02 AG GRUPPEN ANNUAL REPORT 2020 PREFACE 648 DKK million 67 employees BASED AT OFFICES IN ODENSE, COPENHAGEN AND AARHUS, AND ON BUILDING SITES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. 725 residential AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES HAS AG GRUPPEN BUILD IN 2020. A GREETING FROM AG GRUPPEN’S CEO 2020 has been another year of change for AG Gruppen. Bjarke Windeløv Graae joined the group of owners at the beginning of the year, and 2020 began with great optimism and drive to create a ‘renewed’ AG Gruppen. Just like the rest of the world however, our optimism was quickly transformed into uncertainty with the emergence of COVID-19. All ongoing sales negotiations were postponed, as nervousness understandably spread among our investors. Our employees worked from home and crisis management gave unwelcome reminders of the years after the financial crisis. Fortunately, things didn’t go so badly. Our employees once again showed great adaptability, and the industry as a whole was not hit as hard as other sectors. In fact, the year turned out to be the best ever from a financial perspective for AG Gruppen. While the lack of sales in spring 2020 will produce noticeable ripples throughout 2021, as the high activity level in the industry has returned in full force, we also expect 2021 to be a good year for AG Gruppen, although not at the same level as 2020. 2020 was also the year in which we decided to relocate our headquarters. For 16 years, we have been privileged to live in a manor house, Hollufgård, in the middle of a large park with sculptures, beautiful countryside and flocks of laughing children visiting on trips from their school and kindergarten. While it must be admitted that a house with over 400 years of history has both plenty of soul and great sustainability, as the company has grown, so too have the challenges of working on a country estate. Running a modern business can be difficult when the backdrop for daily operations involves many rooms and a large physical distance between the departments. Which is why, at the beginning of the year, we took the decision to find a new location for our head office. The suggestions were many, but we couldn’t help but fall in love with the huge halls of the disused paper factory, Dalum Papirfabrik. Much to our delight, we succeeded in concluding an agreement to purchase several of them. So in 2021, we look forward to moving into new, state-of-the-art premises, brimming with soul and with an excellent location in one of Odense’s prime development areas. A company like AG Gruppen needs good partners, and we appreciate the trust we have been shown from external partners. These collaborations are important to us and we make every effort to be a trustworthy partner. In 2020, we expanded our cooperation with NREP while also divesting in the existing joint portfolio; and that’s how it should be. Once we assess that we have added the value we can contribute to a project, we step aside and let others get involved. During the year, we entered into a joint venture agreement on two cases with Alma Property Partners. We expect a lot from this cooperation in the years to come and look forward to yet another strong partnership that we can add to the list, which in addition to NREP and Alma, also currently includes Topdanmark and Koncenton. We are always open to new collaborations, but also focused on servicing existing partners. Sustainability is an issue that has been increasingly prioritised in AG Gruppen in recent years. Like so many other companies, we use resources to find the right set-up for our sustainability profile. We want to be ambitious, but also realistic. To help us do this, we have hired our first sustainability manager, Peter Sandager, who has worked hard and energetically on formulating a viable sustainability strategy: important work that will bear fruit in the years to come. On the whole, we feel well equipped for the future. Our pipeline is strong, our employees are among the best in the industry, and we believe the market will continue to be solid. n
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