Value of state holdings reached EUR 38 billion in 2025

Value of state holdings reached EUR 38 billion in 2025

At the end of 2025, the value of the State's corporate holdings rose to around EUR 38 billion, while revenue from corporate holdings grew to EUR 1.94 billion. The total return on holdings in state-owned listed companies rose to 47.9 per cent.

At the end of 2025, the total value of all state holdings was around EUR 38 billion, compared with EUR 30 billion in 2024. The value of state holdings was especially boosted by a very strong increase in the value of holdings in listed companies. The increase in the value of Fortum and Neste in particular had a significant impact on the development of the portfolio due to the large weight of these two companies. The total return on the State's share portfolio was 47.9 (-23.8) per cent, supported by excellent performance in both the State's directly held portfolio, 55.8 (-34.9) per cent, and that of Solidium, 36.5 (-8.8) per cent.

In 2025, the State received a total of EUR 1.94 billion in dividends and share sale proceeds from its corporate holdings, compared with EUR 1.45 billion in 2024.

The market value of all state-owned listed companies at the end of the year was EUR 25.0 (17.7) billion. Of this, the State's direct holdings in listed companies accounted for EUR 16.0 (10.8) billion of the total market value, while Solidium's holdings amounted to EUR 9.0 (6.9) billion. The total value of non-listed corporate holdings according to the ownership steering valuation at the end of the year was approximately EUR 12.7 (12.1) billion.

In 2025, the operating environment for companies was still characterised by weak economic growth, a high level of uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical tensions. The combined turnover and operating profit of state-owned companies remained at the same level as in the previous year, but investments by non-listed companies took an upward turn, totalling EUR 1,047 million in 2025.

"Although the overall state of the economy was still challenging for many sectors, we also saw increasing optimism in the performance of state-owned companies. The companies' long-term efforts to improve competitiveness and profitability were visible in their strong financial performance," said Maija Strandberg, Director General of the Ownership Steering Department at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the end of 2025, the State had corporate holdings in 73 companies, of which 41 were commercial companies and 32 were special assignment companies. State-owned companies employed 275,000 (280,000) persons in total.

Posti Group listed on stock exchange, State becomes majority owner of Valmet Automotive

With regard to corporate restructuring, 2025 was an active year for state ownership steering. The initial public offering and sale of Posti Group shares took place in autumn 2025. Posti shares attracted investors from both Finland and abroad, with share sales oversubscribed many times over. Demand was boosted by the fact that investors also had the opportunity to purchase shares entitling them to bonus shares. The price of Posti's shares was set in the initial public offering at EUR 7.50 apiece, and at the end of the year, the company's share price was EUR 8.6. The share price thus increased by 14 per cent in the latter part of the year. With the listing and sale of shares, the State now owns 65.8 per cent of Posti's shares. The State received EUR 100 million in proceeds from the sale, along with an additional dividend of EUR 150 million paid in January 2025 as part of the listing project.

In autumn 2025, the State also became the majority owner of Valmet Automotive. In connection with the acquisition, Valmet's subsidiary Ioncor was transferred to Finnish Minerals Group.

Financing the Government's investment programme and boosting growth

As part of the work to advance the objectives of the Government Programme, the Ownership Steering Department has drawn up a plan to finance the Government's investment programme with revenue from corporate holdings. The goal is to use EUR three billion in state revenue from corporate holdings to finance the investment programme.

The financing plan drawn up by the Ownership Steering Department involves using annual dividend income exceeding the baseline, dismantling the overcapitalisation and excess liquidity of companies, possible company restructurings and the sale of shares in listed companies.

In 2025, the amount of revenue generated for the Government's investment programme totalled EUR 837 million with EUR 352 million generated in the previous year, for a total of EUR 1,189 million. The financing for 2025 consisted of proceeds from the sale of Posti shares, dividends, Solidium's additional capital repayments related to sales proceeds from Kemira and Mandatum, and other capital repayments.

"The sale of well-performing listed companies to finance investments should be carefully considered, especially when it comes to the timing of sales and actual liquidity needs. I think it is our duty as a shareholder to create the conditions for companies to grow. The use of profitable portfolio assets to finance government investments should be assessed thoroughly. Profitable assets should not be sold to cover consumption expenditure," said Maija Strandberg.

From the perspective of ownership steering, the most important thing would be for the State to have a long-term parliamentary consensus on the objectives of corporate ownership beyond individual government terms.

"The use of our portfolio to create new business is something we should always evaluate comprehensively. We need to be sure we are using the balance sheets of state-owned companies in an efficient way. Our common goal should be to safeguard and increase shareholder value for future generations. When companies are sold, there is little domestic capital available to replace state ownership, meaning that ownership easily moves abroad," said Maija Strandberg.

Aiming for equality in the composition of boards and reducing emissions from the corporate portfolio

Appointing members to the boards of directors of state-owned companies is a key component of the State's active ownership steering. In 2025, 478 members were appointed to the boards of directors of state-owned companies. The State assesses the composition of boards and the competencies required of candidates as a whole and strives to ensure that the boards have sufficiently wide-ranging expertise in relation to the situation and strategy of each company.

When appointing members to the boards of directors of state-owned companies, the State aims to ensure a balanced gender distribution. In 2025, women accounted for 43 (42) per cent of the members of the boards of all state-owned companies. The share of women among board chairs and company CEOs has grown steadily in recent years: In 2025, 29 (27) per cent of chairs and 27 (23) per cent of CEOs were women.

"We pay attention to diversity issues beyond gender equality while also anticipating possible changes in the composition of boards. We expect board members to be willing and able to commit to the company and devote the time needed for the task," said Maija Strandberg.

One of the State's key objectives is to reduce the total emissions of its company portfolio. In 2025, total emissions amounted to 47 (52) million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Absolute emissions decreased by 10 per cent, while carbon intensity decreased by 3 per cent. The total emissions of Neste, Gasum and Finnvera, for example, saw significant decreases during the year.

Inquiries: Maija Strandberg, Director General, Ownership Steering Department, Prime Minister's Office, tel. +358 50 407 8423

The email addresses of the Finnish Government are in the format [email protected]