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EDITORIAL
Steady progress with sights
set on further investments
In 2023 it became clear that global politics would continue to be
characterized by rapid change and complex challenges. Increased
tension between the major powers created a more unstable geopolitical
situation. This has a major impact on how Mellby Gård and our
companies do business. Despite this, 2023 was another record year.
Amore unstable world is affecting our trading relationships, and
we are witnessing greater volatility in almost all markets. In
short, our international companies have needed to adapt to a
new reality. This has involved dealing with trade restrictions, investing
in a local presence in different markets so as not to be excluded, and
complying with more regulations from the EU and elsewhere. We need
to be flexible, proactive and anticipate potential risks. At the same time, another record year for Mellby Gård. We’re very proud of that. I want to
we need to seize opportunities as they arise to successfully navigate
this ‘new’ environment, where free trade is no longer a given.
As a group of companies, we at Mellby Gård endeavour to learn from
each other and thus identify soft synergies between our companies.
Within the Group, we have companies with extensive experience in
both international sales and global purchasing, which can thus benefit
our other companies. In addition, we have so far been effective in
making macroeconomic judgements. These are just a few examples of
how the diversity of our companies makes us strong together.
In retrospect, 2023 was a year in which many new opportunities
arose and we chose to take advantage of these in the verticals in
which we operate. We faithfully continued to do what we do best
and invested further in our existing companies. One example is how
we chose to go over the mandatory bid limit when the share price of
Duni fell. An investment of almost half a billion Swedish kronor made
Mellby Gård a 40-percent owner. We also chose to increase our holding
in AcadeMedia. In addition, we have invested further in the FMG
Circular Invest investment initiative and taken a leading position in the
immunotherapy company Anocca as a result of the company’s capital
raising.
In addition to investments in our prioritized verticals, we have thus
also invested in life science during the year. This includes Anocca and
our contribution to the cluster headache research center at Karolinska
Institutet medical university. For us, it is important to invest using
both heart and mind, and our social commitment through research,
education, sport, children and community affairs remains an essential
part of our business.
There are some successes among our companies that I would like
to highlight. Roxtec broke the three billion-kronor barrier earlier than
expected, Feralco achieved record earnings, Peritusklinken signed a
contract with Region Skåne, and Open Air Group exceeded one billion
kronor in net sales. Oscar Jacobson and Klarahill improved their
earnings and Kappahl managed to achieve better earnings than in 2022.
All admirable efforts that deserve to be recognized. You can read about
even more successes in the magazine.
As we close the books for the year, we can conclude that 2023 will be
thank our companies and employees for the hard work they do every
day – our success would not have been possible without you.
It’s been an eventful year, to say the least. Inflation, rising
commodity costs and interest rate hikes have fuelled uncertainty.
We hadn’t feared a dramatic fall in economic activity, but had
instead expected a slow decline. Looking ahead, we predict that the
sluggish economic growth will continue. Consumption is likely to
decline as many people’s personal finances will be hit harder in 2024
when savings start to dry up. 2023 was a challenging year for many
companies, but also a favourable year for industrial ones. The low value
of the Swedish krona, combined with necessary price increases, has
resulted to a large extent in a financial situation on steroids.
We are entering 2024 with a solid balance sheet. We expect to make
major investments in the future to lay even firmer foundations for our
companies to grow. Eriksberg is investing in more hotel rooms, we’re
building new distribution centers close to Gothenburg for Kappahl and
in Karlskrona for Roxtec, and we will continue to assist Aros Kapital with
growth capital, to name just a few examples. At the same time, we’re
factoring into the equation that some consumer companies will have
a harder time. With more sober valuations, it’s possible that we will be
looking to invest in listed companies that suit our Group.
Whatever happens, we always try to stay one step ahead. In the
coming years, I am convinced that AI will increasingly characterize the
way we work and create efficient processes. Data is a prerequisite for
both customer metrics and customer relationship management. We’re
ready for the challenges ahead.
Our goal is always to do better than the previous year.
It will be difficult, but it’s not impossible.
Johan Andersson,
CEO, Mellby Gård
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