It’s hard to believe that Mandatum would have sold its shares without having received guarantees that a takeover bid isn’t around the corner. So, some timeframe, 6 months? 12 months?, during which Otava or Alma commits not to offer a higher price for the shares.
And an addition, I am indeed involved with Enento and believe that Otava would not have accumulated such quantities of shares unless some arrangement was in the plans. I just don’t believe it will be realized very quickly.
Hi @Kacey
Apologies for the delayed response to this. Goava hasn’t really been regularly discussed with the company, as it was a small investment in Enento’s scale. But it’s clear that the story hasn’t gone well when looking at the numbers, and Enento has also commented that the investment has not met their expectations and that they have not planned further investments in the company. Therefore, as an investor, I wouldn’t give it much weight in Enento’s investment story, at least in light of current information (as long as Enento doesn’t start capitalizing the company more significantly if losses continue). That’s why I haven’t covered it particularly deeply in my analysis either. Of course, with an improving economic environment, there is always a possibility for positive surprises regarding the investment, but this is fundamentally a very small option in my opinion.
How could one give such guarantees? Doesn’t insider trading regulation prohibit disclosing?
There shouldn’t be any problem regarding insider trading regulations if it’s promised that your shares will be bought and no tender offer is made within a year.
It would be a different matter if Otava had knowledge that another party was making a tender offer. Additionally, I believe that making the transactions would in itself be possible by consulting the financial supervisory authority, if both parties had insider information, but it’s difficult to see a situation where it would be in the interests of both parties.
Perhaps so. As the largest owner, one must at least be cautious. After all, the disclosure obligation is (only) with the company, and regarding transactions between owners, the company presumably only has an obligation to disclose flagging notifications. I don’t know if binding agreements should then be flagged – if one had committed to buying, then presumably at least they should.
But regardless, I don’t understand why Otava would agree to any restriction? I mean, for free? Why would they voluntarily tie their own hands? So if Manta had required/received such a promise, then the price would probably have been worse than it could have been – that doesn’t sound like Mandatum. Surely the best possible price has been sought there.
So I don’t know if Otava or anyone else has an interest in buying Enento completely, but I, for one, cannot believe that in connection with the Mandatum deal, there would have been a commitment not to buy.
Indeed, it blatantly violates AML section 12. If a promise is made not to carry out a significant transaction, the company must clearly issue a statement about it, and it’s not appropriate to agree on it privately. Of course, Mandatum’s transaction was enormous, and the fact that an offer is not made the following week is more of a gentleman’s rule than a law.
Alma Media’s share is now at ATH (All-Time High) levels, i.e., 14.8 euros. With Enento struggling, one would think that, for example, a transaction made with a share exchange would start to be optimal from Alma’s perspective, if Enento were to be integrated into Alma. Before that, an extraordinary dividend will likely be paid out at the end of October, as it was last year.
Hi everyone,
Enento held its customary pre-quiet period analyst call today.
The recording can be found here in the investor calendar: Sijoittajakalenteri - Enento
Br,
Henrik
@Henrik.Soras.Enento Where can one get reliable information in advance about when these are organized? On the website’s calendar, this was also marked to be held next week.
Hi Critter1,
Regarding the investor calendar. Unfortunately, we had an old date (25.9) left in the investor calendar because we had to move the call to a new time (16.9) on short notice. So, apologies that the calendar had not been updated – this should, of course, not happen. We will update it ASAP.
The analyst call was, YET AGAIN, sad to hear. It’s truly a shame that the story isn’t developing at all, and there are clearly no other plans than to defend margins and wonder about the state of the world.
If it weren’t for the current special situation, I would certainly sell half of my holdings already. A 6% annual return in the form of dividends is not enough for me given the risk, but since the situation is now strongly ongoing and a new CEO appointment has been expected since the end of April, I could imagine a corporate acquisition happening this autumn. So, I will watch this fireworks display of defensive victories, which is Enento’s agenda, until the end of the year.
Many times before, I have wondered on this forum that it is strange that the company has not had any sensible direction for three years and has been as if “the limits of growth have been reached.” There is much to gain even in the Nordics, but outside of that, in Europe, there is an enormous amount. It’s not easy, but the expertise and technology that Enento possesses are quite rare, so it’s odd that not a single new company has been opened in Europe. The financial resources, in particular, would allow for it, but the ambition is to spew out as many dividends as possible and even take on debt so that the dividend pace doesn’t just slow down.
I hope that by the end of the year, we will get a brand new, brilliant CEO with solid expertise and the ability to drive growth, or the other option, of course, is that Enento is taken private, which also increasingly feels like a more attractive alternative than speculating on this stagnation.
Here are Roni’s comments from Tuesday’s pre-silent period analyst call. 
Enento held a pre-silent period analyst call on Tuesday. A recording of the event can be viewed here. In our view, the call did not provide significantly new information. The economic environment in the company’s operating countries, Finland and Sweden, has remained subdued, which has kept the company’s growth and profitability outlook under pressure.
A block trade of 59,956 Enento
Here’s: Artikkeli (Asiakastieto), which introduces a new legislative change that would force companies to check their customers’ information from the positive credit register. If this comes into force, what kind of impact could this have in the worst-case scenario, @Roni_Peuranheimo?
Hi @Kacey
In the worst-case scenario, there could indeed be an unpleasant impact, as there is again some degree of risk of cannibalization of the company’s services. However, I wouldn’t start anticipating the worst-case scenario at this stage. Regarding the positive credit information register for consumers, the company has succeeded well in developing its offering so that no major cannibalization occurred. But of course, the tone of that article already reveals that the public credit information register for companies would not be a desirable scenario for the company. I need to inquire about this in more detail in the future to get an even better understanding of the potential impacts.
No surprises in the shareholder register. The total number of shares held by the top 100 owners increased by a good 21,600, meaning small investors have been slightly more on the selling side. Of course, in monetary terms, the figure is practically insignificant. Now we await the Q3 report!
I delved a bit deeper into the Swedish competitor, Roaring Group AB. The company has grown excellently, averaging 80% per year. Its revenue was a good 4.6 million SEK in 2020, and for the recently concluded fiscal year, it was over 50 million SEK.
The company sells a lot of similar data to Enento, from KYC & AML categories to shareholder register data and much more.
Roaring has expanded rapidly to all Nordic countries (excluding Iceland) and now also to Spain. This precisely proves that learned technology can indeed be developed further and scaled internationally. In Spain, the selection is smaller than in other countries, but even there, they have 8 product areas. The question is, when even small competitors have the capabilities to build operations abroad, why is Enento only operating in the Nordic countries? Finland is not growing at all, and its market share is already huge. In Sweden, legislation has hit hard, and recovery is slow. Norway and Denmark are growing reasonably well, which I am happy about, but at the group level, the significance of growth is very small. Therefore, moving into new target markets would be a natural solution.
Also, @Roni_Peuranheimo, what do you think about the fact that there has been no talk about a new CEO? Jäger’s departure was announced in April, and now in October, they are still operating without a CEO. Isn’t this a very strange situation if no transactions were underway? Surely, finding a competent person for this position cannot be this difficult?
Hi @Kacey
That’s a difficult question in terms of visibility into what the board is considering, which naturally isn’t available. However, I wouldn’t automatically assume that the duration of the CEO search indicates that some transaction is in the pipeline. The realization of transactions is always uncertain until the very end of the deal, and I would find it peculiar if the CEO search were frozen because of this. Then, if a deal couldn’t be reached, they would start again from scratch, but much later. Also, the previous CEO leaving just before some potential deal would, in my opinion, be somewhat peculiar.
Less than half a year is not an exceptionally long time yet. It certainly causes waiting, but this can also be partly communicated positively in that the board is doing thorough work and not just picking the first person who comes along. On the other hand, I don’t think there’s any rush while waiting, as the interim CEO Elina Stråhlman knows the company well and has also previously served as the company’s interim CEO.
Here are Roni’s preliminary comments as Enento publishes next Wednesday.
We expect low currency-driven growth in revenue and the operating result to be roughly at the level of the subdued comparison period. The operating environment has remained quite subdued, and we do not expect major changes in the outlook. Our comments from the analyst call preceding the company’s quiet period can be read here. Areas of interest in the report include, among other things, the development of the Swedish market and the impacts of the SME business transformation, as well as the development of new growth areas.
Pretty much in line with consensus expectations, the second dividend installment also paid out as expected: Enento Groupin osavuosikatsaus 1.1. – 30.9.2025: Vakaa neljännes Business Insightille, merkkejä tasaantumisesta Consumer Insightissa | Kauppalehti
July – September 2025 in brief
Revenue was EUR 37.3 million (EUR 36.8 million), an increase of 1.3% (a decrease of 0.1% at comparable exchange rates).
Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 13.5 million (EUR 13.8 million), a decrease of 2.1% (a decrease of 3.3% at comparable exchange rates).
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 36.2% (37.5%), a decrease of 1.3 percentage points (a decrease of 1.2 percentage points at comparable exchange rates).
Adjusted operating profit was EUR 10.7 million (EUR 10.9 million), a decrease of 2.1% (a decrease of 3.2% at comparable exchange rates).
Operating profit was EUR 8.2 million (EUR 7.2 million).
January – September 2025 in brief
Revenue was EUR 113.6 million (EUR 112.6 million), an increase of 0.9% (a decrease of 0.3% at comparable exchange rates).
Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 39.0 million (EUR 40.3 million), a decrease of 3.4% (a decrease of 4.4% at comparable exchange rates).
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 34.3% (35.8%), a decrease of 1.5 percentage points (a decrease of 1.5 percentage points at comparable exchange rates).
Adjusted operating profit was EUR 30.4 million (EUR 31.2 million), a decrease of 2.7% (a decrease of 3.6% at comparable exchange rates).
Operating profit was EUR 18.3 million (EUR 20.2 million).
The Board of Directors has decided on 28 October 2025 on the payment of the second dividend installment of EUR 0.50 per share, based on the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting 2025. The record date for the dividend payment is 6 November 2025 and the payment date is 27 November 2025. The first dividend installment of EUR 0.50 per share was paid on 8 April 2025.
