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Year-end report 2015

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Full year January – December 2015

  • Net asset value per share at year-end 2015 was SEK 87.40, compared to SEK 46.09 at the end of the previous year, which represents an increase of 89.6 per cent.
  • Bure’s net asset value was SEK 6,060M (3,291) at the end of the year.
  • Total return on the Bure share was 95.4 per cent, compared to the SIX Return Index which rose by 10.4 per cent.
  • Consolidated profit after tax was SEK 2,940M (961). Earnings per share amounted to SEK 41.98 (12.83).

Fourth quarter 2015

  • Net asset value per share was SEK 87.40, compared to SEK 60.21 at the beginning of the quarter, which represents an increase of 45.2 per cent.
  • Total return on the Bure share was 57.3 per cent, compared to the SIX Return Index which rose by 6.3 per cent in the quarter.
  • Bure sold 7,800,000 shares in Mycronic for SEK 499M, which resulted in an exit gain of SEK 394M.

Subsequent events

  • Net asset value per share was SEK 83.18 at 22 February 2016, which represents a decrease of 4.8 per cent since year-end 2015.
  • The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting approve an ordinary dividend of SEK 1.00 per share (1.00) and an extraordinary dividend of SEK 1.00 per share.

With a total return of 95 per cent, 2015 was the best year in the Bure’s history! Our two largest holdings, Mycronic and Vitrolife, together grew by more than SEK 2.5 billion in value during 2015. I see this value appreciation as a result of the fantastic work  that has lifted the companies to a new and higher level. With sales growth of 23 and 41 per cent and increased earnings growth of 95 and 67 per cent, respectively, both companies are deserving of these valuation increases.

Another bright spot in 2015 was the upturn for our subsidiary Mercuri International. After a few turbulent years of management changes and restructurings, it delivered a profit of SEK 28M in 2015. Mercuri’s new CEO since 18 months, has very impressively created profitability and is now continuing efforts to improve the company’s processes and thereby drive growth.

As part of a general market consolidation, our Finnish sector colleague Scanfil acquired PartnerTech last summer wereby Bure received SEK 289M. Furthermore, in the autumn we reduced our holding in Mycronic by approx. SEK 500M - the main buyers were two Swedish institutions. In the past year we made divestments for a total of around SEK 800M.

The small cap rally, which I wrote about in the Q3 report, accelerated in the last quarter of 2015. A slight correction has taken place at the beginning of 2016 but I think it is difficult to motivate this valuation gap between small and large caps. The market unrest we have seen in early 2016 has unavoidably impacted several of our listed companies and Bure’s net asset value per share has fallen by 4.8 per cent since the start of the year. But paradoxically, I view this market turmoil with certain optimism. Given Bure’s situation-based investment strategy, we will see several interesting investment opportunities in a more volatile market climate. Through the past year’s divestments of PartnerTech and in Mycronic, we have built a strong financial position and today have close to SEK 1 billion available for new investments.

Henrik Blomquist
CEO

For additional information contact
Henrik Blomquist, CEO +46 (0)8 614 00 20
Max Jonson, CFO +46 (0)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 23 February 2016, 08:30 a.m. CEST.

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