IR Newsletter - Quarter highlights Q3/2021

Key discussion points of the quarter 

The most discussed topics with investors during the third quarter were upcoming strategy update, project management improvements, market demand and construction material cost inflation.

• Infrastructure segment’s strategy. The focus in Infrastructure will be on core capabilities to become more competitive and efficient and be more selective in projects.
• YIT is currently reviewing its Group strategy and will give more details later this year.
• Project management issues have burdened the Infrastructure segment in 2021. YIT has gone through the entire project portfolio in detail and found several areas for improvement where management attention has been needed. Challenges in Infrastructure are expected to continue for the rest of the year while new direction for this business is being defined. At the same time, project management issues have eased in Business premises and performance has continued to stabilise.
• Market demand has continued solid in housing business and moderate in real estate market. Public sector projects support the business premises and infra demand.
• Construction material cost inflation has continued in all regions. YIT has taken mitigation actions such as procurement practices and pricing and will continue monitoring the situation closely. No major impacts expected to materialise in 2021.

Selected recent news 
Group news  

Segment news 

Silent call  

YIT’s Q3 silent call for analysts was held on Tue 28 September. CFO Ilkka Salonen went through the highlights of the quarter followed by Q&A session. They key topics in the Q&A were:

Q: What is the situation with turnaround of the Business premises and Infrastructure segments?
A: Turnaround in Business premises started in 2020 and performance is now stabilising. In Infrastructure segment large share of projects are healthy but some projects are underperforming. Stabilising of the performance is expected to start in 2022. 

Q: Has wood price volatility and availability affected self-developed projects?
A: No major impacts.

Q: What share of the costs are fixed before the start of the construction in housing and Business premises?
A: In self-developed projects most costs are fixed at the time of construction. In Business premises the situation varies depending on e.g. type of contract.

Q: Has material cost inflation impacted the margin of PPP project in Espoo, Finland?
A: No material impact. Purchasing agreements regarding materials have been conducted during the design phase before the cost inflation boomed.

Q: Has availability of workforce, especially from the Baltics, been an issue for YIT?
A: No major issues.

Q: What is the situation with the development of YIT's large projects?
A:
Keilaniemi: K-tower is in design phase and discussions are ongoing regarding financing and potential tenants.
Trigoni: discussions are ongoing with the City of Helsinki.
Vallila: discussions are ongoing with tenants and investors.
Maistraatinportti discussions are ongoing with tenants and investors.
Maria 01: pending claim regarding the city plan.

Q: Will major alliance projects, such as Tampere light rail and Jokeri light rail, affect YIT's figures once completed?
A: In large rail projects the revenue is recognised over time during the construction period so there won't be any one-time impacts. However, alliance projects might have additional bonus schemes related to for example public image and safety of the projects which might have minor impacts after the project.

Q: Progress of the Crown Bridge project?
A: Contract was signed in September and the construction will start in 2022.

Q: What is the situation with YIT's plot reserve?
A: Demand for plots in key areas is still intense and maintaining reasonable plot reserve is a priority for YIT. Price level in plots has increased especially in Russia.

Q: Outlook for residential investor demand?
A:  Investor demand has been active and YIT does not expect it to weaken in the near future.

Q: Outlook for residential demand after record-high start-ups in Q2/2021?
A: Lack of RS loans impacts start-ups of self-developed projects. However, YIT's start-up levels are expected to continue to increase.

Q: Are there any risk for losing core competences in project development due to the ongoing cooperative negotiations?
A: The redundancies are based on the new operating model currently under development and are not about cutting fixed costs everywhere.

In case you missed the silent call, you can find the podcast recording on our website

Earnings release 

YIT’s Q3 interim report will be published on Friday, 29 October around 9 a.m. (Finnish time).
The news conference will be held on the same day at 10 a.m. (Finnish time).

Materials will be available on our website
 

Capital Markets Day 

We will host our next Capital Markets Day on Tuesday, 23 November 2021.
Save the date on your calendars already now! More information will follow on our website

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

YIT Investor Relations team 
investorrelations@yit.fi



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