Neobo Fastigheter (Stockholm:NEOBO) Q4 2025 Earnings Call

0:01 Thank you very much and good morning everyone and welcome to the presentation of NioBo's full year report. My name is Ylva Saarby Westman and I'm joined here today by our CFO Maria Strandberg. 2025 was a strong year for NioBo with positive performance across all operations. Profit from property management improved significantly to 201 million, despite the loss of NOI from properties divested in 2024 and 2025. And this corresponds to an increase per share of 34%. Rental income in the Like for Like portfolio increased by 5% as a result of the annual rent increases and rent uplifts from value adding apartment renovations.

0:51 Net operating income increased by 10% in the Like for Like portfolio, driven by both higher rental income and lower property management costs. For the full year, we are reporting positive unrealized value changes in properties of 16 million due to improved NOI following investments. Our property portfolio is valued at 13.6 billion and comprises 8,100 apartments. Residential properties account for 94% of the total value. Our portfolio generates an annual rental value exceeding one billion, and it has been positively impacted by, among other things, a 4.8 rent increase in the residential portfolio and rent growth from apartment renovations.

1:43 Rent negotiations for 2026 are ongoing and so far agreements covering 46% of the residential rental income has been reached, resulting in an average uplift of 3.4%. And most increases took effect on January 1st and the remaining negotiations are expected to be finalized during the spring. Our occupancy rate has reached an all-time high of 93.7% compared to 92% when Neobu was formed, driven by successful leasing efforts and the divestment of properties with low occupancy rates. And I'm pleased to highlight a positive performance by our team in Sundsvall, which has reduced the vacancy rate in our apartments in the municipality sharply from 6.8% in the beginning of last year to 1.5% today. And here we have worked strategically to improve marketing and the sales process overall.

2:46 We have made a strong start in optimizing our portfolio and divested low yielding properties with an underlying value of 404 million. The divestments generated liquidity that will be used for value generating investments and share buybacks. Overall, the Swedish transaction market showed continued improvement as total transaction volume increased by 23% year on year. We continue to create value through strategic improvements and during the year we invested 239 million in value creating initiatives that increased our NOI and refined our properties. This includes renovation of 100 apartments and a number of tenant adaptations and energy optimization investments.

3:36 Two examples that I would like to highlight. In Nynäshamn, Stockholm, we renovated 11 apartments during the year and upgraded the interiors to modern standards. The renovations improved functionality and added energy-sufficient solutions. The total investment amounts to 5.5 million and has generated a yield and cost of 7%. And here we can see a few examples before and after photos. And some of the renovations in Nynäshamn generated rent increases exceeding 50%, while the average rent uplift after renovations was 40%.

4:23 In Folköping, we converted the existing heating system to solar hybrid technology, including upgraded ventilation systems and energy monitoring. And this resulted in a 50% reduction in energy consumption. And the investment amounted to 2.3 million and generated a yield on cost of 13%. During the year, we strengthen our efforts in key sustainability areas, successfully meeting all 2025 sustainability targets and laying the foundation for further progress. And one of our main sustainability goals is to reduce energy use in our properties. And our initiatives are paying off. Energy consumption in the Like for Life portfolio dropped by 5% during the year, keeping us on track with our energy roadmap.

5:18 Some additional comments on our year-end results. We continue to focus on cost reductions. Total property management costs fell by 14 million year-on-year, driven by lower costs in the like-for-like portfolio and the absence of costs from divested properties. The decrease in the like-for-like portfolio was due to savings in property operations and energy, as well as a milder winter. Maintenance and property administration costs also declined during the year. Excluding items affecting comparability in the preceding year, central administration costs increased by 5 million due to the organization now being fully established. Net financial items are in line with last year, and as mentioned earlier, profit from property management per share increased by 34% year on year.

6:10 An overview of Neobu's earnings capacity shows that net operating income decreased by 11 million, primarily due to divestments. Net financial items decreased by 9 million following refinancing and property sales and the initial net yield remains at 4.0%. At the end of the year the property portfolio was valued at 13.6 billion and the decrease is mainly due to divestments carried out during the year. Increased NOI has led to positive unrealized value changes of 16 million, and the average weighted yield requirement remains at 5.1%.

7:01 We have a strong financial position with growing cash flows. The ICR improved to 1.8 times, which is all-time high for a full year, and the loan-to-value ratio decreased to 50.0%. We have an average interest rate of 3.3% at the end of the year and available liquidity of 275 million. We have refinanced and extended bank loans close to 4 billion on attractive terms and linked 25% of our loans to Neobo's overall sustainability goals, driving transparency and showing our commitment to the sustainable transition. To increase the predictability of future cash flows and mitigate the financial risk, we employ interest rate derivatives.

7:52 And at the end of the period, the aggregated nominal value of active swaps was 5.9 billion. Our key mission is to create value for our shareholders. And in the current market climate, we believe that share buybacks combined with continued investments in our properties are the most effective way to generate attractive returns for our shareholders. The liquidity released from completed divestments will therefore be used for both purposes. And today the board of directors has decided on a new dividend policy and to increase the pace of share buybacks ahead of the 2026 AGM by launching a new program of up to 50 million once the ongoing 50 million buyback program has been completed.

8:43 In summary, it has been a strong year proving that our business model works. We have delivered strong profit growth and succeeded in reaching the highest total occupancy rate ever. We have refinanced and extended bank loans for nearly 4 billion at attractive conditions and linked 25% of our loans to our corporate sustainability goals. We have continued to optimize our portfolio and the divestment of non-core properties has generated liquidity that we will use for share buybacks and value creating property investments. And we are now increasing the pace of share buybacks to ensure the highest total return for our shareholders.

9:28 Finally, we see attractive opportunities ahead and look forward to realizing the excellent potential in Miobo. And with that, we would like to open the floor for questions. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad. There are no more phone questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.

10:22 Okay, and we don't have any recent questions either. So thank you very much, everyone, for listening in and have a good day.