Akademiska Hus

The Group has been a borrower on the public market since 1996 when the domestic Medium Term Note programme (MTN) and a commercial paper programme were established. In line with growth in the balance sheet further loan facilities were established – the Euro Commercial Paper programme (ECP) in 1997 and the Euro Medium Term programme (EMTN) in 1998. Today the Group has interest-bearing liabilities of approximately SEK 18,000 million. One of the aims of the various financing programmes is to secure cost-effective financing on the sub-markets that value the Group's credit rating the highest.

Since 1996 the Group has had a long-term AA-rating with a stable outlook and a short term rating of A1+ / K1 from Standard & Poor's. The ratings reflect the Group's key role as owner and manager of high-quality premises for universities and colleges, the strong involvement of the Swedish state in higher education and research and the long-term objectives of the owners. S&P also considers the financial results reported by the Group to be satisfactory despite a high debt-equity ratio.

Our financial information sheets, which are to be found in the menu to the right, contain a brief description of the Group, information about our properties, tenants and management, details of financing operations during the past year, brief information about our rating and a number of key ratios.

The Akademiska Hus Annual General Meeting was held on April 28. At the meeting the following financial objectives from the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications were adopted for the Group:

- The return (profit after tax) on average equity shall be equivalent to the five-year government bond interest rate plus four percentage points over a business cycle.

- The dividend paid shall amount to 50 per cent of the profit after financial items, excluding unrealised changes in value, with a deduction for current tax. The annual dividend decisions shall take into account the company's strategy, financial position and other financial objectives.

- The equity ratio shall be between 30 and 40 per cent.