Johanna Hult-Rentsch
Welcome everyone joining us today for our first quarter interim report. My name is Johanna, and I will be co-presenting together with my CFO, Jakob.
We entered 2026 with a high level of business activities, similar to the previous quarter, in fact. As I've mentioned before, maintaining a strong business momentum is a key ambition of mine, and I'm proud to see that this quarter, we are seeing results from our efforts, both in meeting customer needs, our letting activity, and on the transaction side.
Despite a turbulent macro environment with geopolitical tensions and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, we have successfully closed several important agreements. We delivered a strong letting performance, including several large lettings and a successful renegotiation stock with solid rental growth.
Net letting amounted to 20 million Swedish crowns, and we improved our occupancy rate. All of this net letting was generated from our office portfolio.
We likely have not seen yet the full long-term effects of the war in the Middle East, particularly regarding energy prices, inflation, and interest rates, but we are noting some volatility in market rates and slightly more cautious focus in the Swedish economy recovery. Far, we have not experienced any slowdown in corporate decision-making, but we remain mindful that this could change.
My guiding principle, however, is to focus on what we can control, and that is where we put in our efforts. That said, here and now, we are delivering.
Speaking of our strong business momentum, most notably, we recently signed a major combined asset swap with the Port of Gothenburg, creating multiple positive effects. In addition, in January, we signed a letter of intent regarding a future land allocation adjacent to Gothenburg Central Station, both of which I will return shortly.
Our finance function has also maintained a high level of activity, contributing positively to our earnings from property management this quarter. We also repurchased 95 million SEK of our Class B shares ahead of the AGM in March.
Looking at the figures for the quarter, rental income decreased by 2%, driven by net divestments last year and vacancies. Net operating income decreased by 4% due to these factors, of course, as well as higher costs related to a cold and very snowy winter.
At the same time, we report stable income from property management, it's up 1%, and it's supported by our active financing efforts. We have improved our net financials driven by lower average interest rate in our portfolio combined with reduced debts.
We have also continued to strengthen our financial position through extended capital duration, and by entering into new derivatives. That is a way that we navigate in a more volatile interest rate environment.
Of course, our concluded transaction agreements also contribute and provide increased flexibility going forward. Diving into our asset swap with Port of Gothenburg, we have completed this strategically important deal with the Port of Gothenburg, and that strengthens our growth journey within the industrial and logistics segment.
Let me elaborate a little bit on the concluded deal, and what we divest and what we acquire. The transaction makes us a net seller, releasing approximately 684 million Swedish crowns in capital.
The divestment is made slightly above book value. Closing is extended to no earlier than Q4 2026, and is subject to approval by the municipal council.
This is standard for municipality-owned entities. We divest land, water, and office building, and we buy a logistics building of 24,000 square meters.
This is what we divest: it's nine office buildings, and the occupancy rate is 71%, and we acquire this modern logistics building with Schenker as a tenant. We have also an expression of intent regarding a future development right of 9,000 square meters adjacent to this building.
If we look at this picture, on the left side, you can see Port 4. The divestment includes 22,000 square meters of logistics development rights that we sell.
In exchange for this, we get this modern income-generating asset in one of the strongest logistics location in the Nordics. We have approximately 25,000 square meters that we retain.
Overall, this is strategically important. It strengthens our portfolio, it release capital for continued growth, and contributes to long-term development of both Gothenburg and the Port of Gothenburg, something that is really positive also for our own property assets in Arendal.
This is a clear example how we actively manage our portfolio today, but we also building for the future. When the office market and the employment pick up again, we will be in a position to start larger office projects.
While that might take some years, we are already preparing for it. We have the building rights of two different areas.
We have both Stora BLA, comprising 40,000 square meters, and recently, we have also signed a new letter of intent with the City of Gothenburg for future building right adjacent to Gothenburg Central Station. It gives us approximately 100,000 square meter development potential with zoning plans in place, and a potential to start projects somewhere between 2028 and 2032.
We are very well-positioned to launch projects when the market is ready, and that will give us a clear leverage on value creation. Here, we see two of the projects that we are currently running.
One is ASSA in Port 4, which we have previously not communicated by name, and the other one is a joint venture in Sörred Logistikpark. This is where we have an option to acquire the asset upon completion.
Looking at net letting, which remains strong this quarter at 20 million SEK, all of the contribution comes from our office portfolio. In fact, we need to go back to second quarter of '24 to find a single quarter with a higher volume of renegotiations and a more positive outcome.
We have completed several new lettings, including 2,700 in Lilla Bommen and 3,300 square meters in Gamlestaden. At the same time, we have seen a strong ability to renegotiate with large volumes of 64 million Swedish crowns and a solid rental growth of 6% in those renegotiations.
Our tenant, Ramboll, has indicated that they will leave Gårda in August 2027 for Grand Central. They currently lease 4,900 square meters.
The tenant has not formally given notice, hence it does not reflect in the net letting of this quarter. If you look at this picture, we can see some of the activity that I have mentioned already.
If you then look at our customer base across our 724 lease agreements that we have at the moment, our 10 largest tenants account for 33% of our total contract value, and we have a very broad mix of tenants, including hotels, public sector, industrial, and office users. That creates a resilience and stability for us.
During this quarter, we increased our economic occupancy rate from 90.4% to 90.6%, and we reached a surplus ratio of 77% in the quarter and 79% if you look at the year-to-year. In terms of area distribution, our portfolio roughly is evenly split with industrial logistics and projects accounting for about 50%, and the other segment, offices, about 50%.
A little bit about the Gothenburg markets. At present, we are in a normalized economic environment in Gothenburg, slightly above 100, and the manufacturing PMI is at its highest level in four years.
The recovery is largely driven by households, and the service sector has strengthened to around 100, which is supportive for office demand over time. Unemployment has also decreased slightly to 6.4%, which is still the lowest figure in Sweden.
That said, we remain humble regarding the potential longer-term effects of geopolitical uncertainty. Gothenburg benefit from a unique mix of large international companies and innovative startups, combined with a highly educated workforce.
Around one in 10 people holds a Master of Science in Engineering. Gothenburg also plays a leading role as a center for R&D and innovation, acting as a strong engine for growth.
It's also Sweden's main export hub, and despite the trade war, export has remained surprisingly resilient last year. Around 10% go to the U.S.
and 70% to Europe. Global trade patterns are currently shifting through new trade agreements, which will be important to follow going forward.
The Port of Gothenburg also have reached new volumes of records last year, once again, I would say. The business landscape is broad and dynamic, and ranging from companies like Saab and growing defense sector, to significant investment in life science, which is actually currently the fastest growing segment for us.
We are more than just an automotive hub, although it is worth noting that Volvo Cars' new EX60 is being developed and produced here in Gothenburg with stronger than expected sales. Looking especially at manufacturing and the automotive sector, the industry is facing pressure from China and a stronger Swedish Krona.
However, according to the latest confidence indicators from Dagens Industri and the National Institute of Economic Research, based on very recent data from end of March, in other words, when the Middle East war had started, the sentiment has recovered to more normal levels. Let us look into our segment relevant to these businesses, industrial and logistics.
We experience a strong transaction market and high demand from investors with yields well below 5%. There is also strong demand in the letting market and a low vacancy rate in prime locations of 4%.
Turning to the office market in Gothenburg, the letting volume has decreased to around 75% of the 2024 levels. We are now in line with the same levels as 2019.
Activity remains solid, though, with similar numbers of leases signed, but smaller average size of each lease, the average size is around 500 square meters. Rental levels remain stable with prime rents of about 4,200 Kronor per square meter.
Vacancy has increased to around 14%. It's primarily driven by significant new office supply during 2021 and '22.
That was equivalent to 10 years of new supply that was put into the market in two years. This quarter also includes Kvarteret Johanna in the vacancy numbers, hence it's going up.
Looking ahead, no new project starts have taken place last year, and also not so far this year. We have now 60,000 square meter that is currently under construction, with completion in 2027, of which about 4,000 square meter remains unlet.
Beyond that, new supply is very limited the next few years. After 2028 and '29, we have virtually no new additions so far being added to the market, as a project like this takes about 3.5 years to produce.
A reduction of vacancy will take time, but it do requires that employment rate and the growth in the office-intensive sectors goes up. We'll have a look at that.
Unlike some other cities in Sweden, the employment rate in office-intensive sectors has not turned down, actually, during these three years of recession, but it has flattened out. Historically, though, the office-intensive sectors have grown by around 4% annually in Gothenburg, and that is really high.
Going forward, a more sustainable growth rate could be around 2%, assuming no major macro disruptions happens and that the expected turn in economy will take place, and that is numbers according to Citymark's newest analysis. With that, I also look into how our portfolio looks.
Looking at these sectors, this is our portfolio today. In summary, we continue to see stable property values totaling just above 30 billion, with yield requirements remaining around 5.1, in line with previous periods.
Market yields in the office segments are also supported by recent transactions, including Alecta's acquisition from Technopolis, and Folksam's purchase of Hertziahuset from Vasakronan. With that as a starting point, I will hand over to you, Jakob, to take us through the portfolio and financial key figures in more detail.
Jakob Nilsson
Thank you, Johanna. If I start where Johanna left off with our property portfolio, we continue, as Johanna said, with stable property values just about 30 billion Swedish crowns.
In the quarter, we have an unrealized value change of 40 million. That's driven by increased cash flow from lettings and renegotiations.
As Johanna said, the yield is the same as year-end at 5.1%. The investment volume was relatively low in the quarter, 57 million SEK, and the LTV ratio on total assets remained at 47%, just as at year-end.
If we look at the LTV ratio for our properties, it amounts to 49%, that as well as Q4 '25. If we look at the earnings, we delivered growth also in this quarter when it comes income from property management, +1% compared to Q1 2025.
If we look at the rental income, it decreased by 2% to 435 million, compared to 445 in the first quarter 2025. The decrease is mainly driven by that we have made divestments and that we have a higher vacancy in the portfolio.
The rental income of 435, I said, if we compare that to the indication we had in the earning capacity on January 1st, the rental income here exceeds the earning capacity by 13 million. That's mainly explained, as it also was in the two previous quarters, by rent supplements and short-term income such as parking.
The heavy winter meant higher costs for us, especially for snow removal and heating. This is reflected in our operating surplus, which decreased by 4% compared to 2025, and that's 15 million lower than first quarter 2025.
Now, as already mentioned, we still report growth in profit from property management of 1%, and that's due to that we have improved our net financial items by 19 million SEK to 126 million. That's driven both by lower debt volumes, lower rent levels, and better margins.
Compared with previous quarter, we improved the financial items by 7 million SEK. The improved net financial items enabled us also to increase the interest cover ratio to 3.6, while the reduction we had in operating surplus made that we have an increase in net debt compared to EBITDA on up to 11.5 for the quarter.
We have continued to work actively with the financing during the quarter, which I will return to. If we summarize, we continue to have growth in income from property management.
We have stable property values and stable financial key ratios that have strengthened over the last year. Finally, I would like to mention profit after tax, which in the quarter amounted to 268 million or 2.26 SEK per share.
The earnings were positively impacted by unrealized value changes in financial instruments of 98 million SEK. Then let's look a little bit more closely at the reasons for the development during the quarter, divided into our three pillars: like-for-like, projects, and transaction.
We start with revenues. We see that we are increasing revenues in the like-for-like portfolio, and that's mainly a net effect of index increases and higher vacancies.
The decrease of 8 million in projects mainly refers to the fact that Mandlig Helsecare left its premises in our property in Gamlestaden this summer. Part of that premises, we have leased out, 3,300 square meters, and that will be occupancy late this year.
The decrease in transaction is a net effect of the sale of the English School in Q1 2025 and the acquisition of the industrial property in Tuve that we made in the autumn. In total, it means that we reduced the revenue by 2% in the quarter.
In the middle row, we have our property costs, which we increased by 5 million SEK or 5% compared with the corresponding quarter last year. That mostly is in the like-for-like portfolio.
That, as said, is explained by the cold and snowy winter. Both heating costs and snow removal increased sharply, totaling 5.3 million SEK, and 4.8 of those were in the like-for-like portfolio.
In projects, cost decreased due to a one-off payment 2025. In transactions, there are increased costs for property tax, but also media due to the winter.
In total, it means that we are reducing the operating surplus in both the like-for-like, project, and transaction by a total of 15 million or 4%. The surplus ratio for the quarter was 77%, but 79% rolling 12 months.
In summary, revenues declining as expected from that we have been a net seller in the previous year, as well as that we have a higher vacancy in the office portfolio. This, together with increased costs for the winter, results in a reduction in operating surplus overall.
As before, we are fully focused on vacancies and lettings, and we are pleased to see that we have shown positive net letting in this quarter as well. We are also continuing our strong cost focus where we were successful in the previous year.
Let's look at our financing. We have a stable financial position.
As mentioned, we have strengthened our credit-related key figures over the past year. If we look at the market, the quarter began, as the end of last year, with a strong banking and capital market with continued declining credit margins.
In connection with the conflict in the Middle East, the situation changed rapidly, especially in the fixed income market, with high volatility and increased interest rates, especially in the short term. On the bond side, we feel that it's relatively stable.
We estimate that the credit spread for us has increased about 15% since the bottom, which means that we are back on the same levels as in the autumn 2025. During the quarter, we were active with our financing.
We refinanced bank loans of approximately 1 billion and issued 150 million SEK in bonds. In February, before the conflict in the Middle East, we extended interest rate swaps of 700 million SEK.
The net outgoing debt increased slightly during the quarter. As you can see, the closing average interest rate was 3.46% including commitment fees, that is one basis point higher than the closing at year-end.
We had during the quarter rising interest rates with nine basis points, but they were offset by lower margins, we could basically stay at the same average rate. For both net debt compared to EBITDA rolling 12, the share of secured financing, and the LTV ratio have been small movements during the quarter.
The interest cover ratio, the ICR, 12 rolling 12 months increased slightly to 2.5. In February, our rating institute, NCR, published a rating action report in which they confirmed our existing long-term BBB- rating with stable outlook, while they raised our short-term rating from N4 to N3.
As mentioned, we were active in the fixed income market before the conflict in the Middle East and signed derivative contracts of 700 million SEK, which allowed us to increase our average fixed interest period slightly, but rounded off 2.8 years as previous quarter. If we look at the chart, from year one and going forward, we have an even and good distribution of maturities over the next 5 to 6 years, and we have also some maturities longer than that.
Of the 32% that matures within one year, 5% of those are cancellable swaps that are running. The refinancings we made in the quarter have meant that we have further extended our credit maturity, and the capital duration is now 2.8 years in average, from 2.7 years a quarter ago.
As on the fixed income side, we aim for an even maturity for each coming year. To sum up the financing, we have significantly improved the financial position over the last year.
The growth in our earnings, combined with a larger liquidity buffer and the upgrade of the rating in 2025, has given us much better opportunities to actively work with our capital, both in the financing, but also in projects or transactions, all to great value for the shareholders. An example of such a transaction is the combination deal that Johanna mentioned earlier.
I will now go into more detail about the effects the transaction will have on our key figures. As Johanna explained, the transaction means that we are net sellers in an amount of 684 million SEK, which means that our loan-to-value ratio will decrease by 1 percentage point, all other things alike, of course.
Based on our earning capacity on April 1st included in today's report, net earning capacity will decrease by 75 million SEK, while rental income will decrease by 49 million and operating surplus by 39 million. Then we take into account both what we sell and that we buy, of course, the total deal in those numbers.
If we then calculate reduced interest costs and use the average rate that we have of approximately 3.5%, it means that we will have a total effect in income from property management of approximately 15 million SEK, a reduction in income from property management of 15. In the office portfolio that we are selling, the economic occupancy rate is 71%, 71, which means that our total occupancy rate will increase by about 1% when the deal is completed.
However, as a large proportion of the vacancies in what we sell are classified as projects, the transaction will have a marginal impact on the reported occupancy rate, which is currently 90.6%, since that is excluding land and projects. Growth: Platzer have a long history of growth since 2013, when Platzer was listed.
On average, we have grown income from property management per share by 13% per year. During the same period, the net asset value per share has grown by an average of 14% per year, and the dividend by an average of 12% for the same period.
During the quarter, we continued to create value for our shareholders by being active both in property management, projects, transactions, and our financing. The Platzer share: between December 10 and until the AGM on March 24, we repurchased shares for value of 95 million SEK, in accordance with the resolved share buyback program of 100 million.
At the AGM, there was a renewed mandate for further share purchases. Sustainability: our sustainability transition continues and is now fully integrated into the business.
The share of sustainable financing now amounts to 75%, an increase of another two percentage points since we closed the year. Last time, I told you that we have a strong focus on reducing our climate emissions, especially in renovations.
We are intensifying our work on circularity and resource efficiency with our concept of interior design called Cirkulär. We make it easy for the customers to choose sustainable solutions and cost-effectively.
During the year, the concept was used in all tenant adaptations and contributed to reducing emissions by 180 tons of CO2 equivalents, which is the same as actually 37.5 laps around the world in a car, quite amazing. We have been good at improving energy efficiency for many years.
In this quarter, though, the cold winter had an impact, and we increased the energy use compared to Quarter 1 2025. If we look on a longer perspective, we decreased it 40% since 2013.
This is good for the environment, for the customers, and for our bottom line. Over to you, Johanna.
Johanna Hult-Rentsch
Thank you. I would like to sum up.
We have maintained a high level of business activity during the quarter across letting, transactions, and finance, and that is a pace that we intend to sustain. Our focus is clear: to reduce vacancies, strengthen cash flow, and stay close to our customers.
We are taking pride in acting fast, professional, and being flexible in every deal. Filling our vacancies is where we create value here and now, and it will remain our top priority going forward.
At the same time, we also continue to invest for the future through active portfolio rotation, for example, such as the Port of Gothenburg deal that we described, and through growth in industrial and logistics by project developments and transaction, and by securing opportunities for the next generations of office projects. The outlook for Swedish economy and for the Gothenburg region is improving, although it will take some time.
While the global environment remain uncertain, we remain focused on what we can control and where we can make a difference. We have proven our ability to deliver and to be long-term specialists in a dynamic growing city, and we have the same ambition going forward.
With that, and I would like to thank you for listening, and we are happy to take questions.
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