Zostera AB
The year has been largely influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the Sergel Group, this has resulted in lower incoming product volumes, changed payment capabilities of end-users, and slower sales cycles. The pandemic had an impact on the Sergel Group's financial reports, particularly towards the end of the year. Thanks to a strong IT platform with flexible work tools and dynamic leadership, the Group has managed to maintain a good working environment with high availability and service levels for customers and end-users in all markets, despite a major and rapid shift in working life to a home environment.The pandemic also accelerated a Norwegian legislative change that came into effect in October. The law regulates and reduces collection fees by approximately 30%, thereby affecting the entire debt collection industry in Norway in the same manner. On October 1st, the Group's agreement with Telia Company regarding customer accounts receivable ended. These events have led to the Group having to reduce its workforce in both Sweden and Norway by approximately 70 FTE and 20 FTE, respectively.These events have collectively created uncertainty about whether Legres will be able to meet certain covenants under the bond agreement in the coming years. Therefore, after the balance sheet date, the company has renegotiated with the bondholders to modify the terms of the secured bond. The renegotiation concluded on January 28th with new bond conditions.During the year, a new brand platform was launched for Sergel, including a completely new design language, a new logo, brand symbol, and new colors.The work on Sergel House has continued, with the implementation of an updated IT platform in Finland being prepared during the year, and execution will take place in the first quarter of 2021.In January and February, the Group continued to acquire portfolios of expired receivables. The acquisitions amounted to SEK 47 million (SEK 205 million) during the year.
The development of Real Estate has been minimally impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. A few tenants have experienced temporary liquidity issues, which, in most cases, have been resolved through adjusted payment terms, and in some instances, rent reductions have been granted. These few cases represent a small portion of the business and have negligible impact on the financial reports.The Group's properties are predominantly fully leased.
Rental income for the year amounted to SEK 83.8 million (SEK 87.1 million). Additionally, the property portfolio was revalued upward by SEK 49.5 million (SEK 134.0 million), positively affecting the results. Meanwhile, revenues from Credit Management decreased from SEK 834.9 million to SEK 740.0 million.
The Group's operating profit amounted to SEK 176.5 million compared to SEK 292.5 million in 2019. The net profit for the year was SEK 60.5 million (SEK 132.3 million). Adjusted for unrealized value increases, the result increased from SEK -1.7 million to SEK 10.9 million.
