Welcome everyone joining us today for our first quarter interim report. My name is Johanna and I will be co-presenting together with my CFO, Jakob. We entered 2026 with a high level of business activity, similar to the previous quarter, in fact. As I mentioned before, maintaining a strong business momentum is a key ambition of mine, and I'm proud to see that this quarter we are seeing results from our efforts, both in meeting customer needs, our letting activity, and on the transaction side. Despite a turbulent macro environment with geopolitical tensions and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, we have successfully closed several important agreements. We delivered a strong letting performance, including several large lettings and a successful renegotiation stock with solid rental growth. Net letting amounted to SEK 20 million, and we improved our occupancy rate.
All of this net letting was generated from our office portfolio. We likely have not seen yet the full long-term effects of the war in the Middle East, particularly regarding energy prices, inflation, and interest rates. We are noting some volatility in market rates and slightly more cautious focus in the Swedish economy recovery. So far, we have not experienced any slowdown in corporate decision-making, but we remain mindful that this could change. My guiding principle, however, is to focus on what we can control, and that is where we put in our efforts. That said, here and now, we are delivering. Speaking of our strong business momentum, most notable, we recently signed a major combined asset swap with the Port of Gothenburg, creating multiple positive effects.
In addition, in January, we signed a letter of intent regarding a future land allocation adjacent to Gothenburg Central Station, both of which I will return shortly. Our finance function has also maintained a high level of activity, contributing positively to our earnings from property management this quarter. We also repurchased SEK 95 million of our Class B shares ahead of the AGM in March. Looking at the figures for the quarter, rental income decreased by 2%, driven by net divestments last year and vacancies. Net operating income decreased by 4% due to these factors, of course, as well as high costs related to a cold and very snowy winter. At the same time, we report stable income from property management. It's up 1% and it's supported by our active financing efforts.
We have improved our net financials driven by lower average interest rate in our portfolio, combined with reduced debt. We have also continued to strengthen our financial position through extended capital duration and by entering into new derivatives. That is a way that we navigate in a more volatile interest rate environment. Of course, our concluded transaction agreements also contribute and provide increased flexibility going forward. Diving into our asset swap with Port of Gothenburg. We have completed this strategically important deal with the Port of Gothenburg, and that strengthens our growth journey within the Industrial & logistics segment. Let me elaborate a little bit on the concluded deal and what we divest and what we acquire. The transaction makes us a net seller, releasing approximately SEK 684 million in capital. The divestment is made slightly above book value.
Closing is extended to no earlier than Q4 2026 and is subject to approval by the [Municipal] Council. This is standard for municipality-owned entities. We divest land, water, and office building, and we buy a logistics building of 24,000 sq m. This is what we divest. It's nine office buildings and the occupancy rate is 71%. We acquire this modern logistics building with DB Schenker as a tenant. We have also an expression of intent regarding a future development right of 9,000 sq m adjacent to this building. If we look at this picture, on the left side, you can see Port View. The divestment includes 22,000 sq m of logistics development rights that we sell. In exchange for this, we get this modern income-generating asset, in one of the strongest logistics locations in the Nordics. We have approximately 25,000 sq m that we retain.
Overall, this is strategically important. It strengthens our portfolio. It releases capital for continued growth and contributes to the long-term development of both Gothenburg and the Port of Gothenburg. Something that is really positive also for our own property assets in Arendal. This is a clear example of how we actively manage our portfolio today, but we're also building for the future. When the office market and the employment pick up again, we will be in a position to start larger office projects. While that might take some years, we are already preparing for it. We have the building rights of two different areas. We have both Stora Blå, comprising 40,000 sq m , and recently we have also signed a new letter of intent with the City of Gothenburg for future building rights adjacent to Gothenburg Central Station.
It gives us approximately 100,000 sq m development potential with zoning plans in place and a potential to start projects somewhere between 2028 and 2032. We are very well-positioned to launch projects when the market is ready, and that will give us a clear leverage on value creation. Here we see two of the projects that we are currently running. One is Assa in Port View, which we have previously not communicated by name, and the other one is a joint venture in Sörred Logistikpark. This is where we have an option to acquire the asset upon completion. Looking at net letting, which remains strong this quarter at SEK 20 million, all of the contribution comes from our office portfolio. In fact, we need to go back to second quarter of 2024 to find a single quarter with a higher volume of renegotiations and a more positive outcome.
We have completed several new lettings, including 2,700 sq m in Lilla Bommen and 3,300 sq m in Gamlestaden. At the same time, we have seen a strong ability to renegotiate with large volumes of SEK 64 million and a solid rental growth of 6% in those renegotiations. Our tenant, Ramboll, has indicated that they will leave Gårda in August 2027 for Grand Central. They currently lease 4,900 sq m. The tenant has not formally given notice, hence it does not reflect in the net letting of this quarter. If we look at this picture, we can see some of the activity that I have mentioned already. If we then look at our customer base across our 724 lease agreements that we have at the moment, our 10 largest tenants account for 33% of our total contract value.
We have a very broad mix of tenants, including hotels, public sector, industrial, and office users, and that creates a resilience and stability for us. During this quarter, we increased our economic occupancy rate from 90.4% to 90.6%, and we reach a surplus ratio of 77% in the quarter and 79% if you look at the year-to-year. In terms of area distribution, our portfolio roughly is evenly split, with industrial logistics, and projects accounting for about 50%, and the other segment, offices, about 50%. A little bit about the Gothenburg markets. At present, we are in a normalized economic environment in Gothenburg, slightly above 100, and the manufacturing PMI is at its highest level in four years. The recovery is largely driven by households, and the service sector has strengthened to around 100, which is supportive for office demand over time.
Unemployment has also decreased slightly to 6.4%, which is still the lowest figure in Sweden. That said, we remain humble regarding the potential longer-term effects of geopolitical uncertainty. Gothenburg benefits from a unique mix of large international companies and innovative startups, combined with a highly educated workforce. Around one in 10 people holds a Master of Science in Engineering. Gothenburg also plays a leading role as a center for R&D and innovation, acting as a strong engine for growth. It's also Sweden's main export hub, and despite the trade war, export has remained surprisingly resilient last year. Around 10% go to the U.S. and 70% to Europe. Global trade patterns are currently shifting through new trade agreements, which will be important to follow going forward. The Port of Gothenburg has also reached new volumes of records last year. Once again, I would say.
The business landscape is broad and dynamic and ranging from companies like Saab and growing defense sector to significant investment in life science, which is actually currently the fastest-growing segment for us. We are more than just an automotive hub, although it is worth noting that Volvo Cars' new EX60 is being developed and produced here in Gothenburg with stronger than expected sales. Looking especially at manufacturing and the automotive sector, the industry is facing pressure from China and a stronger Swedish krona. However, according to the latest confidence indicators from Nordea and the National Institute of Economic Research, based on very recent data from end of March, in other words, when the Middle East war had started, the sentiment has recovered to more normal levels. Let us look into our segment relevant to these businesses, Industrial & logistics.
We experience a strong transaction market and high demand from investors with yields well below 5%. There is also strong demand in the letting market and the low vacancy rate in prime locations of 4%. Turning to the office market in Gothenburg, the letting volume has decreased to around 75% of the 2024 levels. We are now in line with the same levels as 2019. Activity remains solid, though, with similar numbers of leases signed, but smaller average size of each lease. The average size is around 500 sq m. Rental levels remain stable, with prime rents of about SEK 4,200 per sq m. Vacancy has increased to around 14%. It's primarily driven by significant new office supply during 2021 and 2022. That was equivalent to 10 years of new supply that was put into the market in two years.
This quarter, it also includes Kvarteret Johanna in the vacancy numbers, hence it's going up. Looking ahead, no new project starts have taken place last year and also not so far this year. We have now 60,000 sq m that is currently under construction, with completion in 2027, of which about 4,000 sq m remains unlet. Beyond that, new supply is very limited the next few years. After 2028 and 2029, we have virtually no new additions so far being added to the market as a project like this takes about 3.5 y ear to produce. A reduction of vacancy will take time, but it do requires that employment rate and the growth in the office-intensive sectors goes up. I will have a look at that.
Unlike some other cities in Sweden, the employment rate in office-intensive sector has not turned down actually during these three years of recession, but it has flattened out. Historically, though, the office-intensive sectors have grown by around 4% annually in Gothenburg, and that is really high. Going forward, a more sustainable growth rate could be around 2%, assuming no major macro disruptions happens and that the expected turn in the economy will take place, and that is numbers according to Citymark's newest analysis. With that, I also look into how our portfolio looks. Looking at these sectors, this is our portfolio today. In summary, we continue to see stable property values totaling just above SEK 30 billion, with yield requirements remaining around 5.1%, in line with previous periods.
Market yields in the office segments are also supported by recent transactions, including Alecta's acquisition from Technopolis and Folksam purchase of Hertziahuset from Vasakronan. With that as a starting point, I will hand over to you, Jakob, to take us through the portfolio and financial key figures in more detail.
Thank you, Johanna. If I start where Johanna left off with our property portfolio, we continue, as Johanna said, with the stable property values, just above SEK 30 billion. In the quarter, we have an unrealized value change of SEK 40 million. That's driven by increased cash flow from lettings and renegotiations. As Johanna said, the yield is the same as year-end at 5.1%. The investment volume was relatively low in the quarter, SEK 57 million, and the LTV ratio on total assets remained at 47%, just as at year-end. If we look at the LTV ratio for our properties, it amounts to 49%. That as well as Q4 2025. If we look at the earnings, we delivered growth also in this quarter when it comes to income from property management, +1% compared to Q1 2025.
If we look at the rental income, it decreased by 2% to SEK 435 million compared to SEK 445 million in the first quarter of 2024. The decrease is mainly driven by that we have made divestments and that we have a higher vacancy in the portfolio. The rental income of SEK 435 million, I said, if we compare that to the indication we had in the earning capacity on January 1st, the rental income here exceeds the earning capacity by SEK 13 million. That's mainly explained, as it also was in the two previous quarters, by rent supplements and short-term income such as parking. The heavy winter meant higher costs for us, especially for snow removal and heating. This is reflected in our operating surplus, which decreased by 4% compared to 2024, and that's SEK 15 million lower than first quarter 2024.
Now, as already mentioned, we still report growth in profit from property management of 1%, and that's due to that we have improved our net financial items by SEK 19 million to SEK 126 million. That's driven both by lower debt volumes, lower rent levels, and better margins. Compared with previous quarter, we improved the financial items by SEK 7 million. The improved net financial items enabled us also to increase the interest cover ratio to 2.6%, while the reduction we had in operating surplus made that we have an increase in net debt compared to EBITDA on up to 11.5 %for the quarter. We have continued to work actively with the financing during the quarter, which I will return to. If we summarize, we continue to have growth in income from property management.
We have stable property values and stable financial key ratios that have strengthened over the last year. Finally, I would like to mention profit after tax, which in the quarter amounted to SEK 268 million or SEK 2.26 per share. The earnings were positively impacted by unrealized value changes in financial instruments of SEK 98 million. Let's look a little bit more closely at the reasons for the development during the quarter, divided into our three pillars, like-for-like, projects, and transaction. If we start with revenues, we see that we are increasing revenues in the like-for-like portfolio, and that's mainly a net effect of index increases and higher vacancies. The decrease of SEK 8 million in projects mainly refers to the fact that Mölnlycke Health Care left its premises in our property in Gamlestaden this summer.
Part of that premises we have leased out 3,300 sq m and that will be occupancy late this year. The decrease in transaction is a net effect of the sale of The English School in Q1 2025 and the acquisition of the industrial property in Tuve that we made in the autumn. In total, it means that we reduce the revenue by 2% in the quarter. In the middle row, we have our property costs, which we increased by SEK 5 million or 5% compared with the corresponding quarter last year. That mostly is in the like-for-like portfolio. That, as I said, is explained by the cold and snowy winter. Both heating cost and snow removal increased sharply, totaling SEK 5.3 million, and SEK 4.8 million of those were in the like-for-like portfolio.
In projects, cost decreased due to a one-off payment, 2025, and in transactions there are increased costs for property tax but also media due to the winter. In total, it means that we are reducing the operating surplus in both the like-for-like, project, and transaction by a total of SEK 15 million or 4%. The surplus ratio for the quarter was 77%, but 79% rolling 12 months. In summary, revenues declining as expected, from that we have been a net seller in the previous year as well as that we have a higher vacancy in the office portfolio. This, together with increased cost for the winter, results in a reduction in the operating surplus overall. As before, we are fully focused on vacancies and lettings, and we're pleased to see that we have shown positive net letting in this quarter as well.
We are also continuing our strong cost focus where we were successful in the previous year. Let's look at our financing. We have a stable financial position. As mentioned, we have strengthened our credit-related key figures over the past year. If we look at the market, the quarter began as the end of last year with a strong banking and capital market with continued declining credit margins. In connection with the conflict in the Middle East, the situation changed rapidly, especially in the fixed income market, with high volatility and increased interest rates, especially in the short term. On the bond side, we feel that it's relatively stable. We estimate that the credit spread for us has increased about 15% since the bottom, which means that we are back on the same levels as in the autumn 2025. During the quarter, we were active with our financing.
We refinanced bank loans of approximately SEK 1 billion and issued SEK 150 million in bonds. In February, before the conflict in the Middle East, we extended interest rate swaps of SEK 700 million. The net outstanding debt increased slightly during the quarter. As you can see, the closing average interest rate was 3.46, including commitment fees. That is 1 basis point higher than the closing at year-end. We had during the quarter rising interest rates with 9 basis points, but they were offset by lower margins, so we could basically stay at the same average rate. For both net debt compared to EBITDA rolling 12 months, the share of secured financing and the LTV ratio have been small movements during the quarter. The interest cover ratio, the ICR, rolling 12 months increased slightly to 2.5%.
In February, our rating institute, NCR, published a rating action report in which they confirmed our existing long-term BBB- rating with stable outlook, while they raised our short-term rating from N4 to N3. As mentioned, we were active in the fixed income market before the conflict in the Middle East and signed derivative contracts of SEK 700 million, which allowed us to increase our average fixed interest period slightly, but rounded off 2.8 years as previous quarter. If we look at the chart from year one and going forward, we have an even and good distribution of maturities over the next five to six years, and we have also some maturities longer than that. Of the 32% that matures within one year, 5% of those are cancelable swaps that are running.
The refinancings, made in the quarter, have meant that we have further extended our credit maturity, and the capital duration is now 2.8 years on average from 2.7 years a quarter ago. Also on the fixed income side, we aim for an even maturity for each coming year. To sum up the financing, we have significantly improved the financial position over the last year. The growth in our earnings, combined with the larger liquidity buffer and the upgrade of the rating in 2025, has given us much better opportunities to actively work with our capital, both in the financing but also in projects or transactions, all to create value for the shareholders. An example of such a transaction is the combination deal that Johanna mentioned earlier. I will now go into more detail about the effects the transaction will have on our key figures.
As Johanna explained, the transaction means that we are net sellers in an amount of SEK 684 million. Which means that our loan-to-value ratio will decrease by 1 percentage point, all other things alike, of course. Based on our earnings capacity on April 1st, included in today's report, net earnings capacity will decrease by SEK 75 million, while rental income will decrease by SEK 49 million, and operating surplus by SEK 39 million. We take into account both what we sell and that we buy, of course, so the total deal in those numbers. If we then calculate reduced interest costs and use the average rate that we have of approximately 3.5%, it means that we will have a total effect in income from property management of approximately SEK 15 million. A reduction in income from property management of SEK 15 million.
In the office portfolio that we are selling, the economic occupancy rate is 71%, seven one, which means that our total occupancy rate will increase by about 1% when the deal is completed. However, as a large proportion of the vacancies in what we sell are classified as projects, the transaction will have a marginal impact on the reported occupancy rate, which is currently 90.6%, since that is excluding land and projects. Growth. Platzer have a long history of growth since 2013, when Platzer was listed. On average, we have grown income from property management per share by 13% per year.
During the same period, the net asset value per share has grown by an average of 14% per year, and the dividend by an average of 12% for the same period. During the quarter, we continued to create value for our shareholders by being active both in property management, projects, transactions, and our financing. The Platzer share between December 10 and until the AGM on March 24, we repurchased shares for a value of SEK 95 million in accordance with the resolved share buyback program of SEK 100 million. At the AGM, there was a renewed mandate for further share purchases. Sustainability. Our sustainability transition continues and is now fully integrated into the business. This year of sustainable financing now amounts to 75%, an increase of another 2 percentage points since we closed the year.
Last time I told you that we have a strong focus on reducing our climate emissions, especially in renovations. We are intensifying our work on circularity and resource efficiency with our concept of interior design called [SiB]. We make it easy for the customers to choose sustainable solutions and cost-effectively. During the year, the concept was used in all tenant adaptations and contributed to reducing emissions by 180 tons of CO2 equivalents, which is the same as actually 37.5 laps around the world in a car. Quite amazing. We've been good at improving energy efficiency for many years. In this quarter, though, the cold winter had an impact, and we increased the energy use compared to quarter one 2025. We have decreased, if we look in a longer perspective, we have decreased it 40% since 2013.
This is good for the environment, for the customers, and for our bottom line. Over to you, Johanna.
Thank you. I would like to sum up. We have maintained a high level of business activity during the quarter across letting, transactions, and finance, and that is a pace that we intend to sustain. Our focus is clear, to reduce vacancies, strengthen cash flow, and stay close to our customers. We are taking pride in acting fast, professional, and being flexible in every deal. Filling our vacancies is where we create value here and now, and it will remain our top priority going forward. At the same time, we also continue to invest for the future through active portfolio rotation, for example, such as the Port of Gothenburg deal that we described, and through growth in Industrial & logistics, by project developments and transactions, and by securing opportunities for the next generations of office projects.
The outlook for Swedish economy and for the Gothenburg region is improving, although it will take some time. While the global environment remain uncertain, we remain focused on what we can control and where we can make a difference. We have proven our ability to deliver and to be long-term specialists in a dynamic, growing city, and we have the same ambition going forward. With that, and I would like to thank you for listening, and we are happy to take your questions.