”We carried out profitability measures and promoted responsibility efforts”

The economic environment remained uncertain in the 2023 financial period, and we focused on driving profitability measures broadly across our entire portfolio.

In the first half of the financial period, the economic situation did not yet significantly impact the demand of our segments. The latter half of the year was weaker, however, as the signs of economic stagnation began to be more widely apparent. That said, our companies were mostly able to operate well in the challenging environment.

Profitability improved significantly for Grano, Hygga and Oscar Software. For CoreHW and Gugguu, profitability was slightly weaker. Overall, we achieved a clear improvement in profitability and Panostaja’s comparable EBIT for the financial period improved by MEUR 4.0 over the reference period EBIT adjusted with the SokoPro divestment.

We made additional investments in our current portfolio

During the past financial period, we actively worked with new investment opportunities, but the discussions did not yet lead to new investments. Instead, we made a significant additional investment in our current portfolio: a total of four million euros in the development and commercialization of CoreHW’s own product business. The financing consists of Panostaja’s subordinate loan and a product development loan granted by Business Finland. Our goal is to achieve significant sales volumes for component products in the next financial period. We also invested in other strategic growth areas, such as Oscar Software’s cloud transition and Hygga’s software business.

In spring, Panostaja was selected as a growth partner for the software entrepreneur organization Software Finland Association, which has strengthened our position and notoriety among software companies. Our sector-specific focus has also progressed well otherwise: we have secured a stream of high-quality projects that aligns with our strategy.

Responsibility as an integral part of strategy efforts

Over the past financial period, we have also promoted responsibility efforts. In 2022, we created a model for building responsible, sustainable and impactful business and have proceeded to make it a reality through our segments during the past financial period. We support and encourage companies to make responsibility development a fixed part of our continued strategy efforts and management system. We at Panostaja also clarified our focus areas for building sustainable business operations.

The economic situation is expected to remain somewhat poor in 2024, and there are uncertainties related to the development of the operating environment. In the coming financial year, we will continue to focus on developing profitability across our segments. The settled corporate acquisition market provides good opportunities for making new investments, and we are actively exploring them. As regards responsibility, our company has clearer goals and measures for the new year. Overall, we will continue our efforts in 2024 and take strides in the right direction.

Tapio Tommila
CEO

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