CWQXF - Castellum AB (publ) (CWQXF) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-05-03 11:05:22 ET
Castellum AB (publ) (CWQXF)
Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call
May 3, 2024, 3:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Joacim Sjöberg - Chief Executive Officer
Jens Andersson - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Erik Granström - Carnegie
Lars Norrby - SEB
John Vuong - Van Lanschot Kempen
Albin Sandberg - Kepler
Markus Henriksson - ABG Sundal Collier
Paul May - Barclays
Jonathan Kownator - GS
Presentation
Operator
Welcome to Castellum Q1 Report 2024. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions]
Now I will hand the conference over to CEO, Joacim Sjöberg; and CFO, Jens Andersson. Please go ahead.
Joacim Sjöberg
Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. I’d like to start by drawing your attention to the picture on the first page of our presentation. It shows one of our recently started projects, the complete renovation of three buildings in Stockholm, of which one, the one with the reddish facade, is designed by the renowned architect Ralph Erskine. Thus, the project is named Erskine & Friends in his honor. That was just a glimpse of what we are going to hear more about later.
So, our main strategic decision last year, the rights issue of SEK10 billion and the divestment of properties worth SEK5.2 billion, can be seen in the P&L when comparing this photo with the same period last year.
The rental income is not increasing as much as could be predicted, but that is due to divestments and the cost base is also favorably affected by the lower interest rates. This combined with a good cost control, the income from property management is up 13%.
Looking at our rental income, we also see that the negative net leasing from last year translated into the like-for-like figures, but as mentioned in the Q4 report, it was expected and that the interest rate hike has left a mark on the economy with somewhat poorer demand. However, our net leasing for this period is positive, not much, but at least positive.
We have during Q1 sold non-strategic properties for a significant amount and 347 of those are in the retail segment. After the quarter, we have sold a portfolio of nearly a SEK1 billion, again, non-strategic properties and we are selling because we want to, not because we have to. These proceeds will be used to top up our new investments in addition to those volumes communicated earlier....
Castellum AB (publ) (CWQXF) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript