Interim Report 1 January–30 June, 2020

The period April through June has been dominated by the negative impact of the corona pandemic on the entertainment and experience industry. During the quarter, net sales from operations amounted to SEK 14 million (168 million), which reflects the industry’s predicament under the powerful prevailing restrictions from the government. During the quarter, our focus was on managing the strained liquidity situation and creating a more flexible cost base to render operations more efficient in the future.

A WORD FROM THE CEO

Up until February, the year began strongly with an operating profit greater than last year. This has changed over the past four months with the Group reporting an accumulated operating loss of SEK -85 million, a deterioration of SEK 34 million compared to the previous year. One major explanatory parameter, in addition to the impact of the Corona pandemic on the Nordic market, was the complete closure of the German market during March, leading to our application for bankruptcy for the German business. The operating loss for the quarter totalled SEK -41 million (-31), which is SEK -10 million greater than the same period last year. During the quarter, support in the amount of SEK 32 million was recognised as revenue under other operating income.

As previously announced, we introduced new purchasing and investment procedures early in the pandemic, and these have acted as a major restraint on the outflow of liquidity in the Group. We also vigorously scaled down the number of employees levels and introduced furloughs, with most of our remaining employees currently furloughed and only a few still in regular employment. We have also made full use of support packages available in the form of cultural aid, redundancy payment subsidies, rent discounts and the deferment of payments of rents, taxes and fees.

As the corona-specific activities are now in full swing, we have begun work establishing plans for re-opening. In Norway, the contractual operation for the supply of entertainment to cruise ships has resumed, and Cirkusbygningen in Denmark, with its Wallmans concept, has begun selling tickets for an anticipated opening in early September. We expect to open Ballbreaker and STAR activity arenas in the Swedish Immersive Venues business in August, and we are awaiting an easing of the current restrictions from the Swedish Public Health Agency. In the meantime, we have had to postpone the premières of our theatre and musical performances until later this autumn or winter. In our event operation, we have begun to receive positive signals from major customers about the need for physical meetings during the fourth quarter and the beginning of 2021. At the same time, the demand for digital meeting facilities is increasing and this opens up new types of offers where we will work resolutely to take a leading position. 

While managing operations and securing liquidity in order for the Group to survive the pandemic, management groups in all operations are also working intensively to identify and delineate the right strategies and plans for the post-corona period, where the focus will be on building on the essentially strong and healthy businesses that make up the Group. We attach great importance here to the inevitable changes in the pattern of demand for our offerings that we believe will follow in the wake of the current pandemic.In order to secure short-term liquidity, the company secured a loan facility of SEK 12 million in April, and in May the AGM resolved to carry out a targeted new share issue of SEK 8 million. This, combined with cost-saving measures and the support received, enables us to deal with the challenging situation in which the company finds itself in a structured manner. We have also secured an additional loan facility of SEK 13 million which will run throughout third quarter of 2020, while analyses and discussions continue with stakeholders linked to the company’s long-term financing.

Considering the above, we assess the business to have sufficient liquidity to manage its reopening in parallel with the repayment of the various deferrals, commencing from the end of the third quarter of 2020. However, the underlying condition for the company’s survival is contingent upon the lifting of restrictions, thus allowing operations to restart within our respective business areas, or that additional support packages are presented to a sufficient extent.

Gothenburg 24 July 2019

Otto Drakenberg
pro tem CEO/Group CEO
otto.drakenberg@momentgroup.com
+46-708-64 55 04

Moment Group is one of the leading players within the Scandinavian experience industry. The Group creates experiences for more than 2 million guests every year. Moment Group operations are conducted in three business areas from offices in Gothenburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Falkenberg and Växjö. Moment Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Main Market.

Hansen and Minnesota Communication operate in the business area Event, and together they are the largest operator in the Nordic events industry. Hansen plans, develops and implements events that are firmly established in the client’s business strategy. Minnesota works with brand engagement, which means it helps customers create arenas for dialogues and participation through meetings, experiences and digital solutions.

In the Immersive Venues business area seven arenas in Scandinavia are run – Wallmans in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo, Golden Hits in Stockholm and Kungsportshuset in Gothenburg. Within the business area two modern activity centres are also run – Ballbreaker in Stockholm and STAR Bowling in Gothenburg, where experiences are created where guests participate in activities based on games and competitions in combination with food & beverages.

In the Live Entertainment business area, 2Entertain produces musicals, theatre, shows and concerts. It creates special-order entertainment, arranges artists for corporate customers and runs five theatre venues and one venue for dinner & show. 2Entertain also runs the ticket booking site SHOWTIC.se.