Interim report January – September 2015

Interim period January – September 2015

• Net asset value per share was SEK 60.21, compared to SEK 46.09 at year-end 2014, which represents an increase of 30.6 per cent.
• Bure’s net asset value was SEK 4,175M (3,075).
• Total return on the Bure share was 24.2 per cent, compared to SIX Return Index which rose by 3.8 per cent.
• Consolidated profit after tax was SEK 1,053M (627). Earnings per share amounted to SEK 14.99 (8.28).

Third quarter of 2015

• Net asset value per share was SEK 60.21, compared to SEK 67.60 at the beginning of the quarter, which represents a decrease of 10.9 per cent.
• Total return on the Bure share was -13.9 per cent, compared to the SIX Return Index which fell by 5.6 per cent in the quarter.
• Bure repurchased 427,000 shares during the quarter. Bure’s holding thereafter amounts to a total of 1,501,000 treasury shares, which is equal to 2.1 per cent of the total number of shares outstanding.

Subsequent events

• Net asset value per share at 10 November 2015 was SEK 75.64, which corresponds to an increase of 64.1 per cent since year-end 2014.

   
The third quarter was an undeniably exciting period from a stock market perspective, albeit one that many investors would prefer to forget. The index started strong in July but then tumbled over 12 per cent in August and September. Uncertainty about the recovery in the USA, growth in China and development in the eurozone contributed to lower expectations for corporate earnings growth.

It is interesting to note that smaller companies have fared significantly better in the stock market than larger ones. At the end of the third quarter, the OMX Stockholm Small Cap Index had surged by over 40 per cent compared to the OMX30, i.e. the 30 largest companies, which had climbed by only 5 per cent. One reason for this trend is that the premium on growth has risen dramatically. While the stock market’s major companies have had a demonstrably difficult time finding growth, the growth expectations for smaller companies remain high. If we are to believe in historical tendencies, the differences between the indices will decrease moving forward.

During the quarter our portfolio companies continued to report solid earnings growth, particularly Mycronic and Vitrolife. Mycronic’s delivery of a PG machine contributed to a substantial margin improvement at the same time that the company has a strong order book. Vitrolife showed organic growth of 11 per cent in the thir dquarter, which is significantly higher than in the first half of the year. The exception among the portfolio companies was Cavotec, which unfortunately posted a loss for the quarter. After the end of the period the company also downgraded its forecast for the full year.

Stock market volatility continued in October and some of the drop in late summer has now been recovered. We have also seen this in Bure. Net asset value per share today is higher than it was before the summer and amounted to SEK 75.64 at 10 November.

Henrik Blomquist
CEO

 
For additional information contact
Henrik Blomquist, CEO +46 8 614 00 20
Max Jonson, CFO +46 8 614 00 20

The information in this interim report is subject to the disclosure requirements of Bure Equity AB under the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was publicly communicated on 11 November 2015, 8:30. a.m. CET.

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