The Mall of Scandinavia in Solna has been a challenge from the beginning, in part because of the size of the project and in part because of changes made during the course of the project. The project has turned out to be considerably more expensive than the original contract signed in the autumn of 2011 due to these major changes. This has made it difficult to determine the final result of the project. The project has been reviewed after the mall was opened on 12 November 2015 and thereafter written-down by SEK 800 million. The write-down will charge Business Area Construction in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The underlying business in Peab generates stable results. At the same time Peab’s financial position has been significantly reinforced in the past few years, this despite the fact that the project Mall of Scandinavia has affected both net debt and liquidity. The write-down of Mall of Scandinavia does not affect liquidity. As a result the board’s dividend proposal for the financial year 2015 will not be affected by the write-down. The year end report for 2015 will be presented on 16 February 2016.

– The project has been extremely challenging from the moment the contract was signed at the end of 2011. The structure of the construction contract, all the major changes in the project and an inadequate dialogue with our client has made the project much more expensive. The write-down is based on accounting rules and has nothing to do with the ongoing discussions with our client. Our financial position will continue to be strong after the write-down and the rest of our business generates stable results, says Jesper Göransson CEO of Peab.