Interim Report January-March 2017

Stockholm, April 26, 2017

PRESS RELEASE - NAXS AB (publ)

This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States nor in any other country, and securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder. Nor does it constitute or form part of, and may not be used for the purposes of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities by any person in any jurisdiction, nor shall it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, or act as any inducement to enter into, any contract or commitment to do so, in which (i) such offer or invitation is not authorised; or (ii) in which the person making such offer or invitation is not qualified to do so; or (iii) to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or invitation.

Interim Report January-March 2017

First quarter 2017

• Net profit for the first quarter amounted to MSEK 10.6 (25.2).
• Earnings per share amounted to SEK 0.73 (1.69).
• Net asset value amounted to MSEK 811 (SEK 57.68 per share) at March 31, 2017, compared to MSEK 842 (SEK 56.69 per share) at year-end 2016. The fact that the total net asset value decreased, while the net asset value per share increased is due to the shares repurchases made during the first quarter.
• Net cash amounted to MSEK 351 (SEK 24.98 per share) at March 31, 2017, compared to MSEK 384 (SEK 25.85 per share) at year-end 2016.

Distribution of profits

The Board of Directors previously communicated its intention to make the dividend for the fiscal year 2016 dependent on the amount that might have been distributed under the form of share repurchases during the first quarter of 2017. The Board of Directors stated that the actual level of the dividend would be set as the difference between SEK 40,090,415.40 and the amount that had been distributed under the form of share repurchases during the period between January 1 and March 31, 2017.

NAXS repurchased shares for a total amount of SEK 38,151,029 during the period between January 1 and March 31, 2017. Therefore, the amount that remains available to be paid as dividend for the fiscal year 2016 is SEK 1,939,386.40, corresponding to SEK 0.13/share.

In view of the low amount that remains available to paid as dividend after the share repurchases conducted during the first quarter, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend be paid for the fiscal year 2016.

Share repurchases

The Board of Directors proposes to the 2017 Annual General Meeting to vote on a continued share repurchase mandate and on a reduction of the share capital in combination with a bonus issue. The reduction shall be effected through a cancellation of the repurchased shares that are held by the Company on the day of the notice to the 2017 Annual General Meeting, and the bonus issue shall be carried out without the issuance of new shares.

Comments by the CEO

NAXS actively repurchased shares during the quarter in accordance with the mandate granted to the Company at the 2016 Annual General Meeting, notably acquiring a block of 5% of the total number of shares. Such acquisition, made at 15% discount to the net asset value, was deemed capital-efficient for the Company and value-accretive for our shareholders. As of the end of the first quarter, NAXS held a total of     933 469 shares, representing 6.2% of the total number of shares.

As a result of the above-mentioned share repurchases, the total net asset value decreased slightly during the first quarter, while the net asset value per share increased by 1.7%, also due to a positive valuation development of NAXS’s private equity fund investments.

NAXS made in January a SEK 50m commitment to Mimir Invest, a newly established Swedish special situations fund. NAXS believes that, besides occupying an attractive niche, Mimir offers a degree of diversification within its private equity strategy, and one that is well-suited to the current investment climate. In March, NAXS made a smaller investment in MIPS AB in the IPO of the company on NASDAQ Stockholm. These two new investments were made in accordance with the revised investment policy adopted by NAXS in January 2016.

Lennart Svantesson

Financial summary
 

Contact information
Lennart Svantesson, CEO
Telephone: +46 73 311 00 11
Gösta Lundgren, CFO
Telephone: +46 70 710 47 88

This information is information that Naxs AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 8.30 CET on April 26, 2017.

This press release and further information is available on the Company’s website: www.naxs.se


NAXS AB (publ)
Corp. Reg. No. 556712-2972
Grev Turegatan 10
114 46 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 611 33 25, E-mail: info@naxs.se