Scandic Hotels Group AB (publ)

Thank you and good morning everyone and thank you for joining us here for our Q4 presentation. I'm Jens Mathisen, I'm the CEO of Scandic and as usual I'm here together with our CFO Per Christiansen. So let's dive in to the highlights. Please turn to page two. Looking at the quarter, I'm pleased with the performance. We delivered good organic growth and a solid result, with revenues and profitability improving in all segments except Finland. Occupancy increased across the Nordic markets, with Norway remaining at solid levels in line with last year. While price development varies somewhat, the overall price dynamics are healthy. We also see favorable conditions in both Ireland and the UK. Revenues grew by 1.6%, and when adjusting for currency effects, organic growth was more than 4%. In Sweden and Norway, our two largest markets, organic growth was around 8%, and in other Europe, around 4%. So on an underlying basis, excluding currency effects, performance was good across most markets. The acquisition of the latter is progressing very well and developing as planned. We are looking closely and constructively with the latter team where we really work on this case and the hotels are performing well under the management agreement and in line with our expectations. Cashflow development for the year was strong and our financial position remains very robust. Based on this, the board has proposed an ordinary dividend of 2.60 Swedish kronor per share. All in all, we are finishing the year with solid performance and clear progress. The year has also started good. Business on books are higher than at the same time last year. And we see indications of a more favorable price dynamic. with booking levels coming in at higher pace at a higher price point across our markets. Looking ahead, we expect continued growth in occupancy and gradually improved room rates. Please turn to page three. We delivered a solid result with an adjusted EBITDA of 513 million sec, corresponding to a margin of 9.2%. Adjusted for one-off items and currency effects, the underlying result this year was slightly higher. We managed to grow the business and increase profitability across all segments except Finland. In Finland, the market remains cautious. However, looking at business on books, we see early signs of improved price dynamics in Finland with prices up around 5% year to date in 2026. Also occupancy has improved steadily over the past year. And as demand recovers, we expect pricing to gradually follow. With an efficient cost base, the earnings potential in Finland is strong once the market normalizes. 2025 was all in all a good year where we kept a high pace and completed several major initiatives. In the fourth quarter, we finalized remaining work related to some of these initiatives, including our new web and app and our loyalty program. This led to somewhat higher central cost in the quarter. With these initiatives now completed, we entered 2026 with a stronger platform, and we expect central costs to decline in 2026 relative to revenues and be broadly stable in absolute terms. Per will come back to this in more details on the financial performance later on. Please turn to page four. Here you see the development in occupancy, average room rates and REFPA for the Nordic markets indexed to 2019. Overall, the Nordic hotel market strengthened further in the fourth quarter. Both occupancy and average room rate increased, resulting in market REFPA growth of around 7.5% for the quarter in local currencies. In Sweden, occupancy improved steadily and price development accelerated during the second half of the year. In Stockholm in particular, we saw a clearer pickup in pricing towards the end of 2025, following a more cautious development in the first half. Norway remains strong despite tough comparables. Denmark also delivered very strong performance with REFPA growth of more than 15%, supported by solid international travel and a strong event calendar in Copenhagen. Finland continues to lack somewhat. Occupancy improved further, but pricing remained under pressure, particularly in larger cities where capacity has increased. So overall, the Nordic hotel market remains healthy with gradually strengthened underlying momentum. Please turn to page five. Turning a bit into Ireland and the UK, here you see occupancy, average room rates and REVPAR index to 2019 for Ireland, Dublin for UK and London. And overall market development was positive in both countries during the quarter. In Ireland, REVPAR index increased by more than 5%, primarily driven by higher average room rates. Pricing was particularly strong in Dublin, reflecting solid demand and limited new capacity. In the UK, REFPA grew by around 2%. London performed broadly in line with the national average, supported by stable demand across both leisure and corporate segments. So overall, both markets show stable demand and healthy underlying fundamentals. With a gradual improvement in the broader economic environment in Ireland and the UK, we see good potential for further growth over time. Please turn to page six. This slide shows our pipeline at the end of the fourth quarter, now including the Dallata's pipeline. In total, there were 20 hotels and more than 4,000 rooms. Of these, six hotels come from Dallata. We continue to see solid interest from property owners and financial partners, which support a steady pace in our development. In 2026, we will open nine hotels in total, including five ScandiGo hotels, supporting our expansion in the economy segment. So overall, the pipeline is well balanced and fully aligned with our long-term targets, giving us a strong foundation for continued and disciplined growth. Please turn to page seven. Let's take a look at how we have developed the portfolio since last quarter. We continue to grow selectively in Germany, in line with our long-term strategy. During the quarter, we opened Scandic Stuttgart Europa Wirtel, adding 173 rooms in central Stuttgart. This is our first hotel in this city and expands our presence in a very attractive growth market. With this opening, we are now operating eight hotels in Germany. We also signed a long-term lease for a new hotel in central Hamburg with 328 rooms and the planned opening in 2028. This will be our third hotel in Hamburg and it further strengthened our position in one of Germany's key markets. Please turn to page eight. We also continue to grow at good pace in Norway, where the market remains strong. During the quarter, we opened a new 97-room franchise hotel in Florby, further strengthening our presence in regional Norway. And after the quarter, we also signed agreements for two new Scandico hotels. One central hotel in Tromsø with 170 rooms and one in central Stavanger with 152 rooms. Both plan to open in 2028. These additions support our expansion in the economy segment and further strengthen our position in key Norwegian markets. Please turn to page 9. Some comments on the Dallata acquisition. Since November 7, we have been operating Dallata's hotels under a management agreement, meaning the transaction has contributed from day one through management fees. Performance so far is in line with our expectations. Operations are developing as planned, supported by solid market conditions in Ireland and the UK. Pierre will provide more financial details shortly. The Carver process is progressing according to plan with no changes to the previously communicated timeline. We remain well on track for the integration in the second half of 2026, at which point the largest hotel operations will be fully consolidated into Scandic. We will continue to update the market as this process moves forward. With that, I hand it over to you Per. Please turn to page 10.

Thank you, Jens. Good morning, everyone. I will now go through the Q4 and full year financials. Please turn to page 11. Looking at the fourth quarter, we saw good organic growth of 4.2%. Top line faced currency headwinds of minus 183 million. Good result, better than last year in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. In Finland, demand increased, but prices were soft. All in all, results better than last year if excluding currency effects and one-offs. We saw good contribution from the management contract from Dalata operations of 39 million on top line and 35 million on EBITDA. Higher group cost in the quarter explained by finalizing some of the initiatives that Jens mentioned before. We saw non-recurring items in the quarter of 30 million, five related to the Delata acquisition and 25 related to the reorganization within the commercial organization to improve efficiency. Please turn to page 12. Looking at the full year results for 2025, we saw organic growth of 3.9%. Currency headwinds were more than 500 million on top line. Profitability more or less in line with target with a margin of 10.9% and EBITDA at 2 billion 425 million SEK. Good results in Sweden and Norway, other Europe in par with last year and Finland below last year due to the cautious market. We have good cost control in Finland and high efficiency in our operations. So when the market improves, we expect to get back on strong profitability levels in Finland. Central and group costs reflected in the investments in commercial operational capabilities expected to flatten out 2026 and decrease as a percentage of sales. Please turn to page 13. We have a strong cash flow of more than 2 billion SEK, investments in line with plan. We saw free cash flow of 914 million, slightly better than last year. Please turn to page 14. We have a very strong financial position, net debt of 35 million SEK, meaning a leverage of zero times. We are well positioned to support the portfolio growth agenda, the acquisition of Dalata Hotel Operations and our dividend policy. The board proposed an ordinary dividend of 53% of the net profit and 2.6 SEK per share. Please turn to page 15. Good development in 2025 and major initiatives completed. We have a platform in place supporting growth and margin improvement. We see a stable cost outlook with low inflation, meaning low fixed rent increases and salary cost development expected around 3%. With good cost control and focus on efficiency, we have also seen that we use less hours in the operations to support more guests. As I said before, central cost expected to be stable 2026 versus 2025 and decline as a percentage of sales. And as mentioned, we have taken measures in the quarter to improve efficiency in the commercial organizations. For business rates in UK, they are not affecting Scandic 2026, but for 2027 and forwards. And they are part of our plan, including mitigating actions to protect our margins. All in all, we are well positioned to drive growth with good margins. Please turn to page 17 and I hand back to you Jens.

Thank you, Per. Then as a final concluding remarks here, I will sum up a few comments. We deliver good organic growth and solid results with improved profitability across all markets except Finland. Finland remains cautious, but there are indications of an improved market and the potential is clear. Altogether, the overall performance and momentum in Scandic are strong. The Nordic Hotel market continues to show strength and we see solid fundamentals in Ireland and UK. The Dallata acquisition is progressing very well. Operations are performing in line with expectations and we are working closely together with the Dallata team to get to know the business in depth. Over time, we will update the market on how we see the combined platform developing and the value creation opportunities ahead. With several key initiatives completed during the year, we enter 2026 with a stronger commercial and operational platform. And we expect central costs to decline in 2026 relative to revenues and be broadly stable in absolute terms. This year has started well. Bookings are ahead of last year. Pricing dynamics are gradually improving and we expect both occupancy and room rates to increase in the first quarter. Leisure travel remains very solid and we expect business travel to develop positively as the economic environment gradually also improves. This supports expectations of a higher pace in price development. We are preparing for what we believe could be a very good year with the spring and summer reaching new record levels. All in all, Scanning is in a very strong position with clear momentum, a robust balance sheet, and significant potential as we move forward. And with that, I hand it back to you, operator, for the Q&A.