We achieved our financial targets

The PRH achieved most of the financial targets for the year 2019 laid out in the performance agreement between the PRH and the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

In 2019, our income totalled EUR 52.5 million and the expenditure EUR 51.4 million. The surplus, calculated on the basis of the income and expenditure, totalled EUR 1.1 million.

Financing structure

The PRH is a net-budgeted agency. This means that most of our operating costs are covered with the fees that we charge for such work as the processing of notifications and applications and for information services. By law, the fees must cover the costs incurred by the PRH in carrying out its tasks, but they should not lead to a significant surplus on a continuous basis.

We received an appropriation of EUR 919,000 as part of the central government spending limits for expenses arising from the processing of matters concerning associations and religious communities. The services performed for these customers are priced below cost for social policy reasons. The appropriation is only intended to cover the costs of operating the Register of Associations, and it does not include funding for investments such as information system projects.

The PRH was also granted appropriations for the following tasks: oversight of foundations (EUR 650,000), information disclosure compensation (EUR 214,000), maintenance of the register of industrial property attorneys (EUR 80,000), monitoring of collective copyright management (EUR 120,000), and for auditor oversight (EUR 2.3 million).

The PRH was also granted EUR 1 million for the maintenance of the Business Information System (BIS), in a transfer from the Finnish Tax Administration.

Total operating income and expenditure

According to the income and expenditure sheet, our income from operations totalled EUR 52.6 million, which consisted almost exclusively of income from ordinary operations.

The income decreased by EUR 6.5 million from the previous year. The reduction is partially due to exceptionally high non-recurring LEI fee income in 2018 and the lowering of Trade Register fees at the start of 2019.

Operating expenditure totalled EUR 56.2 million, an increase of about eight per cent from the previous year.

Staff expenses (EUR 28.2 million) were the biggest expenditure item, accounting for slightly more than half of the total expenditure. Staff expenses increased by EUR 2 million. In addition to the wage increases laid out in collective agreements, staff expenses were also boosted by recruitments.

Purchases of external services (EUR 20.9 million) were the second biggest expenditure item and they increased by about EUR 2 million from 2018.

Balance sheet

The balance sheet total on 31 December 2019 was EUR 29.3 million. The balance sheet total increased by about EUR 2 million due to the increase in long-term expenditure arising from higher investments.

On the assets side, the majority of the balance sheet total (about EUR 28 million) consists of intangible assets. The value of unfinished investments decreased by about EUR 5 million because a large proportion of the investments in the Register of Associations were capitalised.

The assets side consists almost entirely of capitalised development items for the PRH’s data systems and related IT software.

The liabilities side of the balance sheet comprises State equity and the changes in PRH equity in the previous years (totalling EUR 13.8 million).

A total of about EUR 7 million was spent on investments in fixed assets (mainly data systems) during the year. Investments decreased by EUR 1 million from the previous year.

Current receivables and other financial assets, which are included in inventories and current assets, decreased by about EUR 1.1 million. This was mainly due to a decline in current receivables and accrued income.