MuniFin’s business operations remained strong in 2023, propelled especially by the housing sector’s high demand for financing late in the year. In municipalities, 2023 was the first year when municipalities were no longer responsible for organising healthcare, social welfare and rescue services. Municipal finances were supported by temporary tax benefits stemming from the health and social services reform, which meant that municipalities experienced less demand for financing. Municipalities had also prepared relatively well for the general rise in interest rate levels through interest rate hedging and longterm interest rates.
Hospital districts – the predecessors of the new wellbeing services counties – had proactively prepared for their financing needs by withdrawing financing in advance, but wellbeing services counties’ demand for financing nevertheless increased towards the end of the year.
In 2023, the Municipal Guarantee Board’s limit for MuniFin’s long-term loans to wellbeing services counties was EUR 400 million. Because the counties’ government-authorised borrowing powers in 2023 were considerably higher than this, their financing needs were also higher than the limit imposed on us. MuniFin reached the EUR 400 million limit before the end of the year and could no longer fulfil counties’ financing requests for 2023 after that.
New long-term customer financing remained almost on the same level as in 2022. In total, long-term customer financing at year-end amounted to EUR 32.0 billion at the end of 2023.
2023 key figures
32
EUR bn
Long-term customer financing per Dec 31,2023
10.1
EUR bn
New long-term funding per Dec 31,2023
7.0
EUR bn
Outstanding amount of sustainable finance per Dec 31,2023
6.53
Willingness to recommend (scale 1–7)
Esa Kallio: CEO’s review
Operations remained stable
“The year 2023 was the fourth consecutive year marked by instability. The rising geopolitical tensions and market volatility did not affect MuniFin’s performance, and we were able to successfully carry out our core mandate of ensuring the availability of affordable long-term financing for our customers.”
Esa Kallio: CEO’s review
Operations remained stable
“The year 2023 was the fourth consecutive year marked by instability. The rising geopolitical tensions and market volatility did not affect MuniFin’s performance, and we were able to successfully carry out our core mandate of ensuring the availability of affordable long-term financing for our customers.”
Business operations
Sustainable finance products keep increasing in popularity
We offer our customers green and social finance for their sustainable investments. The demand for our green finance remained exceptionally high. At the end of 2023, there were 360 green projects with outstanding financing, and our green finance totalled EUR 4.8 billion.
Social finance also continued to gain more demand. At the end of 2023, there were 117 social projects with outstanding financing, and our social finance totalled EUR 2.2 billion.
Sustainable finance products keep increasing in popularity
We offer our customers green and social finance for their sustainable investments. The demand for our green finance remained exceptionally high. At the end of 2023, there were 360 green projects with outstanding financing, and our green finance totalled EUR 4.8 billion.
Social finance also continued to gain more demand. At the end of 2023, there were 117 social projects with outstanding financing, and our social finance totalled EUR 2.2 billion.
Number of green and social finance projects in 2019–2023
Through our green and social finance, we want to encourage our customers to make environmentally and socially sustainable investments.
The demand for our green finance remained exceptionally high. At the end of 2023, there were 360 green projects with outstanding financing, and our green finance totalled EUR 4.8 billion.
Social finance also continued to gain more demand. At the end of 2023, there were 117 social projects with outstanding financing, and our social finance totalled EUR 2.2 billion.
MuniFin's sustainability agenda
Enabler of sustainable welfare in society
Our updated strategy puts sustainability even more front and centre in our operations.
Our sustainability work is now guided by the sustainability agenda we published in October 2023. It also crystallises our role and long-term sustainability goals.
Capital markets were highly unstable in 2023. The year was marked by uncertainty resulting from geopolitical confrontations and central bank actions to curb inflation. In early 2023, our funding operations were complicated by the rapidly growing inflation, global banking sector problems and swiftly rising interest rates. In this fast-changing environment, the careful timing of transactions was particularly critical. Towards the spring, the actions of the central banks became more transparent, inflation started to subside, and markets regained confidence during the summer and early autumn. In the autumn, however, the deteriorating overall economic outlook brought on new challenges. Late in the year, margins grew wider and the situation in the euro market became particularly difficult.
Once again, our funding strategy proved effective despite the unstable market environment. We retained strong access to capital markets throughout the year, and the average cost of our funding remained at a low level. We expanded our funding programme somewhat when our customers required more financing than we had initially anticipated.
In total, we made 87 long-term funding arrangements in 12 different currencies. Our new long-term funding in 2023 totalled EUR 10.1 billion.
New long-term funding by region in 2023
Our funding strategy relies on diversifying our funding sources to ensure that our customers have access to financing in all market conditions.
Employee experience efforts yielded great results
At the end of 2023, MuniFin had 185 employees working in various specialist positions. Good employee experience is an important goal for us. We measure employee satisfaction through an anonymous survey conducted annually by an independent research company and follow up with a development plan based on the results, focusing on the most important areas of development identified together. Our employees have been closely involved in planning and implementing measures to improve our employee experience.
Our employee experience has developed positively. In March 2023, we were ranked among Finland’s most inspiring workplaces based on the results of our 2022 employee experience survey. Our 2023 survey results not only exceeded the average for Finnish expert organisations, but also showed an improvement over the previous year.
We invest in skills development. In updating our strategy, we established skills development as one of our strategic cornerstones.
The Municipality Finance Group’s net operating profit excluding unrealised fair value changes in January–December 2023 increased by 3.2% and amounted to EUR 176 million (EUR 170 million).
The net interest income grew by 7.5% propelled by rising short-term market rates and totalled EUR 259 million (EUR 241 million). The growth in result was slowed down by an increase in costs.
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The first half of 2023 was marked by continued economic uncertainty. The Russian invasion of Ukraine gave rise to an energy crisis and caused the cost of living to shoot up, inflicting concern and complicating the economic situation. At MuniFin, our operations remained stable and we were able to successfully carry out our core mandate of ensuring the availability of affordable financing for our customers.
The Group’s net operating profit excluding unrealised fair value changes amounted to EUR 81 million in January–June, growing from the comparison period and exceeding the previous year’s figure by 9.3%. The increase in net operating profit was affected by significant non-recurring item included in the comparison period’s costs and increase in net interest income of 2%.
The past year was again marked by general economic uncertainty, even after the exceptional uncertainty of the COVID years. In these uncertain times, our role in ensuring our customers’ operations and acting as our customers’ trusted partner has grown even more important.
In 2022, the demand for our financing was slightly lower than expected. In the municipal sector, customers had less demand for finance because their income was higher than expected and tax cuts related to the social and health services reform will not be fully implemented until 2024.. In the housing sector, the materials shortage and the rising cost of raw materials slowed down construction projects. Hospital districts and joint municipal authorities sought funding more actively than we had expected.
Our funding remained stable even under the exceptional circumstances of 2022, and we continued to enjoy strong investor demand. The economic and geopolitical upheaval of 2022 has not affected MuniFin’s profitability. As expected, our result was lower in 2022 than in 2021 mostly due to planned changes in pricing.
CEO’s review
As the world shook, MuniFin’s role grew even more important
“Finland’s geopolitical and geoeconomical position upended in early 2022. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine intensified the economic and social uncertainties of the COVID pandemic fallout, pushed inflation into a gallop and quickly escalated interest hikes. In this turmoil, MuniFin’s role in securing Finland’s security of supply grew even stronger.”
CEO’s review
As the world shook, MuniFin’s role grew even more important
“Finland’s geopolitical and geoeconomical position upended in early 2022. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine intensified the economic and social uncertainties of the COVID pandemic fallout, pushed inflation into a gallop and quickly escalated interest hikes. In this turmoil, MuniFin’s role in securing Finland’s security of supply grew even stronger.”
MuniFin’s operations continued steadily
Finland’s geopolitical and geoeconomical position upended in early 2022 as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine intensified economic and social uncertainties. In this turmoil, MuniFin’s role as a key player in securing Finland’s security of supply grew even stronger. Watch the video for a brief summary of the year 2022.
The Municipality Finance Group’s net operating profit excluding unrealised fair value changes amounted to EUR 170 million in 2022 (EUR 213 million).
As expected, it decreased from the comparison year’s exceptionally good result and was 20.0% lower than in the year before (8.0% growth in 2021). This drop was influenced by the change in credit terms applied in late 2021 for the benefit of the Group’s customers. The Group’s net interest income totalled EUR 241 million (EUR 280 million) in January–December.
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In the first half of 2022, the operating environment was again turbulent, but MuniFin’s business operations remained stable and continued without disruptions.
Finland’s economic and employment situation exceeded expectations in 2021 and reached a surprisingly good level.
The central government’s COVID-19 support package ensured that municipalities have not had to shoulder the negative economic effects of the pandemic. As a result, the municipal sector’s demand for financing was lower than expected in 2021. The demand for state-subsidised housing finance grew moderately, as expected.
New long-term financing totalled EUR 3.7 billion in 2021. The Group’s net operating profit excluding unrealised fair value changes amounted to EUR 213 million and it increased by 8.0%.
More customer benefits and support amidst change
Finland’s economy grew more than expected in 2021. The central government’s COVID-19 support temporarily improved the financial situation in municipalities, reducing their demand for financing. Our green and social finance continued growing. Watch the video for a brief summary of the year 2021.
The Municipality Finance Group’s net operating profit excluding unrealised fair value changes amounted EUR 213 million (EUR 197 million) in 2021 and it increased by 8.0% (6.2%). The Group’s net interest income totalled EUR 280 million (EUR 254 million) and grew by 10.3% (5.8%).
Costs in the financial year amounted to EUR 72 million (EUR 58 million). Costs excluding the non-recurring item grew as expected and were EUR 2.6 million higher, making the figure 4.4% greater than in the previous year.
The net operating profit amounted to EUR 240 million (EUR 194 million). Unrealised fair value changes amounted to EUR 27 million (EUR -3 million) in the financial year.
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The Group maintained its strong market position and its results improved substantially compared to last year. The growth of MuniFin’s loan portfolio returned to normal levels from the spike in demand created by the COVID-19 pandemic a year earlier. MuniFin’s own funding from international markets continued to succeed very well.
The COVID-19 pandemic strained the economy in 2020, but the worst of the predicted crisis scenarios did not materialise.
The year was unusual in many ways, substantially increasing the demand for MuniFin’s services. Our funding operations were highly successful despite the challenging market situation.
