Magnus Persson, CFO of Skanska, will step down from his position, the Sweden-based builder and developer announced April 11.
An 18-year veteran of the company and member of the leadership team since 2018, Persson will remain in his role until the company has selected a successor.
He will join Evroc, a company building what it claims will be Europe’s first secure, sovereign and sustainable hyperscale cloud. There, Persson will lead financial operations as Evroc seeks to operate 10 hyperscale data centers by 2030, according to a news release.
“I am incredibly thankful but also proud over what we have achieved together,” Persson said in a statement. “Skanska is about the people and I am immensely thankful for the colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to work and get to know.”
The move was the second high-level departure of a CFO at a major public construction firm in as many weeks. Dallas-based Jacobs Solutions on April 1 announced CFO Claudia Jaramillo was leaving after just eight months on the job.
In Skanska’s release, company president and CEO Anders Danielsson thanked Persson for his contributions to the company.
“He has played a central role in developing and implementing the strategy that we launched in 2018 to increase profitability in all business areas. His deep knowledge of financial markets, leadership skills and drive, has added tremendous value to the company. I wish him all the best in the future,” said Danielsson.
Recent financial results
In Skanska’s most recent earnings report the contractor reported fourth-quarter profits of 957 million Swedish crowns ($91.5 million), and 3.2 billion crowns for the full year 2023. Though in the black, that represented year-over-year drops of 74% and 65%, respectively, for the quarter and full year.
The company largely attributed the drop to the poor commercial leasing market in the U.S., though civil and commercial construction bolstered the company’s balance sheet.
In January, Skanska took impairment charges worth 2 billion crowns in its commercial property development, residential development and investment properties.
Low return-to-office rates since the COVID-19 pandemic have really hurt the office leasing market, Persson said at the time. That effect will linger too.
“I don’t think we return to the same market as we had, say, three or five years ago within one or two years. I think that would be way too optimistic. It may take some time,” Persson told Construction Dive after Skanska reported Q4 earnings.
The high value of properties means Skanska faces an uphill battle in finding the right lessee. Nonetheless, in January, Skanska inked the largest lease in company history to an undisclosed tenant.