董事会主席声明 — Kinnevik 2023年年度与可持续发展报告

STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

It has been a demanding year. The pressure on younger and smaller growth companies has been unremitting and often indiscriminate. This has translated into a profoundly disappointing period for the rating of our shares with a historically high discount to our net asset value at the year end. We are fully aware that this will be of rightful concern to our shareholders as it is to the Board and executive team. Yet we believe that in retrospect, the hard work and the tough decisions that have been made in 2023 will eventually be seen in a better light and that the prospects for Kinnevik and our shareholders are promising.

The tasks that we are faced with involve acknowledging the reality that several of the investments that we made in the optimistic era prevailing before 2021 are most unlikely to justify the hopes that we once had for them. This is less about the valuations once placed on these companies than that their businesses have proven more difficult and less attractive than we first believed. In some cases, such as Babylon, there was no path out of the challenges. Whilst in others, such as the merger of the online grocery companies Oda and Mathem, we have acted decisively to strengthen these businesses’ future positions.

But the nature of investing, particularly in young and ambitious companies, is that there have will always be failures. These tend to emerge before the successes are proven. The Board and our CEO strongly believe that we should endeavour to concentrate our portfolio on these potential long-term winners at scale. These companies are not always easy to identify in advance but the circumstances for doing so are currently advantageous. We are therefore to invest in our core areas in the belief that the current times offer great potential for the future. Enveda in innovative healthcare and Aira in practical prescriptions for combatting climate change are examples of this determination to move forwards. As always, any further investments are conditional on the companies delivering on their respective plans.

We have learnt a great deal about our potential core companies over the last two years, but even those that have succeeded splendidly in recent challenging times have not seen their valuations rise and their desire for further financial and practical backing from Kinnevik is usually high.

Before moving on from 2023 it is worth commending the further progress that Kinnevik has made in its sustainability policies. CDP rated us in the top 5% of fully 23,000 companies for our climate disclosures. Meanwhile, Equileap considered us one of the top performers overall and the highest-ranking investment company in Sweden for our efforts in gender equality. The Board is proud of our successes in these important areas.

You will be aware that in February 2024 Kinnevik reached an agreement with iliad and NJJ to sell its entire remaining stake in Tele2 at a premium to market prices. We feel this is a deal that is both attractive for Kinnevik and provides an excellent partner for Tele2, and that it’s a good conclusion to a forty-year relationship of mutual benefit. The Board believes that our much-strengthened cash position will enable us to complete the transition to our long-signalled growth orientation at a time when the opportunities and valuations are low and attractive. In addition, we are aware that shareholders deserve direct reward for their long-standing support.

In conclusion, we are determined to return Kinnevik to health and growth. We have the abilities and resources to achieve this and in the coming year we must provide concrete evidence to back this optimism.

James Anderson Chairman of Kinnevik