price risk management, meaning that we hedge our positions in a way that whether the prices go up or down, it doesn't impact or we don't get any kind of extra profits or losses from the gas price movement. As well, we have diversified our sourcing. So we use both energy terminals, also the wholesale market in the western part of Europe. So the focus is to reduce the risks coming from the sourcing as well. Moving further to Tallink. So I think Tallink is very much known for the local investor community.
It's in general in very good shape, has managed to bring down the leverage significantly also in Q2. That EBITDA ratio is 2.7, which is very healthy, bearing in mind that when we look at the assets of Tallink, a significant part of those assets are vessels. Tallink owns their own assets. They don't charge their vessels for their operations. From that point of view, the leverage in our eyes is moderate. When we look at the quarterly performance, what is positive to see here is that Tallink has actually slightly managed to increase the passenger and cargo numbers as kind of the underlying base of the business. The fact that we are now for quite some time in economic recession has had some impact on Tallink's financial performance as well. The EBITDA is not as high as it was a year ago.
But at the same time, last year, Tallink had significantly high chartering numbers and incomes coming from chartering. Then also in Q2, Tallink had an income tax cost in the net profit, which they didn't have previous years because Tallink hasn't been paying dividends for quite some time. All in all, from Infortar's point of view, we are quite happy with the financial performance of Tallink. Moving forward to real estate, which is our small segment, but at the same time, there are stable segments. As I said before, we have a solid and diversified portfolio in real estate as well, 17 different properties, also 66,000 square meters of developments with previous permits in place.
As of now, there is one ongoing construction quite close to the finalization, which is the new logistics center for Rimi, which will start generating cash flow next year as well. In general, when we look at the performance, then our segment revenue in Q2 versus last year is up about 15.5%, and net operating income is about 19% up. So that has been mainly driven by the added properties into the books as well as the indexation. So a stable path for cash flow generation. To wrap this up, the aim of Infortar founders has been from the very beginning to create a company which is crisis-proof. That means that we have invested into a diversified portfolio, and we are always looking at further potential growth.
So our assets are in segments which are more capital-intensive that have some cash flows, which are stable and have high barriers of entry. Both energy and shipping has a very strong seasonality, but I think that this is part of the business. So actually, the performance of those segments should be assessed on a yearly basis, and the Q2 results are pretty much in line with our expectations. Our intention is to grow further, and I think we have a good platform for that, both from the existing portfolio's point of view, but also from the liquidity point of view. We have a very strong liquidity, more than 10% of our balance sheet is cash. Our mindset is very agile. We look for new opportunities, and we have a good experience and know-how for that.
So all in all, we believe that our portfolio gives us a very stable and diversified cash flow, and that allows us to pay dividends and also to continue investing into the further growth. So I would stop it now. Kadri, do you have any questions?
Yes, thank you, Martti. We have received quite many questions, but I'll try to divide them into two segments. So let's take financial results and Tallink topics first and then move on into the energy segment. We will prioritize answering the questions that were sent to us before the webinar at first hand. So let's start then. Compared to the first quarter, the results of the second quarter, mainly EBITDA and net profit, are weaker. What is the reason behind that? Can you comment?
Yeah, of course. As I said before, when we look at our two largest segments, shipping and energy, they are both very seasonal. At the same time, in our current numbers, we don't consolidate Tallink here. So predominantly, our numbers, what we report, are basically the energy sector numbers. And energy is very seasonal. So the biggest part of the business and sales and income, of course, happens in Q1 and Q4. So from that point of view, Q2 and Q3 are more like preparation quarters for the winter months, as the cost base is, in its nature, also quite fixed. And then over the time, what we have seen is that, for example, because of the new sourcing channels, things like that, the seasonality has been rather grown. So from that point of view, that clearly has impacted the summer quarter's financial performance.
At the same time, I think that what makes sense is to look at the total year results, so then half-year results. So we are pretty much in the same place where we were last year with energy. And I think it's also fair to say that when we look back at the 2023 results, then we still had some impacts from that volatile 2022-2023 winter. So compared to those levels, the income generated from energy sales has decreased slightly. But at the same time, we have quite a strong, solid new part of the business, which is infrastructure. So we have managed to complement our energy segment with new additions. So I think that as of now, the fact that a great part of our energy segment, cash generation and profitability is coming from regulated assets, is actually good.
At least this is how we see that from the management point of view.
Thank you. We have got quite many questions regarding Tallink's voluntary takeover offer. So the first one is, what impact does the voluntary takeover offer made to Tallink's shareholders have on Infortar's and Tallink results?
It's a quite complicated question. I think that first, when we came out with the voluntary takeover, the intention was to offer a possibility for all shareholders of Tallink to sell their shares. I think the feedback what we received from the investor community was that for the retail investors, it wasn't interesting. We thought that our offer could have been interesting for investors who would like to leave from the region, but for whom the liquidity of the Tallinn Stock Exchange is not big enough or good enough, and basically, it's not possible to use the stock exchange for exiting. That was the intention. We never had an intention to take Tallink away from the stock exchange. We believe that both Tallink and Infortar actually benefit from the fact that they are listed.
So it creates transparency, it creates trust, it creates name recognition, and I think all those things support the businesses of the companies. So we don't have any intention to take Tallink away from stock exchange. So from that point of view, I think that for Tallink shareholders who decide not to accept the deal, I think for them, there will be no changes. I think for the ones who decide to accept this, it's greatly good. It's quite a simple process. But I would like not to speculate about the results before the deal is closed. So we have about two hours left. So after that, we can count the results. And I think we have said that we will communicate the results in coming days. So as of now, I wouldn't like to speculate about the kind of situation, what's happening there right now.
Okay. Regarding the questions sent to us about updates on the results or anything to disclose prior to the scheduled 7th of August results, then again, we will make a public announcement at the same time to all investors. We can't, unfortunately, disclose anything before that.
Stay tuned.
Stay tuned, yes. So moving further with the questions, are you going to use the money lent for banks for this offer, or are you using Infortar's own funds? Can you comment on that?
As the offer regarding the Tallink shares is a voluntary takeover offer, so we don't have any previous understanding of what's going to be the interest of the results. So we have, of course, played through different scenarios, how to finance different states. So we have a very strong liquidity buffer as cash, which you can see in our balance sheet. But on top of that, we have always believed that liquidity and cash are king. So we actually also have quite a substantial amount of committed credit facilities. So kind of the total liquidity for the whole group is actually bigger than this EUR 185. So we have played through different scenarios. If we would even be buying 100% of Tallink, we have the financing in place for that. But if the amount is smaller, then most probably, then we can manage with our liquidity in hand.
So as I said before, we believe that liquidity is important. So currently, the market as such gives opportunities for investments. And that's why we believe that having cash in hand is beneficial for a company like us.
Thank you, Martti. So next question, what does this mean that Tallink results are presented at Infortar's report using equity method?
We have actually quite a few affiliated companies within the group. So if you look at our group chart in our annual quarter report, you see that there are actually quite a number of companies which we don't control. And all of them are consolidated in our books on the equity method. So in our books, we don't have any kind of line-by-line consolidation of Tallink, but just kind of our part of their equity. So if Tallink's equity portion for us would change, meaning that it would become a subsidiary, then it would mean that our reporting would look different as well. But again, I don't want to speculate here. As I said, we have other businesses as well where we don't have the majority. So actually, that part of our balance sheet is also including those other businesses like biomethane production, some real estate properties.
It's quite common for us. Regarding Tallink, in our segment reporting, we actually show the total numbers of Tallink because we look at the total performance of the company, not only kind of the growth part of the equity. In case we would have a bigger part than half in Tallink, I think from investors' point of view, it would be easier to read our numbers in the future.
Thank you. Now we move forward with questions regarding energy segment. The first one is that what is your current margin on energy sales? And what do you think is the normal level?
In the past, we have indicated that in the energy sales, EBITDA margin, 10% is kind of healthy level. At the same time, I said before that when we look at our quarterly numbers, then those are very seasonal. So I think I'm right that in our numbers, we don't kind of go so deeply into the cost elements. But what I can give as a high-level comment here is that lots of our costs are in essence kind of fixed costs, which are allocated over the year, but kind of add business value only winter quarters. So that's why I think that finding something based on our separate quarter results is maybe a bit misleading. From that point of view, I think there is a good parallel with Tallink.
Tallink is kind of similar that they make a lot of money and performance during the summer quarters, and their winter quarters are significantly lower. So that's actually the reality also in the energy. I think that when we look at the numbers, we are pretty close to those levels which we had a year ago. The fact is that the previous year was a record every year for us as well. So we are quite happy with the delivery there.
Thank you. Could you please provide some flavor on Infortar's market share gas sales in Finland and how that compares to incumbent Gasum whether Gasum is catching up?
I think we have managed to keep our market share in Finland quite stable and solid. So again, I don't know whether it's published somewhere.
We reported our Baltic-Finnish market share that has increased up to 25%.
I believe that over the past quarters, the situation in Finland is pretty similar like it was. So we should be the biggest player in the market.
However, we cannot comment on Gasum results. So leave that to them. So moving further, energy infrastructure in West European markets, what is your current infrastructure footprint outside Baltic and Finnish markets? And do you plan to acquire any energy infrastructure assets, hubs, terminals, pipelines in Poland, or further west in European markets?
What I can comment here is that we, of course, look around for different opportunities and possibilities all the time. Anything specific I cannot comment as of now. When we make our investments, we always look at how do we get our money back and what is kind of the valuation of the company for us. So I think we have never kind of overpaid for our investments. So I think if the price is right, kind of from the strategic point of view, we definitely would like to grow our footprint in those geographies as well.
Regarding the current infrastructure assets, everything is going by plan. Infrastructure segment made also expected results, and they are now reflected in 2024 numbers wholly. So last year, we started consolidating in the end of summer. So this is also a remark. Going further with the questions, could you please share how Infortar's gas sales in Poland are proceeding? Do you see more potential there compared to expectations during the IPO?
I think that in this situation, it's not part of the information we have released. So I think Poland in general is a very attractive market. It's a growing gas market, and I think we clearly see potential there. So it's one of the focus areas for our growth. But I wouldn't comment anything more specific in this stage.
Next question, the start of energy sales on new markets. When do you expect to start actual selling energy in Netherlands and in Belgium?
The thing is that with all new markets, it takes quite a bit of previous work and preparation, meaning that you have to have your licenses in place. You have to have the green lights from the regulators. So that all takes time. But the European gas market is very much interlinked, and significant part of the supply is coming from the Netherlands countries as of now. So it's quite obvious that we would need to create a presence there as well. But I think that when we have made concrete steps, we will let our investors know through the stock exchange.
Thank you. So next questions, actually two questions. Let's start with the first one. How many terawatts have you sold energy this year to Polish and German markets compared with last year?
I think comparing with last year is quite easy that in Germany, we didn't have anything. And I think in Poland, just a little bit. So that part of the question is something I can answer. But with the numbers, we haven't really. When making the information public, we always need to balance the interest of our competitors and our investors. So as of now, the part of sales in Poland and Germany are not material. So that's why we are not reporting that. So when it comes to those markets, it's very potential what we see there. But as of now, the part of the business is rather not material.
Thank you. Do you have an estimate or forecast how much in total in terawatts you see to sell energy in German and Polish markets this year?
That's unfortunate information, but we are not making public as of now.
Yep. This is it for today. Thank you very much to everyone who watched us, who sent us questions, and also to those who will watch us later. If you have any questions about Infortar as an investment, you can always contact me via email or by phone. This is all for today. Thank you and have a good day.
Thank you.