CEO Tapio Tommila:

“
Our segments tackled the challenging situation quickly and successfully.
”

These extraordinary times turned the spotlight on short-term goals in an unprecedented manner. As was the case with many other companies, we, along with our segments, initiated measures to protect our staff and adapt our operations. Measures were also taken to secure the financial situation of our segments. We sought to resolve practical challenges together, identified risks and found new opportunities. Our role as an active owner and engaged partner deepened and expanded.

Our segments tackled the challenging situation quickly and successfully. People were exceptionally committed and flexible, ensuring that concerns never overcame the will to make things happen. In fact, several of our segments came up with entirely new innovations during the year and took larger leaps toward digitalization than were originally planned. Each one of our companies has grown throughout the year in terms of both expertise and vision. This lends us the confidence to take action in a world that is changing at an accelerating pace.

Our basic mission is to support the implementation of changes and expedite growth. During the financial period, our segments also successfully and extensively advanced these development projects, despite the challenging situation. Hygga, the dental clinic with a new service concept, won the competitive bidding for the City of Helsinki’s outsourced services, and the development of Hygga’s international business operations progressed. Gugguu took new steps to expand its international business and strengthened its efforts to increase its online presence. Software service company Oscar made significant progress in the development of its Cloud solutions. Design services company CoreHW, on the other hand, continued to develop its proprietary products toward market launch.

Despite the challenging situation, we have been able to push development projects forward extensively.

The net sales of many of our segments declined significantly as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The business operations of Grano and Carrot suffered the most dramatic impacts. Hygga’s clinic business was another victim of the changed circumstances. However, comprehensive adaptation measures lessened the impacts on profitability significantly, and overall the operational EBIT for the financial period remained at the level of the reference period. Thanks to a series of active measures, all of our segments are positioned well for the coming year. Naturally, uncertainty about the future is making forecasts substantially more difficult than before.

During the previous financial period, our investment portfolio was updated through three corporate acquisitions. In April of this financial year, we sold the share capital of Tilatukku Group, which has been one of our segments for eight years and enjoys a strong market position, to the company’s acting management. This was the right time to divest.

At this stage, the coming financial year appears vastly different from those before it. The fog that hangs before us remains thick and seemingly impenetrable. That being said, last spring taught us that we are perfectly capable of adapting to a variety of situations and finding solutions at a rapid pace.

We will continue to carry out our basic mission and actively explore new investment opportunities. The competition for new investments is fierce, but the market still holds plenty of good opportunities for us. The rate of change in the various operating environments is accelerating, which is further broadening the opportunities of our kinds of companies to support the growth of other businesses. We must maintain our readiness to react but still have the courage to invest in the future.

I would like to thank the staff of Panostaja and our segments for their hard work and commitment. I also wish to extend my thanks to our shareholders for their trust – we will continue our long-term efforts to increase shareholder value.