Zengun Group AB (publ) 31 December 2020 Q4

Zengun Group AB started its operations on 24 May 2019 when the company acquired all of the shares in Zengun Group Holding AB (Corp. Reg. No. 559050–0699) and its wholly owned subsidiaries from Segulah Fund V. Financial information for the former group (Zengun Group Holding AB) has been included as a basis for comparison. In this report, figures are given in thousand Swedish krona (TSEK) unless otherwise stated.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Net turnover amounted to MSEK 521.4 (834.9).
• Adjusted EBITDA totalled MSEK 15.8 (45.6), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 3,0% (5.5).
• EBITDA totalled a negative MSEK 2.2 (positive: 45.6), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of negative 0.4% (positive: 5.5). Earnings were charged with non-recurring costs of MSEK 18,0 (0) pertaining to redundancies and furloughs.
• Earnings before tax amounted to a negative MSEK 41.5.
• Operating cash flow was an outflow of MSEK 51.0 (outflow: 3.2). 

January–December

• Net turnover amounted to MSEK 2,534.7 (1,599.3).
• Adjusted EBITDA totalled MSEK 108.1 (78.5), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 4.3% (4.9).
• EBITDA totalled MSEK 90.1 (78.5), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 3.6% (4.9). 
• Earnings before tax amounted to MSEK 6.1 (40.0).
• Operating cash flow was MSEK 63.8 (outflow: 25.0).

significant events in the fourth quarter
A new project agreement for Kv. Orgelpipan was signed with Klövern in December.

During the fourth quarter, Zengun listed a new, four-year, corporate bond of MSEK 600 on Nasdaq after prematurely redeeming the previous bond. This entailed non-recurring costs of MSEK 20 during the quarter. 

The coronavirus pandemic led to a temporary downturn in operations during the fourth quarter, since new orders between March and November were at record lows. This has entailed lower utilisation rates as employees have completed major projects and been unable to start new projects due to Covid-19-related delays, and some redundancies that have entailed non-recurring costs of MSEK 7.4. At the same time, we have a strong flow of new orders, and accordingly, we have chosen to retain and invest in our employees ahead of forthcoming projects, resulting in increased personnel costs of MSEK 4.

sIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE END OF THE PERIOD
In January, a new project agreement was signed for the Hönsfodret property in Södermalm with a subsidiary of EQT Real Estate 1. 

In January, a phase-1 agreement was signed with Pembroke for the Kv. Hästen 21 project.

In February, a phase-2 agreement was signed with Vectura for the Forskaren project.

Mick Salonen Högberg took over the role of Managing Director and CEO on 1 January 2021, succeeding Sture Nilsson.

Caroline Sundqvist assumed the role of Sustainability Manager on 1 January 2021.

key figures

 
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mick Salonen Högberg, Managing Director and CEO, +46 70 569 66 73
Stefan Lindh, CFO, +46 70 383 16 07

Prior to publication, this information constituted insider information. This information is of such a kind that Zengun Group AB (publ) is legally required to disclose pursuant to the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation. This information was submitted through the agency of the above contacts for publication on 24 February 2020 at 8:00 a.m. (CET).

Statement by the CEO

Zengun builds for the future
Operations performed well in 2020 despite the ongoing pandemic. In our main segment of commercial properties, however, some property owners have been forced to change their investment decisions due to slowing demand from existing and new tenants. Many companies in our industry are therefore experiencing fewer new orders. Thanks to some newly won projects in combination with unsurpassed quality for our tendering resulting in several new customers, the order book looks promising. Our concept, where the focus is always on projects, continues to yield results and we are pleased that our customers continue to choose Zengun.

We started the first three quarters with an intense rate of production in several major projects. The fourth quarter went as expected, with a downturn in production since several major projects finished during the autumn. Turnover in operations amounted to MSEK 521.4 (834.9). EBITDA for the quarter was a negative MSEK 2.1 (positive: 46.1), entailing a negative EBITDA margin of 0.4% (positive: 5.5). EBITDA excluding non-recurring items amounted to MSEK 15.8.

Fourth quarter operating cash flow amounted to an outflow of MSEK 44.6, which resulted in accumulated operating cash flow for the year of MSEK 40.8.

Freely translated, Zengun means “the whole team” and I’m proud of how we mobilised during the year. We drew from our core: we work as a team to come up with innovative solutions to the challenges we face – proven methods where we regard changes with curiosity instead of passivity. This helps us foster trust in our customers that together, we can create partnerships that will become new reference projects and to continue to build our city.

New projects
The slow recovery that we are just beginning to see has started to appear in our new orders. We signed a phase-2 agreement with Klövern for Kv. Orgelpipan 4 and a phase-1 agreement with Fabege for remodelling Kv. Bocken 39. Both of these projects are incredibly exciting and are in the middle of central Stockholm. I would like to point out that phase 1 – initial partnerships – are not reported in new orders. Our current assessment is that, should they transition to actual projects, our phase-1 portfolio will have a total value of about SEK 4 billion.

*Phase 1 initial partnership phase: defining the product, designing system procurement and preparing production
*Phase 2 production phase: detailed project planning in partnering contracts.

Outlook
The coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the market. To what extent, however, is hard to determine. Still, I’m confident about the future. We are a company that acts quickly and that is used to handling changes. The past year has once again highlighted our strength – we are project-driven. We are finding the way forward together with our long-term, stable customers and together we are making sustainability a high priority. As a result, in Q1 we saw very strong growth in new orders.

We are entering the new year with energy and a hunger to continue building Stockholm.

Mick Salonen Högberg
Managing Director and CEO

This interim report has not been subject to review by the company’s auditors.

The Zengun Group is one of the leading construction contractors in Stockholm and carries out construction projects on behalf of well-known customers in the real estate industry. While the main focus is on commercial properties, the portfolio also includes residential projects and projects in the public sector. The Zengun Group is a complete supplier and partner, with a customer-centric approach. The Group has approximately 160 employees and net turnover in 2019 amounted to SEK 2.6 billion. #zengunbyggerstockholm

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