Interim report January-March 2023

• Net asset value was SEK 228.8 per share compared to SEK 196.3 at the beginning of the year, which corresponds to an increase of 16.5 per cent.
• Bure’s net asset value was SEK 16,968M compared to SEK 14,559M at the beginning of the year.
• Total return on the Bure share was 0.2 per cent compared to the SIX Return Index which rose 8.7 per cent.
• Group earnings after tax amounted to SEK 2,421M (-6,616). Earnings per share amounted to SEK 32.5 (-89.3).
• Bure subscribed to shares for SEK 58M in Cavotec’s rights issue.
• Bure subscribed to shares for SEK 50M in Ovzon’s rights issue.
• Atle paid an additional purchase price for Atle Investment Services and HealthInvest Partners of SEK 60M.
• Bure Growth subscribed to shares for SEK 36M in ScandiNova Systems’ rights issue. The holding was revalued by SEK 61M due to the transaction.

Subsequent events

• Net asset value amounted to SEK 226.3 per share on 8 May 2023, equivalent to an increase of 15.3 per cent since the beginning of the year.
• ACQ Bure entered into a merger agreement with Yubico, a leading multi-factor authentication cybersecurity company, on 19 April, 2023. Following the merger, Bure’s holding in the new company, which will be renamed Yubico, will amount to 17.4%.

Comments from the CEO

Bure’s portfolio companies had a good start to the year. Bure’s net asset value increased 16.5 per cent in the first quarter, compared to 8.7 per cent for the SIX Return Index. The value of listed portfolio companies, which account for roughly 80 per cent of net asset value, increased by 20.8 per cent. In terms of individual performance, the majority of the portfolio companies continue to register improvements in growth and profitability. Concerns over an economic downturn remain, but based on the portfolio companies’ order intake, I do not feel that we have seen any dampening in demand.

The quarter was also eventful in terms of transactions. Bure participated in rights issues in listed companies Cavotec and Ovzon to increase their financial flexibility. Furthermore, a rights issue was conducted in the unlisted holding of ScandiNova to finance two complementary acquisitions.

After the end of the period, the merger of ACQ and Yubico was announced. This is an incredibly exciting deal in many ways. Yubico meets all the investment criteria we set out when we launched ACQ two years ago. Yubico is a high-quality company with a global market position in a growing market segment. The timing of the deal is also interesting, I feel. ACQ is now in a position to support Yubico’s successful entrepreneurs take the next step in their development by listing the company on the stock exchange. Bure is increasing its involvement and ownership in Yubico with the transaction; and personally, I see many exciting development opportunities to continue the company’s impressive success.

Yubico published its financial results in conjunction with the announcement of its merger with ACQ. 2022 was a fantastic year for Yubico, with turnover increasing 80 per cent to SEK 1.6 billion. After two weak years in terms of profitability, the company reported a greatly improved operating profit of SEK 215 million, corresponding to a margin of 13.8 per cent. This positive trend continued in the first quarter. Turnover increased by 17.3 per cent in local currencies to SEK 419 million, with an operating margin of 17.5 per cent.

Bure Equity AB (publ)