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VW's Northvolt stake had book value of 693 mln euros at

end-2023

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Pension fund AMF: regularly reviewing holdings in unlisted

firms

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VW will not comment on fallout of Northvolt bankruptcy

filing

By Christina Amann

BERLIN, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Volkswagen,

Northvolt's top shareholder, has significantly written down its

21% stake in the Swedish battery cells maker that filed for

bankruptcy protection in the United States last week, two people

familiar with the matter said.

Several of Northvolt's top shareholders have been cutting or

reviewing the value of their holdings in the firm, which has

kept missing production targets as an expected boom in electric

vehicle demand has failed to materialise in Europe.

The writedowns at Volkswagen were done throughout the

current financial year, the people said, without giving the

stake's current value.

At the end of 2023, Volkswagen reported the book value of

its shareholding in the Swedish firm at 693 million euros ($726

million), down nearly a quarter from a year earlier.

That value dropped dramatically over the course of 2024, the

people said. They declined to be identified because the

information is confidential.

Volkswagen expects an operating profit margin of 5.6% and

net cash flow in the automobile division of 2 billion euros in

2024.

Volkswagen declined to comment on the writedowns,

reiterating that it would not make any statements on the impact

Northvolt's filing will have on the company.

The Financial Times on Saturday reported that funds managed

by Goldman Sachs ( GS ), Northvolt's second-largest shareholder

with a 19.2% stake, would write off their $900 million stake in

Northvolt to zero by year-end, citing letters to investors.

Swedish pension fund AMF, also among Northvolt's top 10

shareholders, said it was regularly reviewing and adjusting the

values of its unlisted holdings, but offered no details when

asked about its Northvolt stake.

"As is obvious to everyone, the value of Northvolt is

considerably lower than it was compared to a year ago," an AMF

spokesman said, adding the pension fund had invested the

equivalent of 1.95 billion Swedish crowns ($178 million) through

the years.

($1 = 0.9550 euros)

($1 = 10.9793 Swedish crowns)