Continued strong development in a stable market

Summary of the second quarter 2017 

• Net sales increased to 168.4 MSEK (130.1).
• Gross margin went up to 19.7% (17.6).
• Operating profit decreased to 19.7 MSEK (33.7) and the operating margin was 11.7% (25.9) as a result of items affecting comparability and a lower share of profits from JV projects. Adjusted for items affecting comparability, the operating margin was 16.1%.
• Earnings per share at 0.30 SEK (0.78).
• Cash flow from operating activities amounted to -230.7 MSEK (41.9). Acquisition of 485 building rights.
• Sales start for 496 cooperative apartments of which production started for 204 units during the quarter.
• Listing on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main list (Mid-Cap) on April 6, 2017 together with a new share issue contributed a net sum of 509 MSEK to the company.

Summary of the first half year 2017

• Net sales increased to 304.9 MSEK (203.0).
• Gross margin went up to 18.7% (17.5).
• Operating profit decreased to 40.9 MSEK (62.3) and the operating margin was 13.4% (30.7) as a result of items affecting comparability and a lower share of profits from JV projects. Adjusted for items affecting comparability, the operating margin was 20.0%.
• Earnings per share at 0.75 SEK (1.61).
• Cash flow from operating activities amounted to -232.2 MSEK (-45.9). Acquisition of 1,015 building rights (2,601).
• Completion of 255 cooperative apartments (-).
• Total of 6,146 building rights in the project portfolio (4,928), of which 1,415 homes were in production (1,227) with a sales rate of 95.5% (98.0).

Significant events after the balance sheet date
On July 17, SSM established a JV with respected global private markets investment managers Partners Group for the Tellus Towers, Järla Station and Metronomen projects to an estimated project value of 7.6 SEKbn. The cooperation demonstrates the confidence in SSM in the international arena and confirms the quality of SSM’s portfolio and the strength of the company’s capacity. The deal will further strengthen SSM’s financial capability at the same time as it spreads risk. Initially, the transaction is expected to have a positive net impact of about 108 MSEK on SSM’s liquidity and an approximate 106 MSEK impact on SSM’s profits, or about 2.70 SEK per share for Q3 2017.

Mattias Roos, President & CEO, comments on the quarter:
“SSM is continuing to develop strongly and the business is running in line with the Group's financial and operational goals LTM. The quarter continued to be characterized by a significant level of activity in acquisitions and sales, with sales starts of nearly 500 cooperative apartments. The Kosmopolitan project had a high sales rate, achieving 80 percent in only six weeks, and as a result, we were able to start production during the quarter.

The decrease in profits and the operating margin for the quarter is mainly due to items affecting comparability and a lower profit share from joint venture projects. SSM has a clear goal to increase the proportion of joint ventures from the current level to about 50 percent. In addition to providing important financing capacity for the Tellus Towers project, our significant joint venture with Partners Group will also ensure a substantial share of profits from joint venture projects in the coming years.

As we enter what for us will be an intensive second half year with several sales and production starts, we have a solid foundation on which to operate from and it is my opinion that this will give us the right conditions for continued profitable growth.”

The information in this press release is such, which SSM Holding AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below, at 07.30 CET on August 17, 2017.

About SSM Holding AB (publ)
SSM produces functionally smart and affordable homes with attractive common areas, close to public transport and the city center for the company’s target group — the urbanites of tomorrow. The company envisions a housing market that is accessible to as many people as possible and aspires to produce 60 percent cooperative apartments, 30 percent rental units and 10 percent student housing. SSM is the leading property developer in its niche within the Greater Stockholm area and in August 2017, the company had approximately 6,200 building permits in its portfolio. SSM was listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (Mid-cap) April 6, 2017 www.ssmlivinggroup.se

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