SBB, the landlord at the center of Sweden’s property crisis, ended the search for a new finance chief after just 12 days, promoting its interim head of group accounting to the position of finance director.
(Bloomberg) — SBB, the landlord at the center of Sweden’s property crisis, ended the search for a new finance chief after just 12 days, promoting its interim head of group accounting to the position of finance director.
The company urgently needs to restore investor confidence having become a poster child for a funding crunch that continues to afflict highly indebted borrowers across Europe’s real estate sector after years of leveraged growth hit a wall.
Daniel Tellberg will become finance director for Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB — as the company is formally known — starting on Friday and gradually take over responsibilities from outgoing Chief Financial Officer Eva-Lotta Stridh, according to a statement on Wednesday. Tellberg will be responsible for the company’s reporting and accounting while Treasury Director and Investor Relations Head Helena Lindahl will continue to manage the financing and capital markets side of operations.
Stridh, who announced her departure on Aug. 18, is among the first high-profile managers to leave after Chief Executive Officer Leiv Synnes took over the reins in June.
Tellberg is no stranger to the challenges facing SBB, having joined the Stockholm-based company at the start of the year. In that time the landlord has suffered multiple credit rating downgrades, seen its share price tumble by about 80% and replaced its chief executive 12 weeks ago.
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High up Tellberg and Lindahl’s to-do list will be seeking alternative ways to raise cash as the company itself has said it needs to find 8.1 billion kronor ($745 million) over the next 12 months to balance the books. The company has so far raised about half that, including by divesting properties.
Restoring investor confidence in the firm will be another priority for the new finance director after the landlord recently corrected its financial report for the second quarter, having admitted to understating the level of short-term debt.
Prior to joining SBB, Tellberg was head of accounting at another Swedish landlord, Magnolia Bostad AB. He also worked at Atrium Ljungberg AB and Viaplay Group AB, and held prior auditing and consulting roles at EY and Deloitte, according to the statement.
–With assistance from Anton Wilen.
(Updates with further context from third paragraph)
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