Catena earnings: Rental income rises 20% as occupancy recovers

Catena earnings for the first nine months of 2026 showed rental income rising 20% to SEK2.347 billion, driven mainly by acquisitions. Occupancy recovered to 95.3%, but positive third-quarter leasing did not fully offset the negative leasing balance accumulated over the nine-month period.

Key Takeaways

• Acquisitions contributed 16 percentage points of rental income growth; like-for-like income rose 2.8%.
• Third-quarter net leasing was positive at SEK20 million, against negative SEK22 million for the first nine months.
• The Finnish expansion is expected to add fourth-quarter income and push loan-to-value toward 45%.

Catena earnings show acquisition-led growth

Catena published its January–September 2026 report materials on October 23. The nine-month results show that portfolio expansion, rather than growth from existing properties alone, accounted for most of the increase in rental income.

Acquisitions contributed 16 percentage points of growth, while completed development projects added 2.2 percentage points. Catena attributed the 2.8% increase in like-for-like rental income to CPI-linked indexation, renegotiated leases and reinvoiced property tax and media costs.

Net operating surplus increased 21%. Profit from property management rose 18% overall, while the per-share measure increased 7.8% to SEK21.46. For the third quarter alone, growth in property-management profit per share was almost 13%, a separate comparison from the nine-month result.

Leasing improves, but development timing remains uncertain

Occupancy moved back above 95% to 95.3%, supported by leasing activity during the quarter. The positive SEK20 million third-quarter net leasing result marked an improvement, although the first-nine-month total remained negative at SEK22 million.

Chief Executive Jörgen Eriksson said customer discussions were more active than a year earlier, but he could not predict whether improved demand would translate into further occupancy gains in the fourth quarter or the first quarter of 2027.

Development timing also remains a constraint. A negative zoning decision outside Ängelholm may delay that project by a couple of years, while nature-related issues in Järna are expected to delay zoning by two to three years.

Finnish expansion adds income and leverage

Catena’s latest Finnish acquisition comprises 10 fully let properties valued at approximately SEK2.15 billion, bringing its Finnish portfolio close to SEK6 billion. The acquired properties cover about 142,000 square meters and have a weighted average unexpired lease term of 7.3 years.

Eriksson said all but one of the assets closed on October 15 and would contribute about two and a half months of income in the fourth quarter. The remaining asset is expected to close in mid-November.

Loan-to-value stood at 43.2% and is expected to reach around 45% after the Finnish transaction. Eriksson described further asset disposals as a possibility rather than firm guidance, saying roughly another SEK1 billion could potentially be sold, possibly during 2027.

Financing outlook remains measured

Chief Financial Officer Magnus Thagg said Catena would add some interest-rate hedges in the fourth quarter as it gradually moved former bridge financing into its hedging portfolio. The company’s long-term hedging target is 60%, but he said it would not reach that level in the quarter.

Thagg did not expect a substantial change in average borrowing costs. He said refinancing margins remained below those on expiring debt, although higher market and base rates would have an impact.

Next milestone

The next scheduled transaction milestone is the expected mid-November closing of the remaining Finnish property. Management also expects the ICA development to finish in late December, with the tenant moving in at the beginning of 2027 and no rental income from that project in the fourth quarter.

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