STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish property group Fastpartner shares rose 3% on Tuesday after it told markets that it had relatively good liquidity and expected to be able to refinance short-term debt following a credit-rating downgrade in June.
High debt, rising interest rates and a wilting economy has proved a toxic cocktail for many in Sweden’s commercial property sector, leaving commercial landlord SBB fighting for survival, its shares plunging amid concerns over its financial position and refinancing debts.
“We have a liquidity that is one of the best in the industry,” Fastpartner CEO Sven-Olof Johansson said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Fastpartner has an ongoing discussion with the company’s main banks regarding margins and maturities for the short part of the loan portfolio and assesses the prospects for refinancing these loans at market terms as good,” the company statement said.
Its shares were up 3.2% at 1440 GMT.
The firm in June had its credit rating cut to junk by Moody’s. It said at the time it had enough cash to handle debt maturities for more than 30 months.
In quarterly results published on Tuesday, Fastpartner said its net operating income was above year-ago figures, but that the result did not fully compensate for increased financing costs.
Profit from property management in the second quarter fell 30% to 201 million crowns ($18.6 million), it said.
Sweden’s central bank last week raised its policy rate to 3.75% and flagged at least one more hike this year.
($1 = 10.8303 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Conor Humphries)