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EDITORIAL
Our methodical approach to
continuous improvement
delivers results
This is the last review of the year I will be writing as CEO of Mellby Gård.
After eleven years, I left the role of CEO at the turn of the year to take over
as Chairman of the Board from my father and the founder of Mellby Gård,
Rune Andersson. Mikael Helmerson, who has a long history within the
Group, most recently as Deputy CEO, was appointed new CEO.
This is possibly a major event in terms of Group governance, sized enterprises behind. This makes room for smaller, more agile
but also a natural part of handing over the Group to a new operators. At the same time, it is a risky business and requires skilled
generation. Moreover, both the Board and management agree staff and a highly diversified credit portfolio.
that this does not represent a fundamental shift in the company’s
strategy. We will continue to focus on the same things as before. I am Another company that we will certainly be investing in more in
very excited to step into a new role and I am very glad that Mikael 2025 is the biotech company Anocca, which is at an interesting stage
Helmerson has decided to accept the position of CEO of Mellby Gård. in its process of developing treatment for pancreatic cancer. The
development work is approaching the clinical trial phase, which is
At Mellby Gård, we have one overarching goal: to improve on last exciting and revolutionary. If the company is to continue work on
year’s performance. At the beginning of 2024, there was a lot of development and testing, it will need more capital. Mellby Gård owns
uncertainty in the world, and I must confess I was doubtful that we just under 20 percent and we are prepared to invest our share as a
would achieve our goal. Looking back on 2024, we can confirm that minimum.
we made it – and we broke records at all levels: net sales, profitability
and margin. I also think our contribution to cluster headache research at
Karolinska Institutet is important and exciting. The program will run
Another objective for the year was to increase our ownership in the for seven years, and we have already started to see interesting results
Duni Group. In 2023 we exceeded 30-percent ownership and were from the research being conducted.
then obliged to make an offer to all shareholders and wait six months
before we could trade again. When that period had passed, in spring When it comes to the world around us, there is currently a lot of
2024, we purchased the second largest shareholder’s stake and now talk about protectionism and various forms of trade barriers.
own more than 50 percent. Uncertainty is even greater than it was at the start of 2024, so It is
crucial to plan ahead in order to respond effectively. Mellby Gård
This is a step we wanted to take for a long time. We like Duni Group therefore began collaborating with the company Consilio, which
and, having been the biggest shareholder for several years, we know carried out an assessment during the year of the geopolitical risks
the company well. Duni Group has a strong position in premium faced by some of our companies from a purchasing and sales
products and a broad and secure international presence from which perspective.
to continue to grow. We are very pleased that we managed to turn it
into a subsidiary during the year. Despite a year of great uncertainty, we achieved the best
financial performance in the Group’s history. Behind these suc
We knew that 2024 would be a period of intensive investment. cesses are strong and competent management and staff who focus
Over the past year and a half, the Group invested billions of Swedish on the right things, demonstrating that our methodical approach to
kronor, including in a new distribution center for Kappahl and in the continuous improvement is bearing fruit. It is not growth for growth’s
capitalization of Aros Kapital, to name just a couple of the many sake, but genuine profitable growth driven by strong business
initiatives. This is exactly the kind of activity we want to engage in – acumen and sound entrepreneurship, guaranteeing
investment to develop our existing businesses. continued success.
Aros Kapital is an interesting company in which we have made several Johan Andersson,
changes. In 2025 we will most likely continue to allocate significant Chairman of the Board, Mellby Gård
capital to the company. A bank must be capitalized as it grows.
The reason we see significant opportunities in Aros Kapital is that
it is more complicated than ever for companies to go to the bank. The
major banks focus on large companies, leaving small and medium-
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