Finland's Sampo proceeds with dual listing in Stockholm to attract more investors

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Finnish insurer Sampo said on Wednesday it would list its shares in Stockholm on top of its trading in Helsinki to attract more investors, and reported a quarterly profit drop.

While Sweden is Sampo's biggest market, only about 5% of the company's investors are based there, Chief Executive Torbjorn Magnusson told Reuters in September when the company first said it was considering a Stockholm listing.

"The board believes that a dual listing in Stockholm offers significant potential for increased demand for Sampo shares, particularly among Swedish domestic and index funds, and higher liquidity over the medium term," Chairman Bjorn Wahlroos said.

Sampo said in a statement it aimed for shares to start trading on Nasdaq Stockholm, the Nordic region's biggest bourse, in the second half of November.

A dual Stockholm listing will not alter the overall number of shares in the group, the company has said.

Sampo in April sold its last stake in the Nordic region's biggest bank, Nordea after announcing in February 2021 a strategic shift to focus on insurance only. It had previously been the lender's biggest owner.

The Nordic insurance industry has undergone significant consolidation in recent decades, leaving little space for more, Sampo's CEO said in September.

Sampo, which owns several insurers such as Sweden's If and Denmark's Topdanmark, posted a 36% drop in July-September pretax profit to 407 million euros ($402 million), just beating a 403 million mean forecast in a Vara Research poll provided by Sampo.

The company's share price fell 3.7% by 0813 GMT on Wednesday. Its shares are still up 6% year-to-date, however, outperforming a 17% drop in Helsinki's benchmark index, as it benefits from rising global interest rates which are boosting the long-term profit outlook for insurers.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik and Kim Coghill)