Financial responsibility
For us, financial responsibility means, among other things, good corporate governance, preserving and growing the value of the assets of the owner universities and a long-term financial policy.
Our objective is to provide appropriate premises for our customers efficiently and on a long-term basis. The key to achieving this objective is having a long-term financial policy and responsibility towards funding providers. These are also the main principles of our financial responsibility as a whole.
We are committed to the project programmes we have agreed upon, and we are also committed to the principles of sustainable development. We manage our responsibilities in a timely manner. This allows us to minimise risk, which in turn ensures a sustainable foundation for our operations. Our aim is to have an economical financing base that supports risk management and enables the implementation of even major investment projects.
Our direct economic impacts consist of purchasing services and materials from subcontractors, personnel expenses, income taxes and property taxes paid by the company, dividends and investments. We regularly monitor our financial and operational indicators, such as our project situation and energy consumption.
SYK’s employment effect in 2017 amounted to approximately 2,350 man-years. The company has 35 employees, which means that the employment effect of our investments and purchases is very significant. These figures are based on the maintenance and investment expenses shown in the company’s income statement, and the have been converted into the employment effect figure using KTI Property Information’s maintenance cost comparisons and, with respect to investments, statistics provided by the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT.
We are one of the largest payers of property taxes in all of the municipalities we operate in, and in the Pirkanmaa economic area, we are one of the largest payers of corporate income tax. In 2017, we paid taxes amounting to EUR 20.1 million in total, of which property taxes represented 58 per cent. We paid property taxes in 18 municipalities, totalling EUR 11.7 million. All of our taxes were paid in Finland.
The employment effect generated by SYK’s investments and purchases is very significant.
Real estate assets
By grouping our properties into portfolios in accordance with our strategy and carefully allocating our investments, we ensure the development of our solvency and our ability to secure competitive financing.
The responsible management of our real estate assets also indirectly creates wellbeing throughout Finland. The employment effect of our use of maintenance professionals, for example, is approximately 350 man-years.
Property taxes by municipality in 2017
Campus development
Responsibility in campus development means maintaining the vitality of our campuses. We understand the significance of campuses as part of the urban infrastructure and take a long-term approach to developing new life on campuses. We seek suitable functions or operators for vacated premises.
We use our resources wisely. We renovate existing properties whenever possible and refrain from building unnecessary new space. We recognise the importance of our cultural heritage and preserve it wherever possible.
Spatial efficiency
The learning environments and laboratories of the future are efficient solutions for utilising space and resources. We develop shared-use multi-purpose premises that are not exclusively intended for specific user groups or activities. We seek synergies between the various operators that use our premises and we use various methods to maximise the amount of time our premises are used. Spatial efficiency can also be improved in offices by moving from individual offices, working rooms and large underused meeting facilities to multi-purpose offices in which the space can be adapted to the work and requirements, from open to partitioned layouts and vice versa.
The learning environments and laboratories of the future are efficient solutions for utilising space and resources. We develop shared-use multi-purpose premises that are not exclusively intended for specific user groups or activities. We seek synergies between the various operators that use our premises and we use various methods to maximise the amount of time our premises are used. Spatial efficiency can also be improved in offices by moving from individual offices, working rooms and large underused meeting facilities to multi-purpose offices in which the space can be adapted to the work and requirements, from open to partitioned layouts and vice versa.
According to our survey of the users of university premises, university personnel and students value the opportunity to influence aspects such as air conditioning, interior comfort and spatial organisation. Our survey respondents also indicated that the utilisation of outdoor areas should be improved.
We invest in shared-use multi-purpose premises.
Tax footprint
| VAT | 1,7 EUR million |
| Property taxes | 11,7 EUR million |
| Income taxes | 6,7 EUR million |
| Tax deductions | 0,8 EUR million |
Purchases by category
Sustainable development indicators
| Year 2017 | Year 2016 | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 150,1 | 147,6 | EUR million |
| Return on equity | 3,6 | 4,0 | % |
| Balance sheet value | 1 267,5 | 1 224,9 | EUR million |
| Investment value | 116,3 | 95,8 | EUR million |
| Tax footprint, total taxes** | 20,9 | 22,3 | EUR million |
| SYK’s employment effect, man-years/year | 2 350 | 2 000 | man-years/year |
* These figures are based on the maintenance and investment expenses shown in SYK’s income statement, and they have been converted into the employment effect figure using KTI Property Information’s maintenance cost comparisons and, with respect to investments, statistics provided by the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries.
** Includes all tax rates paid by the company. All of the company’s taxes were paid in Finland.