SBB hits bottom of STOXX as CEO's investment co postpones interest payments

Stendorren Fastigheter AB

31/05/2023 08:50

** Shares in SBB  SBBb.ST  fall around 9% to the bottom of
Europe's STOXX 600  .STOXX  after the Swedish real estate
group's biggest owner postpones interest payments on loans
    ** Private investment company Ilija Batljan Invest (IB
Invest), SBB's largest shareholder with a 18.4% stake, said on
Tuesday it would temporarily postpone interest payments on
outstanding hybrid bonds in light of SBB's upcoming decision to
postpone dividends, to be taken at its AGM in June
    ** IB Invest, 100% owned by SBB's CEO Ilija Batljan
privately and through companies, says dividend from SBB is an
important component of the company's total earnings
    ** Shares in SBB have already fallen to the point where they
are trading at 25% of net asset value, taking into account the
loss on JM shares, says Carlsquare analyst Bertil Nilsson
    ** "But it is of course negative for SBB shares that the
main owner has postponed interest payments in its holding
company," Nilsson adds
    ** He notes that SBB is now valued in parity with Stendörren
 STEFb.ST  and Stenhus Fastigheter  SFAST.ST , which only have
one tenth of the property value of SBB
    ** The SBB share is trading at SEK 4.38, at its lowest level
since 2016; including Wednesday's fall, the stock has dropped
around 75% YTD

 (Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn)
 ((Greta.RosenFondahn@thomsonreuters.com))