Focus area: Responsible operations

Sustainable finances for long-term business

Attendo’s revenues are based on multi-year contracts with municipal
contracting authorities, where care needs and short-term customer choice
affect occupancy and thus profitability in the local unit. At the same time, a
substantial share of Attendo’s costs are long-term, such as leases for the properties in which we operate. In order to deliver high-quality care even in periods of lower occupancy, Attendo strives to generate stable financial surpluses.

Debt can facilitate strategic acquisitions or investments that increase the economic viability of Attendo’s operations over the long term. In order to successfully carry the debt, Attendo has a financial target that net debt should not exceed 3.75 times reported EBITDA.

Attendo’s owners have set a target to distribute 30 percent of profits as
dividends when financial circumstances otherwise allow. Accordingly, the
majority of profit is, as a rule, reinvested in the operations. There have been no dividends distributed since 2019.

Our operations is strictly regulated

Attendo and our employees must comply with a comprehensive and complex
set of laws and regulations that govern both operating the care business and being a listed company. All operations must be run in a manner that ensures compliance with applicable regulations as well as Attendo’s own Code of Conduct and other policies and guidelines.

All care is operated in collaboration with public contracting authorities. The content of our services is governed by official permits, negotiated contracts with local authorities and customer choice systems in various forms. In our role as a partner to local authorities, we are always reliable, transparent and solution-oriented. We respect the regulatory supervision of government agencies, but also communicate information and opinions on matters that affect the care industry, the prerequisites for providing good care or our business. Transparency and openness guide all of our interactions with representatives of the public. As one aspect of this, we welcome representatives of government agencies and elected decision-makers who wish to visit our local operations.

The code of conduct guides leaders and employees

Attendo adopted an updated Code of Conduct in 2021. Based on Attendo’s
mission and values, it contains the key principles for how Attendo as a company and leaders and employees within Attendo must conduct themselves in relation to customers and their relatives, colleagues and the local authorities with which we cooperate.

The Code also describes appropriate conduct when there is suspicion that
something is not right. This includes channels of communication and
particularly important areas that all employees should be aware of, such as
procedures for reporting risks, carerelated malpractice or medical injury,
the whistle-blower function and the freedom to communicate with media.
The Code is an expression of Attendo’s position on openness.

The Code of Conduct applies to all Attendo employees, regardless of their
form of employment. Attendo engaged in a comprehensive effort in 2022
to introduce the Code to leaders and employees. All employees were given a
packet containing the central aspects of the Code – Attendo's Ten Principles
– and all new employees must confirm in writing that they were familiarised
with the Code as part of the induction programme.

Suppliers Code of Conduct

Attendo prepared a new Suppliers Code of Conduct in 2022. Like the Code of
Conduct for employees, it is based on Attendo’s mission and values, as well as our sustainability-related ambitions. It includes standards of social sustainability based on international conventions, for example, and requires suppliers to track and report their environmental and climate impact. The Suppliers Code of Conduct will be implemented beginning in 2023.

Transparency in operations and relating to deviations

Attendo has strict procedures for managing on deviations in care delivery.
This includes procedures for reporting, managing and following up deviations
from internal guidelines or methods, as well as serious incidents that led to
or risked leading to health and nursing care injuries to individuals (under the
Swedish “Lex Sarah” and “Lex Maria” laws). Attendo’s operations are inspected and audited carefully by national authorities, such as the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) in Finland or the Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) in Sweden.

In 2022, 32 serious incidents were reported to Swedish national authorities. In Finland, reviews concluded by authorities in 2022 led to remarks in 10 cases.

High standards for privacy and reliability

Attendo works with people who are in a vulnerable position and whose conditions must be treated with great respect for the individual’s privacy. We apply procedures that meet high standards regarding the processing of personal data and sensitive information. Leaders and staff are continuously trained in matters related to information security and protection of personal privacy.

As a listed company and partner to the public sector, Attendo strives to ensure that external reporting is reliable, informative and transparent.
We do not accept the reporting of erroneous or misleading information in
our systems to affect goal attainment, performance measures or information
to be reported to municipalities or authorities.

A significant taxpayer

Attendo pays taxes in the countries in which it operates and is one of the
private providers of care services in the Nordic countries that pays the most
tax. The tax footprint mainly comprises wage-related taxes and fees, non-deductible VAT on purchases and investments and corporation tax on the profit generated. Attendo also collects VAT and employee withholding tax. In 2022, Attendo had a total tax footprint of about SEK 4.3Bn (3.9), including SEK 2.7Bn (2.4) in paid tax. Corporation tax for 2022 amounted to SEK 51m (74).

Policy documents and guidelines

Attendo’s sustainability work is manifested in a central sustainability policy
and associated policy documents in specific focus areas. Other existing policy documents and the focus areas they govern are specified in the table below.

The group policies are regularly updated and adopted annually by the
Board of Directors to include new priorities or changes that have emerged in stakeholder dialogues or through new legal or contractual requirements.