Debt-Laden SBB ends losing streak with first-quarter profit
KUALA LUMPUR: Swedish real estate group SBB swung to a pre-tax profit in the first quarter of 2025 after eleven straight quarterly losses, it said on Tuesday.
The debt-laden landlord, which owns properties such as hospitals and care homes in Sweden, reported a January-March profit before tax of 1.9 billion Swedish crowns (US$194 million), compared with a revised loss of 1.18 billion a year earlier.
SBB was among several European real estate groups that had to cut debt and restructure amid a period of high interest rates and economic weakness, particularly in Sweden, although market conditions started to stabilise last year.
Its net operating income fell to 510 million crowns in the first quarter from 736 million a year earlier.
However, lower costs positively impacted net operating income in comparable portfolios, resulting in a 4.3 per cent increase.
"SBB is now allocating resources and focusing on its occupancy ratio and rental level to ensure that there is every opportunity for income to improve going forward," CEO Leiv Synnes said in a statement.
On a separate statement, SBB said it had secured the right to acquire another 39.8 million shares in Public Property Invest through a deal with Aker Property Group. In return, it will issue 164.6 million new B shares to Aker, making it SBB's largest shareholder with a 33.5 per cent stake.
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