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EDITORIAL

“Our intensive
work has resulted
in yet another record year”

A summary of 2022 has to start by touching upon the terrible war still
being fought in Ukraine. At the time of writing, it is almost exactly one
year since Russia’s invasion and there is still no light at the end of the

tunnel in the form of a peaceful solution. Our heart goes out to the
Ukrainian people and all those affected, directly or indirectly.

In these situations, it is particularly important for companies where new investments are concerned. In line with the strategy we
to put other things aside and do what is necessary in terms of have applied, we continued to ‘dig where we stand’. This means
humanitarian aid. Within our group of companies, we launched applying our ownership model and our longstanding know-how in
a variety of initiatives, from donating and securing supplies of areas such as industrial security solutions and water treatment
necessities and making purely financial contributions, to preparing technologies. We have made a few investments in these areas during
school places for those displaced and securing clean water for those the year within FMG Circular Invest, which you can read more about
who stayed behind via the ‘Water for Ukraine’ initiative. We can in the Annual Magazine. In addition, there have been a number of
certainly do even more – we all can! value-creating add-on acquisitions, primarily in companies in our
industry and service verticals.
Because of the war, combined with the end of the COVID-19
pandemic, we have also experienced unprecedented turbulence in All in all, the intensive work over the past year has resulted in a
the financial markets. The energy crisis and commodity supply issues, record year that, in spite of everything, is likely to actually surpass the
coupled with massive coronavirus-related stimulus packages, have best year yet historically: 2021. Consequently I am deeply impressed
resulted in a rate of inflation not seen in decades. As a result, we are by the work that all Mellby Gård employees have managed to
now also experiencing market interest rates at a level that we have perform during this turbulent time. The year ended with Mellby Gård
not experienced for a long time. as a whole and we in the Andersson family receiving the EY Family
Enterprise Award of Excellence 2022 – proof of the work we all do to
For us as a group, this new global situation has meant that we have promote entrepreneurship and impetus within Swedish business.
had to respond as best we can. This has naturally also meant that
almost all our companies have had to increase their prices due to We are now entering a difficult-to-assess 2023, with a potential
soaring input costs. For some companies, this has entailed ceasing recession that could hit a few specific industries hard. But given
all forms of activity in Russia – a decision Mellby Gård supports but our balance sheet and our limited exposure to the most vulnerable
that in concrete terms has resulted in exports being suspended and sectors, I am hopeful that we will do well in the near term and also be
two subsidiaries being closed. It has also meant that – more than ever able to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
– we have wanted to ensure a strong balance sheet to keep interest
costs down and better support our portfolio companies. Johan Andersson,
CEO, Mellby Gård AB
We have been very successful in these measures and, in light
of the current situation, can conclude that the divestments made
in 2021/2022 – Flowbird, Smarteyes and Hedson – proved to be
extremely well-timed. We are now in a strong position ahead of the
forthcoming financial year and can feel secure during these uncertain
times. Also, we have a comparative advantage in that we are able
to make interesting investments and acquisitions when the right
opportunities present themselves.

Although our work in 2022 focused more on existing companies
and the measures mentioned above, we did not come to a standstill

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