Q&A from Conference Call in Swedish Q1 2020
Eric Granström, Carnegie
1. Ahead of Q2, you mentioned that 95 percent of the rents for April are paid – but commercial tenants pay quarterly don’t they?
Hans Wallenstam: Since the majority of our tenants pay the rent on a monthly basis, we decided to report on the month of April. Residential tenants pay monthly. Many commercial tenants pay quarterly, but for example, many stores etc. pay the rent on a monthly basis.
2. You describe in the report how you are handling the situation with rebates and some deferrals, that you have negotiated with about 200 customers. Will you also negotiate with the rest of the tenants?
Hans Wallenstam: As you know, not all tenants have been affected, but of course those that have been affected are coming to us. Many are not helped by a deferral of the rent. For example, hairdressers, who of course lose income when the customer is not coming. We have preferred to agree rebates, or make agreements that make it possible for the tenant to continue to run their business. Very few tenants have received deferrals, we have only granted deferrals to customers with strong balance sheets, but that currently have liquidity problems.
3. Turning to your production of rental apartments: How do you feel about the financing of projects? How does demand look?
Hans Wallenstam: Many people are looking for rental apartments right now, we have seen an increase in our own housing queue. We currently have about 100,000 people in our queue. With regard to financing, as you know, we have also previously chosen to have our main financing with banks. We have no financing problems in our new construction projects.
4. What is your main focus for Q2 and Q3?
Hans Wallenstam: What is difficult right now is that we don’t know what to expect tomorrow. This is a challenge every day now in this phase of illness. We are focusing on making things easier for the tenants and businesses as far as possible, day by day and month by month. It’s about helping those that basically have a viable business, but that are finding it tough going right now.