Castellum AB (publ)

Castellum reported a property portfolio of SEK 134 billion, 5.2 million square meters and 650 properties. H1 net leasing was SEK 110 million, helped by Ericsson leasing at Infinity of around SEK 140 million; vacancy was 87.5%. Like-for-like in-place rents declined 1.3%, like-for-like income was -2%, and NOI was -4.8%. Value changes in the period were +SEK 236 million. Loan-to-value was 37.3%, ICR was 3.2x, average interest rate was 3.5%, and interest-bearing liabilities were SEK 57.3 billion. The company said it expects liabilities to fall to about SEK 49 billion-SEK 51 billion after closing the Alecta and Wihlborgs transactions, and it plans to amortize approximately 40% of those proceeds. The board also approved a new buyback program of up to SEK 3 billion; Castellum had already bought back 39 million shares for SEK 4.6 billion in the first six months of 2026.

Pål Ahlsén framed the quarter around capital recycling and lease execution. He said the company sold assets at prices it viewed as attractive, noting it would not meet return targets at those sale prices, and emphasized that buying back shares remained attractive because the stock still traded at a meaningful discount to NAV. On leasing, he described the market as mixed: Stockholm activity has improved, Gothenburg remains weak but may have bottomed out, and regional cities are still sluggish.

Christoffer Strömbäck focused on the financial impact of the disposals, funding, and capital returns. He highlighted SEK 24 billion of signed divestments, property value of SEK 134 billion, and a valuation cap rate of 5.7%, while noting the signed sales were just below SEK 500 million, or 2% above fair value, before transaction costs and future effects. He said the company refinanced SEK 2.3 billion of secured RCFs, issued SEK 3.9 billion of unsecured SEK bonds at an average credit margin of 99 basis points, and repurchased SEK 1.7 billion of shorter bonds; Q2 financial net included SEK 48 million of one-offs, including SEK 31 million tied to eurobond redemption. He also said the eurobond redemptions increased annual running financial net by about SEK 200 million, while share buybacks lifted EPRA NRV per share 4.6% since year-end and income from property management per share 7.3% for the first six months versus the same period last year.

Analysts focused on capital allocation, leasing momentum, and whether more disposals could follow. Management said all options are open for distributing excess capital from the Wihlborgs deal, but that the timing and market conditions matter, and it plans to use Alecta proceeds first for buybacks already approved up to SEK 3 billion. On leasing, Pål said there is no forecastable path for demand, only execution, and confirmed AFRY accounted for a -SEK 95 million hit to net leasing while no other similarly large terminations are expected. On hybrids and debt, management said the disposal proceeds are viewed as more traditional debt use, and that the hybrid first call date is in December with the first reset date in March next year, which they are still evaluating.