STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 8, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Mandamus, summarised financial statements 2001:
-- Mandamus raised its management profit further to SEK 148m
(139m), a record figure in the history of the company. Management
profit for the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 34m (26m).
-- Pre-tax profit totalled SEK 188m (222m), including SEK 33m
(76m) profit from property sales.
-- Mandamus' participation in a property consortium has yielded a
SEK 20.5m contribution to profit with a capital input of SEK 95m.
-- At year-end, 69 per cent of the property stock was located in
growth areas and 85 per cent was residential.
-- The property valuation carried out at year-end shows a market
value of SEK 6,500m (6,100m). The actual change in value during
2001 (excluding acquisitions, investments and disposals) was
2 per cent. The value change was greatest for the property stock
in Skane, where the increase was 5 per cent.
-- Earnings per share after tax amounted to SEK 7.38 (8.02) and
net worth per share was SEK 95.62 (88.16).
-- The Board proposes raising the regular dividend by SEK 0.25 to
SEK 4.25 per share. The proposed dividend level represents 58 per
Cent of profit for the year after tax.
-- During January 2002, Mandamus sold its two remaining properties
in Falkenberg and Gavle for a total of SEK 23m, at a disposal
profit of SEK 1m.
-- In early 2002, Mandamus has secured ISO 14001 environmental
certification.
Operations
Rent and profit trends Rental income amounted to SEK 867m (828m), representing a year-on-year rise of 4.7 per cent. This increase in rental income is largely a volume effect, resulting from an expansion in property stock due to net acquisitions during the year. Rental income in the fourth quarter totalled SEK 221m (209m). Annual rental income for the property stock owned at the close of the financial year (proforma for 2001) has been estimated at SEK 875m.
The average economic letting ratio for the period was 97.9 per cent, which was 0.9 percentage point higher than the previous year. Vacancies in the property stock relate mainly to commercial premises, while the vacancy rate for residential property is very low, and in most areas consists solely of vacancies due to tenants' moving. The letting ratio for homes was 99.3 (99.1) per cent at year-end.
After deduction of property costs, net operating income was SEK 443m (425m). Heating costs rose sharply during the year under review, owing to raised energy taxes and the power companies' general tariff increases. The year 2001 was, again, warmer than normal and this offset the even higher cost increase that had been expected. For the comparable property stock, heating costs rose by more than 20 per cent compared with the previous year. The Riksdag's (Swedish Parliament's) decision to reduce, retroactively from 1 January 2001, property tax on blocks of rental flats by 0.2 percentage point to 0.5 per cent boosted the operating costs for this year and the fourth quarter of last by around SEK 8m. It should, however, be noted that the impact of the property-tax reduction is very much temporary in nature. The reduction is compensation for the sharp rise in property tax-assessment values that is in effect from 2002, and has also restricted the scope for raising rents for the year ahead. The surplus ratio, i.e. the share of net operating income (NOI) in interest income, amounted to 51.1 (51.3) per cent for 2001.
Depreciation on properties amounted to SEK 52m (49m) and central administrative expense to SEK 17m (19m). During the year, starting on 1 June, Mandamus received SEK 2m in management remuneration for the commission of managing the consortium-owned properties in Haninge, a municipality in southern Greater Stockholm.
Income from Associated Companies
Income from Mandamus' investment in the associated company Bostadsinvest i Haninge AB, the property consortium in Haninge, totalled just under SEK 21m. In the profit and loss account, this income is divided among three profit items, depending on the type of income received. Management remuneration is included in NOI. Interest on shareholder loans and the share of profit in associated companies are reported in the profit and loss account under the heading 'Profit from associated companies', while Mandamus' remuneration for the consortium formation is disclosed under 'Non-repeating income'. The latter income is excluded from the figure for group management profit, since it does not constitute part of the group's normal day-to-day operations. Income received is specified below, according to type of income, in SEK million.
* Income from management assignments 1.8 * Interest on shareholder loans 6.0 * Share of profit in associated companies 7.7 * Remuneration for consortium formation 5.0 Total profit contribution from associated companies 20.5
The current contribution to profit (interest and share of profit in associated companies) corresponds to a yield on capital invested of just under 25 per cent since the implementation of the investment on 1 June 2001.
Management Profit
Interest expense amounted to SEK 243m (220m) -- up SEK 23m, owing mainly to a higher loan volume for the purpose of financing Mandamus' property acquisitions and acquisition in consortium acquisitions. Management profit, i.e. profit before items affecting comparability, such as disposal profit, non-repeating profit and interest contributions, continued to improve and totalled SEK 148m (139m). Management profit in the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 34m (26m), of which SEK 8m is an effect of the retroactive reduction in property tax. Ever since Mandamus Fastigheter was formed in December 1997, the company has shown successive annual improvements in management profit. Management profit expressed as a share of rental income has also risen every year, and in 2001 this ratio was 17.1 (16.8) per cent.
Financial income amounted to SEK 1m (2m), and interest contributions continued to decrease, falling to only SEK 2m (7m).
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Whole year
Quarterly rental
income and profit
Figures in SEK m
Rental income
2001 204 221 221 221 867
2000 204 204 211 209 828
1999 196 193 201 204 794
1998 127 127 125 168 547
Management profit
2001 18 37 59 34 148
2000 23 37 53 26 139
1999 14 33 45 23 115
1998 8 20 19 11 58
Gross margin, %
2001 8.8 16.7 26.7 15.4 17.1
2000 11.3 18.1 25.1 12.4 16.8
1999 7.1 17.1 22.4 11.3 14.5
1998 6.3 15.7 15.2 6.5 10.6
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