Raisio plc divested the Verso Food business, but the lease agreement for the industrial property remained a burden for Raisio (Valio refused to take it on as the buyer). With more than 10 years still left on the lease, the financial burden from this is massive. Kamux certainly doesn’t have leases this long, but it will still be expensive as stores are now emptied and they won’t be able to get out of paying rent for years to come. The withdrawal costs from Germany will therefore be heavy.
Another thing to consider:
Now that Kamux, in the eyes of foreign investors, is shrinking from a European car dealer into a Finland-focused one, will foreign investors lose interest in Kamux? You’d think it would be less appealing (weaker growth outlook) and harder to justify to colleagues somewhere in London why an investment firm employee bought shares in a Finnish-operating car retailer for the company portfolio. Foreign fund flows into Kamux’s stock could therefore shrink. The absurd share price peaks during the hype years were probably partly explained by foreign buying.