Wästbygg Group builds and develops housing, commercial buildings, logistics and industrial facilities, as well as community properties. With a great commitment and focus on sustainability, we will increase productivity, profitability and quality of life for our customers. In this way, we create the living environments of the future where people want to work and live.
Wästbygg Group’s operations are conducted with a local presence over large parts of Sweden and via the group company Logistic Contractor also in Denmark, Norway and Finland. Our primary markets are the western parts of Sweden, Skåne, Stockholm/Mälardalen and the Norrland coast – expansive regions where we see continued strong growth both for ourselves and for the construction industry as a whole. The need for residential and commercial properties as well as logistics and industrial properties remains high. Our presence in a larger and ever-growing market entails a spread of risk, where local political decisions or microeconomic events have a smaller impact on Wästbygg Group’s operations as a whole.
Wästbygg Group works with construction and project development within the three business areas Residential, Commercial and Logistics and Industry. Thanks to a long-term focus, we have built up great expertise in each product area as well as a broad knowledge of the market, customers and needs. We complement this with commitment and a desire to find in each individual project the solutions that make the business profitable both for the customer and for ourselves. Residential, Commercial and Logistics and industry act towards different types of customers and in partially separated markets. Temporary fluctuations in the market within a specific business area can thus be handled through internal reallocations of work efforts, capital and know-how. Through such flexibility, Wästbygg Group’s operations are secured and stabilized over time. Business cycles will always exist, but experience has taught us that the cycles differ between our different business areas.
Within each business area, we work with both construction and project development. Within the contracting business, we take total responsibility for the entire construction process. The contracting business’s close collaboration with the project development organization means that the group has competence within the entire chain from acquisition via development, construction and sales to the completed building being handed over. By conducting both contracting activities and project development in symbiosis, we create synergies which generate value for our customers, partners and shareholders. Wästbygg Group’s goal is that in the future the business should consist of equal shares of contracting and self-developed projects in order to obtain a stable income flow, a smoother production rate and increased profit margins. In the past five years, the share of in-house developed projects, measured on the basis of revenue, has increased from just over 13 to 30 percent.
Wästbygg Group’s business concept is to build and develop sustainable, modern and efficient housing, commercial properties, community properties as well as logistics and industrial facilities, and we take our mission as a community builder very seriously. As a natural part of the sustainability work, and to increase transparency around the company’s climate commitment, Wästbygg Group has developed a framework that enables a green labeling of both equity and debt instruments. Our good knowledge in the field of sustainability is validated by an independent research institute, Cicero Shades of Green. Creating sustainable business is an overarching group strategy. By working actively with our essential aspects of sustainability, we strengthen the entire business, make ourselves more competitive and minimize our risks. For the sustainability risks we have categorized as significant, we have formulated high-set targets. As we see sustainability as a business-critical and value-creating area, both today and in the future, the targets are integrated into Wästbygg Group’s overall business plan.
Wästbygg Group has, in addition to a solid balance sheet, a strong order backlog with a historically growing operating margin. Between 2017 and 2021, the operating margin has almost doubled, which has led to Wästbygg Group being above its long-term goal of achieving a six percent operating margin for several years. During 2022, as a result of, among other things, inflation, interest rate increases, delivery problems and bankruptcies of subcontractors, margins have been squeezed and the profit has declined. Despite this, Wästbygg Group remains committed to its target of an operating margin exceeding six percent. The order intake in 2022 remained high and landed at just over SEK five billion, which resulted in a total order backlog of just under SEK 5.8 billion at the end of 2022. Wästbygg Group’s target is to have a growth of ten percent annually over time and has 2019–2022 had a growth (CAGR) of 14.1 percent.
