Entra Asa

Good morning all and welcome to ENFRA's third quarter presentation. Let me start by letting you know what you can see on this picture here. This is our building in Nonnesetegaten 4, where we currently have an ongoing project. As you can see, it's located spot on the central train station in Bergen and also with the metro next to it. If we move on to the highlights in the quarter, rental income of $767 million this quarter, which is $3 million with the same quarter last year. Net income from property management of $328 million, which is up then by $10 million from last year. And fairly limited net value changes this quarter with minus $11 million. Profit before tax of 326 million in the quarter. Our net asset value increased with 1 kroner per share, 267. And happy to once again see that we have a positive net letting this quarter with 10 million. Our board has decided to resume the semi-annual dividends and at the same time also revised our dividend policy. Since the IPO, we have had dividend policy to distribute around 60% of cash earnings as cash dividend. Dividends were suspended in 2023 and 2024 to strengthen our balance sheet in a challenging market environment. With an improved financial position and also seeing that the market is showing clear signs of stabilizing, we are now resuming our semi-annual dividend. The board has also revised the dividend policy from distributing around 60% of cash earnings as cash dividend to now at least 30% as semi-annual capital distributions either through cash dividend or share buybacks. The revised dividend policy provides financial flexibility, allowing more room for accretive investments and share buybacks as well as dividends, depending on what provides the best shareholder values at any given point in time. As we are transitioning into a revised policy, the Board has decided that the dividend for the first half of 2025 will be distributed as cash dividend of 1.1 kroner per share. Going forward, the Board will assess and evaluate capital distribution levels and form based on what yields best returns to our shareholders. This revised dividend policy does not mean that we are compromising on our return requirements. Our investments shall generate shareholder value and we want to underline that by at the same time formalizing an ambition to generate more than 10% return on equity over the cycle. The revised policy and return on equity ambition are key components of our capital allocation framework, balancing financial strength and ensuring that all capital is deployed with a focus on shareholder value, which Ole will get back to in more details later. If we move on to our operations and the markets, we have maintained positive momentum from the second quarter and signed new and renewed leases with an annual rent of 72 million this quarter. At the same time, we have had fairly limited terminations with 17 million in the quarter, and out of that, 60% has been re-signed within our portfolio. leaving us then with a positive net letting of 10 million in the quarter. The occupancy is currently at 94.2%, slightly lower than in the second quarter, but unchanged compared to the first quarter. As I mentioned, last quarter we expect to see more fluctuations in the occupancy ratio going forward. The previous terminations, which have been reflected in our net letting and also now are reflected in the rental income bridge, will potentially feed into vacancy if new leases are not signed before tenants move out of their contracts. And it will be dependent on when we sign new leases or start projects on the buildings which have reached the end of life. Now, in the third quarter, the increased vacancy is due to some tenants moving out of buildings which have reached their end of life and are being prepared for refurbishments. One of these properties is located right next to the central station in Bergen and one is located right next to the central station in Oslo. We have been working on optimizing cost and also scoping the project and office layouts to attract the right tenants. And we have now also seen an increase in market trends in the city centers of both these cities. And we have some active letting processes ongoing. So we will be assessing when to start these refurbishments based on the ongoing lease discussions, our lease pipeline, and as well as the micro-market rental development and supply-demand balance. In Oslo, we have seen that search activity has increased slightly before the summer and we know that there are quite a lot of leases expiring in 2027, which should also provide more activity going forward. We have great locations, we have attractive products. and we are very confident that we will be able to bring our occupancy back to the historic levels but we are also at the same time realistic that it may take some time. Also seeing that we are working to capture the rent uplift potential in the portfolio and currently we are not seeing any support in growth in demand in particularly the Oslo market. If we move on to our list of ongoing projects, they are progressing according to plan. The project in Trondheim is now close to completion and will be handed over to the buyer in the fourth quarter. Seeing that we are close to completion, we have also resolved some of the contingency reserves and taken down the cost slightly. In Brynsengfare 6 we have increased the cost with 8 million. This is due to some tenant requirements which is financed over the rent and thereby not affecting the yield on cost. And the first phase of the project in Nonnesetegaten 4, which you saw on the front page, has been completed, and the tax authorities have now moved in in the lower eight floors of that building, and the remaining vacant space is on the top floors in that building. The main part of the refurbishment of Malmeskriveveien 2-4 is completed, and the tenant has moved in, so we will finalize the project reporting next quarter. And in Drammensveien, 134 is also progressing according to plan, and the remaining CAPEX in all of these projects is now 460 million. We continue to have a disciplined approach to capital allocation, prioritizing project CAPEX, supporting our letting activity in the short term. If you move on to a few words on the market, the Norwegian economy is strong and well positioned to both stimulate and support its economy through fiscal policies and public spending with its sovereign wealth fund. Norway's economy has remained robust through 2025, and the mainland GDP has been higher than expected, supported by public spending, business investments, as well as private consumption, as lower interest rates and solid wage increases have started to feed into the economy. The mainland GDP growth is expected to be around 1.5% to 2% going forward. Norges Bank's initial rate cut of 25 basis points came in June and was followed up with another cut in September. So the key policy rate is currently around 4%. And the latest forecast from the central bank is that we will see potentially one interest rate cut per year over the next three years. The CPI came in at 3.6% in September, which was in line with market expectations. The core inflation, which is the basis for the central bank's interest rate models, came in at 3% and was below the estimates from the central bank. Employment growth is expected to remain slightly positive going forward. In Oslo, the employment growth of the last year has primarily been within the public sector, which we also see are currently moving or transitioning from one desk per employee policy to free seating and underutilization. And at the same time, the private sector is focusing more on cost reductions and thereby also reducing space. So currently, employment growth is not contributing to net office absorption in the Oslo office market. If you move on to the letting markets, we have seen that year to date in 2025 signed lease volumes have been more or less in line with historical levels. However, lower than one would have expected for the second and third quarter, knowing that there is quite a large chunk of lease expiries coming in 2027. According to our real statistics database, there is around 900,000 square meters to be up to expiry in 2027, compared to 700,000 in 2026. And we know that typically the large tenants, they start to plan for this three to four years ahead of an expiry, while the smaller tenants, they start six to 24 months before expiry. So this should mean that we should see more activity in the letting markets going forward. And we also then expect to see more lease searches coming out in the months to come. The vacancy is currently around 7%, as you can see from the top right graph, and expected to increase slightly going forward. We see that there are variations between the different parts of the city with vacancies between 6-8% in the more central areas and in parts of the city where you have older building stock or in some of the fringe areas we are now also seeing that vacancies are above 10%. As you can see from the lower right graph, there is limited new supply coming into the market in the years to come. A few words also on expectations for rental growth. With economic growth continuing as a base case, the letting market fundamentals are promising for Oslo going forward. particularly in the city centre, where we believe that rents should increase more than CPI going forward, seeing that there is very limited new supply and also a drive towards the centre from tenants. As you can see from the top right picture, the market consensus reports expect to see that we will have 12% market rental growth in the Oslo market as a whole over the next three years. And the most recent data points from Areal Statistic, which came out this week, also show that we have seen top rents in the inner city increase with 10% so far this year, which means that the market trends now are converging towards the levels we need to see to be able to start new build projects in the city centre of Oslo. If we move on to the transaction markets, the financing markets are available and lending sentiment remains positive. Debt capital markets are open and attractively priced. We have done quite a lot of financing in the quarter and are clearly seeing that credit margins have been tightening both in bank and bonds. The transaction volumes year to date have been around 50 billion and expectations in our consensus report is that it will be around 80 billion for the full year in line with last year's activity. More real estate deals are currently being marketed but the market is still in a bit of a wait and see mode due to recent global market volatility and interest rate volatility. As you can see from the consensus report, also top right, the prime yields are currently around 4.5%. This has also been supported by transactions during the third quarter. And we see that the prime yield transactions are driven by buyers in the equity buyer sector, meaning pension funds. Okay, Ole, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Sonja. Thank you, Sonja. In Q3, our financial performance is slightly down compared to the second quarter. Rental income came in at $767 million, more or less in line with the $770 million we had in the second quarter. Compared to Q2, we had negative impact from net letting of $7 million due to increased vacancy, which was partly offset by positive contribution from our project portfolio of $4 million. The rental income is 4 million above what we highlighted in our rental bridge in the second quarter, as we had less negative one-offs than expected. Net income from property management came in at 328 million, down from 352 million in the second quarter. In Q2, we had especially low OPEX, but in Q3, this reverted back more to historical levels. In addition to this, we have 13 million higher financial costs compared to the second quarter, which is a combination of several smaller items, which I will come back to on the next slide. Profit before tax came in at 326 million, and this includes negative net value changes of 11 million. while in Q2, the net value changes was positive with 191 million, which explains the reduction in pre-tax profit from the second quarter to the third quarter. I've already gone through the rental income part, but I'll give you some more flavor on the other items. OPEX came in at 63 million, or 8.2% of rental income, which is in line with historical level and also the third quarter last year. In Q2, the OPEX level was particularly low at 7.5% of rental income. Admin cost is also stable at 50 million, as we have managed to offset wage increases with other cost reductions. As I already mentioned, we target to have an admin cost for the full year of around 200 million. Looking then at the other revenue, other costs, This was positively impacted by net gains of 50 million on the forward-sold Holtemansveig project in Trondheim, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. Net realized financial increased to 346 million, 30 million higher than we had in the second quarter. This is not due to increased interest rates or debt volumes, but a combination of several other items. The number of days in the quarter impacts 3 million, and we did buybacks of nearly 1 billion of short-term bonds, which impacts 4 million. In addition to this, we have capitalized 3 million less in interest costs due to lower project activity. And lastly, we have 2 million higher commitment fees due to more unrun credit lines. Net value changes for our investment properties was negative with 88 million. I will come back on this later on. And we had positive value changes in our financial instruments of 77 million, caused by higher medium and long-term interest rate. And this gave, in sum, profit before tax of 326 million. Over then to our rental income development. Looking forward, the model indicates rental income in the fourth quarter of 772 million. This is similar to the bridge that we presented in the second quarter. If we look into 2026, we can see that the positive net letting we had two quarters in a row has started to impact the bridge positively with higher rental income trends compared to the bridge we presented in the first quarter and also higher than the bridge we presented in the second quarter. This graph is not a guidance. It just highlights the rental income based on reported events in existing contracts. It is upside to this bridge, particularly in the latter part of the period. Firstly, we aim to let out existing vacant space, which has a rental income potential of 202 million per year. In addition to that, we have available space in our ongoing project portfolio, which has a rental income potential of 55 million a year. Thirdly, there is micro-rent reversal potential of 247 million. And lastly, we expect to re-let space that already feed into vacancy in this bridge following terminations in previous periods. Moving then over to our property value, which increased to 64 billion in the quarter. Total value changes are 235 million, of which value changes in our investments properties are negative with 88 million, which is a value reduction of 0.15%. We have positive value impact from net letting and a slight positive also for market trends, but this was offset by increased void on a couple of assets we are preparing for project, which is at the end of the lifetime. And in addition to this, the appraisers have also reduced their forward CPI assumption slightly on our portfolio. The deviation between the appraisers is now very limited at only 1.3%, and this has come gradually down over several quarters. CapEx in the quarter was 315 million, mostly related to the five ongoing reported projects. We will continue to have a disciplined investment strategy and prioritize defensive CapEx to increase occupancy on existing portfolio and realize market rent uplift. On the right-hand side, you can see that our net asset value increased also slightly in the quarter from 166 kroners per share in the second quarter to 167 kroners per share in the third quarter. Moving then over to our debt metrics, which continue to have a slight improvement in the third quarter. The ICR looks like have bottomed out and also improved slightly to 2.04 measured over the last 12 months. The leverage ratio improved from 49.1% to 48.8%, while our net interest-bearing debt, GBTA, was flat at 11.7%. We expect to continue a gradual improvement in our debt metrics, and this is supported by our running cash flow from our project management, combined with continued capital discipline. In addition to this, there is potential for value increases on our portfolio over time. We have created a solid financing platform in 2025 with an average time to maturity of a total debt at 3.8 years. The debt capital market was open with tightening spreads during the third quarter. We have issued 2.3 billion in new green unsecured bonds with five year bonds at 115 point spreads and six year bonds at 128 point spreads. And after the quarter end, we issued a new green fixed six year bond at 118 basis point spreads. As you can see in the graph to the right, we have under on bank credit lines of 8.8 billion committed until 2028. We have reduced our bank lines during the quarter to improve funding costs, but still we have ample available liquidity over the next 24 months. We also see that the bank spreads are also coming in during the third quarter, and we will continue to work to optimize our total funding costs going forward. On the left hand side you can see that 66% of our debt financing is green and we have capacity to issue more green debt based on our existing environmental friendly asset base. We will continue to have a conservative approach when it comes to both leverage and interest rates going forward and with the gradual improvement in our credit metrics and continuous capital discipline We believe that we are on the path for a rating upgrade in the future. Moving then over to the cost of debt. The all-in financing financial cost is up from 4.23% to 4.38%, while the interest rate on our interest-bearing debt is down to 3.91% in the quarter. Despite the good credit margin and the second cut from the Norwegian Central Bank of 25 basis points in September, our interest rate forecast is slightly higher compared to what we presented in the second quarter due to an upward shift in the forward curve. Despite this, over the next 12 months, we estimate relatively stable interest rates due to improved credit margins as well as our existing interest hedges. As Sonja talked you through earlier, we are now resuming shareholder distribution under revised dividend policy. As you can see in this graph to the right, we paid out an increasing cash dividend up until 2022 before suspending dividend in 2023 and 2024 to focus on strengthening our balance sheet following challenging markets. We have now decided to pay out 1.1 kroners per share in cash for the first half of 2025, corresponding to 30% of the cash earnings in the same period. On an annualized basis, this corresponds to a dividend yield of 1.9% based on yesterday's share price. The payout level is in line with the revised dividend policy to distribute a minimum 30% of cash earnings to the shareholders in form of cash dividends or share buybacks. With this policy, we also increase the flexibility to optimize our capital allocation to balance different objectives. We will maintain or improve our investment grade rating and at the same time provide a floor for capital distribution while opening more flexibility for either share buybacks or growth investments, whichever creates most value for our shareholders. As Sonja also pointed out, we are not compromising on our return requirements or our commitments to create shareholder value. To underline this, we are formalizing our ambition to generate a return on equity of at least 10% over the cycle to ensure a disciplined long-term capital allocation. Internally, this will also help us to continue to strengthen our commercial mindset and alignment around profitability, project returns, and cost discipline. We will have projects with higher returns and higher risk, and we will have projects with lower return and lower risk. However, setting an overall return on equity vision for our total portfolio will help us direct capital to assure best risk-adjusted returns. Our return on equity drivers includes the cash flow from managing our property portfolio, and this includes our cost-efficient financing platform, accretive project development and transactions, and property value appreciation over time. This is a long-term ambition over a cycle which typically can last up to 10 years. Looking at the graph to the right, in the current market environment, This might look like an aggressive emission, given that we have seen below 5% return on equity in the 2020s and 5.9% over the last 12 months. However, our historical performance shows that over the last 10 years, our average return on equity has been 12.6%. we consider above 10% return on equity to also be achievable in the future, given a balanced macro and office market fundamentals. So, summing it up, we have a portfolio of high-quality assets and project development opportunities. that are going to generate capital through cash earnings, gains from asset rotation, as well as value appreciation with re-leveraging over time. Our core priorities for capital use will be the investments required to preserve asset values, securing financial strength to maintain or improve our investment grade rating, and distribute at least 30% of our cash earnings in capital to our shareholders. excess capital will be distributed will be allocated between a creative growth investment that supports our return on equity ambition to of over 10 percent over cycle and additional direct shareholder distribution either through cash dividends or share buybacks overall we believe that this framework gives us the flexibility to both invest in growth and return capital to shareholders which we believe will support attractive shareholder returns over time.

Thank you, Ole. A few closing remarks before we take some questions. We are pleased to be resuming dividends for the first half and paying 1.1 kroner per share in cash dividend. And the revised dividend policy with capital distribution of at least 30% will provide more flexibility for either share buybacks or growth investments, whatever creates most shareholder value over time. And to underline this, we have now also formalized an internal ambition to generate a return on equity over time of 10%. The revised dividend policy and return on equity ambition are key components in our capital allocation framework, as Ole mentioned. The Norwegian economic activity continues to increase as lower interest rates and strong wage growth has started to feed into the economy. And we expect to see stable employment growth going forward. And also further rate cuts are expected to come in the years to come. Now, with continued economic growth, the long-term letting market fundamentals are promising. We expect that activity in the letting market should pick up, knowing that there are quite a few contracts there up for expiry in 2027. And we are also seeing that market rents are converging to the break-even rents we need to start projects in the city centres of Oslo and Bergen, which clearly is a good sign. And we are optimistic that we should be able to start some of these refurbishment projects in the quarters to come. Now we have strong organic levers for growth as Ole went through, both in the CPI adjustments, letting of vacant space, reversion potential and projects. So we continue to work to deliver growth in the quarters to come. I think that leaves it for today. And I don't know if we have any questions, Isabel? Or Knut, I don't know.

Thank you, Sonja and Ole. We have a question. What are the specific actions and initiatives that will enable you to reach above 10% return on equity through the cycle?

Entra has a solid foundation. We have... attractive high-quality assets at the clusters at the central transportation hubs in Oslo and Bergen. We have long-term clients, solid clients with CPI-linked contracts. Important for us first is to capture the organic growth, meaning increasing or reducing vacancy, and capture the market rent reversal. In addition to this, we need to continue to optimize our funding costs and capitalize on the financing platform we have set up in 2025. Over time, with balanced macro and office market fundamentals, we should also have a creative project development strategy you know, asset positive, asset contribution from asset rotation, as well as value increases on our portfolio over time. So in sum, this will basically drive up the return on equity above 10% over a cycle.

Thank you. What do you mean by a balanced office market and what is your outlook for the market in your areas?

Well, first of all, I think economic growth supporting demand is of course an important driver for rental income growth and also that we have some normalized vacancy levels in the markets where we are operating. providing support to get the rental income growth we are expecting to see going forward. And currently, we also see that the market rents are slightly below the break-even rents to get to the project returns we want to see on the land bank or new builds. However, that is also in the move, so we hope to see that we will get some more support from market rental growth also to start new projects, because it has also been an important part or an important lever for the return on equity in the history that we made some good projects, and the projects we made They're also in the clusters which we are working to transform. So we have previously seen that when we do new projects in the Tulin quarter, it increases the entire rent on the portfolio in that area. And that's also something we are now very strongly positioned to do around the central station. So if we can start new projects in the area around the central station, we will harvest on a portfolio of 200,000 square meters of management portfolio. when the market trend is pushed up by the project developments we do. And in the long-term perspective, that is also part of our picture when we look to get to the return on equity ambition of about 10%.

Thank you, Sonja and Ole. We'll conclude the Q&A session for today.

Okay, thank you. Thank you all for joining us and see you again next quarter.