Catella AB

STO:CAT B

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q1

[Operator]

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Catella Q1 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] And please note this event is being recorded.I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Christoffer Abramson, CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Catella's 2023 first quarter interim report. In addition to myself, with me today is Michel Fischier, our newly appointed Chief Financial Officer and Head of Investor Relations. I'm sure Michel is familiar to most of you as, he's been with the company since 2021 as part of the leadership team in the role as Head of Investor Relations and Group Communications.So as usual, we'll go through the main events and the financial performance of the last quarter. And after the initial discussions, we'll take questions on the phone and online. And of course, our financial reporting and these presentation material is available on the web.So I'd like to start the presentation on Page 3 with a brief overview of Catella, although most of you are likely familiar with our strategy and operations by now. But to reiterate, Catella operates in 3 property-focused business areas: Investment Management, Principal Investments and Corporate Finance. We manage over SEK 140 billion in our pan-European Investment Management platform.About 75% of the assets under management are managed in property funds and the other part in a significant number of asset management mandates across Europe. Principal Investments is where we invest our own equity into a broad and diversified portfolio of European investment projects together with partners.And Corporate Finance is our real estate advisory and brokerage arm with leading positions in large European markets. Corporate Finance is also an important internal adviser to our other business areas, Investment Management and Principal Investments.So with that brief introduction, let's move on to Page 4 for a summary of the key operational highlights of the first quarter. In summary, it is, as most of you probably are aware, it's been a calm quarter in a very cautious property market across Europe. This has, of course, affected all our business areas during the quarter, and our financial results reflect this.However, during this slower period, it's important to note that we continue to invest, we continue to develop, and we continue to position Catella growth. Our focus, as I've mentioned many, many times, is always on long-term value creation for our shareholders and not on quarterly earnings volatility and specific results.With a very strong 2022 behind us and the continued strengthening of our liquidity and financial position, we believe and feel that we're in a good position to continue growing the company. And we do that through investments in digitalization, investments in capital raising by evaluating M&A opportunities, by making opportunistic investments together with our partners and by launching new products tailored to the new market environments and obviously continuously with a clear sustainability profile.I want to point out also in April, we announced that Gianluca Romano started as Head of Capital Raising, a new global position at Catella, aimed at strengthening our institutional capital raising capacity at group level. And to help display the strength we have as a pan-European company with our unique local expertise and the companies on the ground. And also, of course, to support our existing and new investment strategies across Europe.Another event at a group level was the decision to sell our shares in Catella Hospitality Europe. The decision, it's never easy, but the decision to sell the platform to our former partners was based on growth and profitability not meeting our targets. So it's pretty -- it's as simple as that.Our view is that divestment will support a stronger underlying operating margin going forward. And we firmly believe that we can focus successfully on the hospitality segment within our other asset management platforms. And the exit also generated a modest profit for the group.The divestment, of course, impacted AUM in Investment Management with about SEK 2 billion. So at the end of the quarter, our overall AUM was unchanged since the fourth quarter.So continuing little bit more with Investment Management, even though the transactions market has been, and is very quiet currently, we are, of course, encouraged by the capital commitments that we have of close to $10 billion in our funds and the fact that we have several development projects in the pipeline to finish this year that will support AUM growth going forward.Principal Investments entered an agreement to sell a logistics property in Sweden during the quarter. The sale will result in a modest profit that will be recognized in the second quarter, however. More importantly, it frees up significant further liquidity for new investments.So in today's market for Principal Investments, we expect divestments of completed projects to be some -- limited during 2023. However, we are in a position where we can postpone divestments of completed and importantly, cash flow positive properties, while we are flexible and ready to utilize our liquidity for other investment opportunities that we are, of course, actively working on.In Corporate Finance, in general, the first quarter is seasonally the least active over the year. And this quarter 2023 was -- we have to be honest, exceptionally weak. Not just, of course, for us, but with transaction volumes down about 67% across Europe in the industry. The pipeline of complex mandates and portfolio is reasonable, however. But of course, the timing continues to be uncertain and closing transactions take longer than it has been in recent quarters.So let's move to Page 5 and a summary of the group's consolidated financial results. Year-over-year revenues decreased by about $120 million. The main driver there being the 2022 divestments of the logistics property in Norrkoping, which contributed over $100 million in revenue and also a profit of $98 million in Q1 2022.So if we summarize the quarter, comparably at least modest profits in Principal Investments, significantly lower variable fees in Investment Management, but continued strong fixed fee income and, of course, very low revenue in -- and volumes in Corporate Finance took us to a roughly breakeven results for the quarter. Not of course, where we want to be or in terms of the incoming quarters, but given the market environment, not too bad and we have a great starting point with a lot of capital going forward.Investment Management then, if we go into that, first, has delivered a substantial AUM growth of SEK 15 billion over the last 12 months. Quarter-over-quarter, as I mentioned, assets under management was unchanged following the divestment of Catella Hospitality Europe.However, due to our long-term AUM growth, our underlying income from fixed management fee is strong and very -- the operating profit of over SEK 30 million in the segment proves the resilience of the underlying business model with a solid profitability despite a very slow transaction market and thus variable revenues during the quarter.In Principal Investments, as I said, no divestments were recognized in the quarter, but the business areas contributed substantially to operating profits during the last 12 months. And our focus continues to be to develop the current pipeline of projects, albeit, again, at a prudent pace and to pursue co-investments aimed at creating new partnerships and revenue streams.Long-term, we are working on a new opportunistic investment strategy together with partners to meet the changing market dynamics and investor demands. And more of that to follow.The slow transaction market naturally affected revenue in Corporate Finance as well, which led to a negative SEK 20 million EBIT, which actually was slightly better than last year due to the decision to close the loss-making platforms in Germany and the Baltics that year.We then move to Page 7 to discuss Investment Management in detail. Since the inception of Investment Management, we have delivered a strong average annual growth rate of 24% and assets under management also grew by SEK 15 billion during the last 12 months.As mentioned, the decision to divest hospitality did not meet our return criteria, ultimately led to a flat AUM development quarter-over-quarter. And of course, we work very hard with our existing investors.And looking ahead, we view 2023 with a certain optimism as we continue to have a large pipeline of transactions to complete and capital commitments of approximately SEK 10 billion, ready to be deployed in our funds. Just waiting for the right transaction pricing and entry points, just like most other competitors and partners.Realistically, 2023 will have somewhat limited new capital inflows into property funds. So the focus is there on the existing pipeline to complete them and on deploying the committed capital, which is -- there's going to be a lot of work to commit that amount of capital even in 2023.However, we are much more optimistic regarding asset management as the pipeline for new mandates is very strong with both now opportunistic investors more active in the market, and a lot of existing owners out there in need of our expertise as seen in, in many of our existing partnerships. Good discussions ongoing across Europe there, and hopefully a lot of the growth in Investment Management will come from that segment this year.Let's move to Page #8, a little bit more on Investment Management. The continued underlying AUM growth drives increased fixed fee income. And again, this is our key underlying Investment Management metric and a main long-term profit driver in Catella. As you can see, our fixed fees have increased by over 50% just since 2020.And I'd like to point out, just like I did in the fourth quarter, that our fixed fee income materially exceeds our non-variable operating expenses. So critically now and in the continued slow transaction market without significant variable fees, our Investment Management business will continue to generate solid operating profits.In Q1, variable fees such as acquisition, disposal, performance fees, were limited, especially compared to Q4, where we divested a large portfolio of residential assets in Germany and Netherlands to release liquidity for new investments, both at a new market price entry point and with improved sustainability profiles.And as I mentioned earlier, our broad offer in asset management provides critical competencies in these turbulent markets to reposition and develop assets, which balances our AUM growth in economic downturns and slower transaction markets.Let's turn to Page #10 for an overview of Principal Investments. We continue to have a diversified portfolio of projects in different asset classes across Europe. Portfolio consists of 10 active projects as well as some projects in predevelopment phases in 6 European countries.In addition, we have a portfolio of smaller co-investments that both meet our return targets and importantly, create new partnerships with investors and generate new revenue streams through asset management mandates. It's our firm belief that this portfolio of smaller co-investments and more opportunistic strategies will increase this year as their main focus currently in Principal Investments.Operating profits during the quarter was mainly driven by rental income from our Kaktus property in Copenhagen and finalized installation of solar panels in the previously divested logistics property in Norrkoping.Besides the agreement to sell one logistics property in Sweden during the quarter, no substantial transactions were made. And as I mentioned, in the current market environment, we expect divestments of completed projects to be somewhat limited during 2023.However, our strong financial position and liquidity is key to giving us the flexibility to warehouse these cash flow positive properties and to be ready to utilize our liquidity in pursuing new investment opportunities as they emerge. And as I mentioned, in 2023, primarily focused on big opportunistic co-investment strategies with new partners and existing partners, of course.So let's focus on Corporate Finance on Page 12. The current pipeline of transactions confirms that Catella Corporate Finance maintains a strong market position on our 5 markets. However, the volatile and uncertain market is pushing transactions forward. The traditional core transaction market was exceptionally slow in Q1 with volumes across Europe down almost 70% in effectively the weakest quarter since the global financial crisis over 10 years ago.As I mentioned earlier, slow and hesitant market affects all our business areas, but especially Corporate Finance. Until the bid-ask gap between seller and buyer closes in many markets, we expect continued low transaction volumes and thus revenues in at least the coming quarter or 2.In the meantime, however, we show strength as the demand for valuation services continues to be very strong as well as the demand for more complex capital markets and restructuring services. And the pipeline of complex portfolio and restructuring transactions is strong, but it's a complex environment and it takes a long time to close transactions at the moment. But we're as well positioned as we can be.Also, as in the operating results, Catella Corporate Finance has an improved starting position, given that we no longer are burdened by the previously material loss-making operations, which now will serve us well in this environment with a slightly slower -- smaller footprint.All right. So we'll go into Page #14. I'll hand over to Michel, welcome, our new permanent Chief Financial Officer and Head of Investor Relations, for a brief financial summary.

[Michel Fischier, executive]

Thank you, Christoffer. And to start, I'm very pleased to take on the challenge as CFO of Catella. Having worked with you, Christoffer, and the company for 2 years, I feel strongly committed and look forward to lead the finance department and continue working with the leadership team to execute on our growth ambitions, strategy and vision.With that said, I'd like to do a brief summary of this quarter's financials. To be honest, this might not be the best starting point in my new role. I say this as same quarter last year gave us strong comparables in a different market backdrop. Year-over-year, EBIT ended at negative SEK 2 million compared to positive SEK 111 million last year.The background, which Christoffer already has elaborated on, is a weak transaction market, which affected all our 3 business areas in the quarter. In Investment Management, we see limited variable revenue. However, the fixed fee cost coverage resulted in a positive EBIT of SEK 31 million.For the growth in assets under management over the last years have resulted in a solid base of revenues and profitability even in a slow transaction market. The main reason behind the strong comparables, however, lies in Principal Investments. The business area divested our logistics property, same quarter last year, yielding both significant revenue and profit contribution.This quarter no divestments were made and bottom-line EBIT of SEK 9 million was primarily generated by rental revenue in completed residential section of the Kaktus development project in Copenhagen and final payment for installed solar panels in named Norrkoping sale.As seen in Corporate Finance, revenue decreased by nearly $20 million in a slow transaction market. However, the lower revenues were mitigated by the decision to discontinue loss-making operations in Germany and the Baltics, leading to an operating loss of SEK 20 million compared to negative SEK 22 million last year.On group level, fixed payroll increased due to an increase in employees as we continue to invest in critical competencies and some items affecting comparability also impacted the quarter.Looking below the EBIT line, financial net improved as an effect of improved intercompany lending structures, the divestment of Catella Hospitality Europe, fair valuations of our holdings as well as some currency effects.To conclude with earnings per share, it ended slightly negative and was primarily driven by the described drop in revenue year-over-year.If we continue to Page 15 and looking at -- to look at our financial and liquidity position. We continue to strengthen our already strong balance sheet and equity ratio to have the dry powder necessary to support our growth plans. The equity ratio has increased by 5 percentage points year-over-year, but more importantly is that our cash position has increased by over 50% to SEK 1.7 billion.To conclude and reiterate what we have said previously, we are comfortable with holding a larger proportion of cash in this market, a good capital position and no short-term refinancing needs makes it possible to further explore both long-term value creation opportunities and also have the power for opportunistic ideas.Our objective is to focus and engage in the most value-creating solutions for our shareholders. So it is important to have the right balance. If we find opportunities to create shareholder value through acquisitions, we will naturally consider them. Although they are likely to be a smaller, complementary nature to realize synergies or accelerate our growth. We also understand the importance of shareholder dividends, and we'll continue to aim for stable and growing dividends over time.And with that said, I'll conclude and hand back over to you, Christoffer.

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Thank you, Michel. Appreciate that, and welcome again. It's a tough first quarter, but the only way is up now. That's great.Before Q&A, I'd like to briefly summarize the quarter as we normally do from our perspective on Slide 17. So for everyone in the property industry in Europe, the quarter was characterized by exceptionally low transaction volumes, which naturally affected all of our business areas.Before buyers and sellers' expectations align and there's a divergence of views on when and how much that gap really is. But we will continue to adapt to the market conditions and focus, as Michel said, on the long-term value creation initiatives, which are backed by our sound financial position. This is about creating long-term growth and essentially the variable revenues and performance fees and gains in the future.AUM was flat quarter-over-quarter, not terrible in this market environment. But we, again, had continued solid operating margins in Investment Management. And looking ahead, we have accelerated our work in launching the next generation of funds, investments and asset management mandates to meet investor needs in this evolving market.And to complement that, with Gianluca on the team, heading Capital Raising, we can further promote our unique local expertise and pan-European investment strategies to unlock growth opportunities. And hopefully, in the coming quarters, there's going to be a lot to talk about in this area.A significant part of our growth ambitions lies within further development or our sustainability offering in funds, mandates and advisory. It's one of our unique selling points, and we've been in this field for a long time with some first-class products.So with a strong 2022 behind us, with a solid financial position and strong liquidity and significant capital commitments. I feel that we're in a good position to continue to capture growth opportunities as we invest for the coming years. We have to be somewhat patient quarter-over-quarter, but we're entering new entry points here in investments, new mandates, and we feel very good about the position that we're in.And with that, I would like to thank you all for listening and open up for questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Patrik Brattelius from ABG.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

A few questions from my side. If I start off with investment management. If we look at the fixed revenues in comparison to the fixed cost, where would you say the current run rate level is if we exclude any variable and performance-related fees, where would the run rate level be?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Patrick, I think we're pretty much where we are. I mean there was a very, very low level of variable revenues this quarter. And at the same time, those limited variable revenues that we had in the quarter were offset by a little bit of catch-up in the cost base. And so I would say if we have low 30s in EBIT and investment management, that's pretty much the base run rate. Of course, it's highly unusual to have a quarter with hardly any variable revenues.So we have reiterated previously, and we still do. And we believe that if a run rate with a low and slow market, we should be at about SEK 200 million in investment management or SEK 50 million per quarter. This quarter was exceptional. So I think this quarter is probably a good indicator of where that fixed fee coverage lies.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

Perfect. And just for my clarification there, this SEK 5 million that you mentioned in the CEO slide in the report. Is that included in investment management or is that in other?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Sorry, did you mean hospitality?

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

Yes. The profit that you generated from that transaction?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

No, you will find that figure included in the financial net.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

Okay. Yes. That was just a clarification. And given this environment that we're now in with the lower transaction, how do you adapt your cost base to this? What kind of levers are you pulling within the company?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Well, first of all, I think there are 2 answers to that. In these type of times, you always have to make some difficult decisions of, as we've already done, divest or downscale some underperforming units. We are also, of course, looking ahead and looking across our businesses, stopping recruitments or downsizing and consolidating in back office and looking at operational efficiencies. That's natural. I think anyone in the industry is looking at that right now, as you will have seen clearly in the press. We are no different. Although, we -- what I would like to say is that we invest in the future.Right now, where we're spending our money on the cost side is investing, as I said, in digitalization to prepare for delivering the product and the cost efficiencies in the coming years. We're investing in capital raising to get ready and to really successfully launch our new strategies and new products. That is natural. We have to do that. We feel comfortable doing that. We're using essentially our previous year's profits to reinvest in the future.And of course, operational efficiencies and some downscaling of costs is natural both on the personnel side and on IT, maybe consultants, the standard approach. We're not going to go across and cut heavily. We invest in the future. We build going forward, but we're doing it in a smart way and invest cost or put costs into where it matters, where it drives future value and be very prudent on sort of, let's call it, non-front end cost.

[Michel Fischier, executive]

And adding to what Christopher said and just to bring some clarity in the quarter-over-quarter comparables, I mean, we've had some headwinds in the exchange rate to euro and SEK, where the SEK has weakened some 7% compared to same quarter last year, which, of course, also inflates our operating costs reported in Swedish krona.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

Great. And this initiative that you talked about with cutting personnel, et cetera, not investing as much. What are we talking in terms of numbers here? Will we see a material difference in the cost base. If we look at the one, 2 quarters out, what type of effect will this bring in actual numbers? Do you have any expectation on that?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Yes, Patrick, I have quick comment on that. And I would like to again point out and emphasize that we're not talking about cutting a bunch of personnel. We're talking about divesting units like we've already have and maybe -- and being a lot more prudent on recruiting. And we are not talking about large personnel costs. That's not the business that we're in. We're talking about operational efficiency and investing for growth. So do I see large cost reductions going forward? I see large cost efficiencies going forward, being smarter about IT spend being smarter about consultancy spend, being smarter about pan-European consolidation of processes, but large redundancies, absolutely not.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

That is fair. And then zooming into corporate finance, it was exceptionally weak transaction market. What is your view of this going forward? Do you believe that as long as we are in this increasing rate environment, buyers and sellers would be further apart. So what are you thinking here when they will gradually come together? Is it when we have seen -- when we are seeing a stable rate environment or do we have to see rates being cut? What do you envision?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

I wish I knew, I'd start with that. Look, Patrick it's -- we're getting closer. But if you look back at historical cycles and corrections, it takes time. It just does. What we're seeing now is -- which is normal, the first movers are the opportunistic investors. Significant return targets, high yield, high -- let's not call it high risk strategies, but opportunistic strategies. That money is coming in and the rest of the market is remaining patient. No one wants to be first. That's a bit of an issue. But we're seeing activity, and you're seeing activity across. You're seeing -- of course, there are transactions.People need to refinance, people need to get liquidity. And a lot of the transactions that are occurring today are at the high, high, high prime, super prime end, where the real more equity-rich, cash-rich investors are active. Now the levered buyers are remaining somewhat cautious. We don't see strong shifts.Although, I would say in April and early May, there's been a little bit more activity than it was in the first quarter. And all we can do is be the best at what we do, continue to be out there every day with clients, structure the smartest deals and offer the best quality to our clients. We can't do anything about the market.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

That is fair. And last question for me then. I always have to ask about Kaktus since it's such a big and prestige project of yours. If you look in the report, it's expected to be finalized here in this quarter, Q2. But what is a reasonable divestment time line from a shareholder's point of view, given that buyers and sellers are so far apart. Is it reasonable to expect that it can close in 2023 or what should we think about this?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Well, it could. But again, we can't say that with certainty. We have good ongoing discussions, whether that is enough to close in this year or not, we're not sure. The construction is going well. The occupancy, again, is virtually without vacancy -- very, very high. The rents are strong on the residential side. So from that perspective, the sort of the core underwriting is strong. As we've mentioned before, we're working to finalize the last commercial leases and then find a new investor for this fantastic property.At the moment, we have strong operating income from the property. And as you know, we have a strong balance sheet. So we're not concerned from that perspective. And we have ongoing discussions with buyers. But again, as we said, it takes a long time to close these transactions, especially one of this size at the moment. So we could speculate, but that wouldn't do you any favors.

[Patrik Brattelius, analyst]

Can you share any insights perhaps, how your own IRR expectations perhaps have changed throughout the year in this project?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

No, not really. I mean, look, it's the exit assumptions and timing are very uncertain. So it would be unfair to speculate on that. I mean what we can see is the current projects that are just completing or coming to completions are going to be hard to meet the returns that we've had in the last couple of years. Clearly, that's not the case. However, going forward, with new capital and new strategies, we feel pretty confident that with new entry points and repositioning assets and taking a very informed contrarian views at times is going to be equally successful as the past, but in the next couple of years.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Jesper Von Koch from Redeye.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

Thanks for the presentation today and also congratulations to the new fixed position, Michel.

[Michel Fischier, executive]

Thank you, Jesper.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

All right. So let's start with Investment Management, where it appears that AUM growth is moving from perhaps the public funds to partly private funds, but I guess primarily asset management. But could you just elaborate on the investor appetite for the different funds? Like do you see any difference in the preference there?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Well, Jesper, as we've mentioned before, I think the investor appetite is a very clear into both funds and mandates with a high sustainability profile. That's number one. That works to our advantage. It plays to our strength, and we will continue to focus on both our existing and new products. Now in the very core market where we have a fair amount of AUM, the new inflows is as the transaction market would suggest limited. But that's okay. We still retain our investors. We still retain their trust and confidence. We still retain their equity and our AUM, and we continue to have more money to spend and invest.And while new investments in core might be limited currently in the short term. The assets that we hold are very, very good. And they are exceptional assets, high quality in the right locations, and that's why the investors have been with us for a long time. Being in the right location with good assets is never going to be a bad strategy.But the short-term growth and capital inflows in those particular strategies are likely to be limited for a quarter or a couple of quarters, who knows. But what we see is sort of the first movers coming into more opportunistic strategies. And obviously, we don't talk about it until it's real, and we don't talk about it in the earnings report until it's real. But we're working around the clock here behind the scenes on new investment strategies, finding the right investment opportunities, positioning it with investors. But this takes time.I mean, look, it's going to be fantastic when they come to market. It's going to be really exciting. It's going to generate profits, not -- probably not this year, but this is building for the future, building for many, many years to come. And that market is ongoing, both in funds and in assets under management. Creating these funds take a bit longer. So I wouldn't anticipate that AUM growth in new funds to occur in the short term.However, separate mandates, specific vehicles, direct co-investments with -- on a club deal or a single investor deal. I mean that can be very quick. And that's where we anticipate seeing most of our activity, at least in 2023, as we continue to build more long-term products also in the background, which we'll hopefully talk a lot about. And maybe we'll give you a chance to sit down with Gianluca over the coming months to explain our strategy and how we're going to go to market.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

Sounds good. And I mean do you experience any desire to withdraw any capital from your funds? I mean, how is the discussions going?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Well, it's a -- the fund withdrawals since the last -- not the last -- there's no global financial crisis now. But since the global financial crisis, the rules were changed and most of our funds have a pretty long notice period and also withdrawal penalties if you do it urgently. So in a fund business, especially, you have ongoing discussions, continuous discussions with all investors on how to invest, where to invest.And frankly, right now, a lot of the investors want to be a little cautious and are happy with us to maintain a bit more liquidity and invest more slowly. We have had, fortunately, very, very limited capital outflows. I mean, too small to mention. And frankly, also quite limited calls and the calls that we've had, we've managed to negotiate with investors and see if they're interested in alternative solutions. So for now, nothing material to talk about, which is -- frankly, that's a good performance in and of itself to retain the investors' confidence in these times.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

Okay. Good. And for asset management, any specific markets that part is doing particularly well in?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

I would -- I think what I would like to emphasize is the U.K. and simply because the U.K. market tends to move faster and first, and this time there's been no exception. The yield shift has been a little quicker. And the capital -- the more opportunistic capital tends to come into that angle as action both on the investors and the investor market.So our U.K. business Catella APAM are doing quite well. We didn't have any significant variable fees in the first quarter. But the pipeline of potential mandates is really strong. And we are also quite active where we're pursuing equity opportunities ourselves in that region together with our team there. So I would highlight that market as being the first to really move, and we anticipate seeing similar moves in the rest of the Continental Europe in the coming months.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

All right. And also, I mean, what's your view on your current portfolio of assets in Investment Management? I mean, would you say that all the remaining parts will deliver like at sufficiently good profitability or are there still some that you doubt?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Sorry. Jesper, I must admit, I didn't hear the first part of that question.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

What's your view on your current portfolio of assets in Investment Management?

[Michel Fischier, executive]

I think you're referring to the platforms that we have. Is that correct?

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

Yes, exactly, like the French one that you divested now. I mean, are there more gradually -- yes, like this.

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

No, I think, we have -- the platform that we divested was a specialty platform, a specific asset class. And frankly, we have a significant competence and experience in our existing platforms in that segment. So we actually have a couple of ideas and strategies that we're pursuing in that segment. And so I don't see it as a -- it was a unique segment that we tried and didn't succeed to our targets, and we think we can pursue it in our existing platforms.I would rather say we are very -- I wouldn't say very aggressively, but we are very focused on growing our existing and remaining asset management platforms, which have been a little behind, a bit in the shadow of our funds a little bit in the recent few years when the funds have been very much in favor and the growth has been exceptionally strong.Now it's the time to shine for our asset management businesses, who have incredible local competence in finding and improving underperforming assets or repositioning assets. We have development experience across the board. So I would say the opposite, the focus is now growing the remaining entities. And as we have alluded to in the past, maybe add a platform or 2 if we're lucky and looks good.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

All right. Sounds interesting. And then just in Investment Management, again, you sequentially increased number of employees by 11, I think. Is that mainly like towards the like digitalization part and also, I guess, Gianluca. If you could just elaborate on like what functions and so on that they're placed in.

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Digitalization and the capital raising are actually not within Investment Management as a group level, which is -- those are 2 critical areas where we've added a very limited number of people, frankly, just a couple of people so far. But it is something where we intend to operate on the pan-European and across all our businesses. So that's number one.Where we have invested in investment management is predominantly in technical asset management and ESG expertise. So we have a small new team in focusing solely on improving sustainability criteria and performance in all our residential assets. And we have added a few strong new people in technical asset management and in our commercial area to really work on what was going to be a much more active asset management approach to our entire portfolio going forward. So that's really where the addition of people have been in Investment Management.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

Okay, fair. And then just one last one, perhaps for Michel. Regarding the financial income, is that only from FX effect. So with constant currency like the quarterly net finance with these interest rates should be around minus 40%, would that be like a correct assumption?

[Michel Fischier, executive]

I think you can calculate on our interest cost on the bond. And then you will see some -- as I mentioned previously during the call that we have improved our intercompany lending structure, and there you see a substantial positive effects on the financial nets. And then the other parts, I think I described, we had some positive headwinds from FX, which you mentioned some fair value revaluations as well. So yes, I think I'd covered all of that.

[Jesper Henrikson, analyst]

Okay. And then could you also just briefly comment on your project debt related to Kaktus, what are the terms for this loan? I mean -- or are you also doing -- is that part of where the intercompany lending comes into place?

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

So firstly, we can't comment on loans -- external loans. But what I would say is that the senior financing structure in Kaktus is exceptionally competitive. How I would describe it with we consider a very competitive and compelling margin. And then it's a question of, for us, how much of our own equity versus further up the capital structure on debt we want to be if we are going to hold this for a little while. But we're in a good position, I would say, at the moment with a secure, very competitive senior financing, and that's the most important.

[Operator]

There are no further phone questions at this time. I'll turn it back to our presenters for any written questions and closing remarks. Thank you.

[Christoffer Abramson, executive]

Yeah. Okay. I don't think we have any written questions. We appreciate the -- as always, the insightful questions and thank you everyone for listening in. And we look forward to speaking with you in the coming quarters. And thank you for our time today.

[Operator]

Thank you. That concludes our conference for today. You may now disconnect your lines.