Immofinanz doubled the results of operations to €35.5 million in the first quarter of 2018 (Q1 2017: €17.8 million). Rental income rose by 3.3% to €59.0 million. The results of asset management increased by a sound 14.1% to €45.0 million following a substantial reduction in property expenses. Both the results of property sales and the results of property development turned clearly positive: the results of property sales improved to €3.5 million (€-6.0 million) and the results of property development to €1.8 million (€-5.8 million).
“The measures implemented during the past restructuring phase are taking effect, and we can now see the expected improvement in our indicators. A significant increase in the efficiency of our portfolio led to a year-on-year reduction of approximately €4.3 million, or 21%, in property expenses. In addition, financing costs fell by nearly 39%, or more than €10 million, due to our extensive refinancing operations in 2017“, explained Oliver Schumy, CEO of Immofinanz, on this development. “The new Immofinanz is now very well positioned for further growth.”
Financing costs were significantly lower, as expected, at €-16.4 million (Q1 2017: €-26.7 million). The share of profit/loss from equity investments amounted to €8.9 million, whereby the previous year was influenced, above all, by strong positive valuation effects from the investments in CA Immo and BUWOG (Q1 2017: €134.1 million). Financial results totalled €-4.5 million for the reporting period (Q1 2017: €93.0 million). Earnings before tax (EBT) totalled €27.2 million (Q1 2017: €107.0 million). Income tax amounted to
€-22.9 million (Q1 2017: €-5.3 million) and was influenced, among others, by the liquidation of Aviso Zeta and the recognition of deferred taxes for the possible sale of the CA Immo investment.
Net profit from continuing operations equalled €4.3 million (Q1 2017: €101.7 million). The total net profit for the Immofinanz Group (including a subsequent effect from the sale of the logistics portfolio) amounted to €1.0 million (Q1 2017: €80.7 million).
Sustainable FFO 1 before tax (excluding the results of property sales and property development) roughly tripled to €29.1 million (Q1 2017: €9.7 million) including €7.6 million for the economic interest in FFO 1 of CA Immo. FFO 2 before tax (including the results of property sales) totalled €32.7 million (Q1 2017: €3.7 million).
The occupancy rate has remained stable since year-end 2017 at 94.2%, and the gross return equalled 6.4% (31 December 2017: 6.4%).
Outlook
A structured bidding process for a package sale of the approximately 26% investment in CA Immobilien Anlagen AG was started in April 2018. The outcome of this process is still open, but it is expected to be concluded during summer 2018.
Activities are currently in progress to obtain the approval of the anti-trust authorities in several countries for the acquisition of a 29.1% investment in S IMMO AG. This transaction should be concluded during summer.
The outlook is confirmed for FFO 1 of more than €100 million, excluding the economic interest in CA Immo, in the 2019 financial year. Moreover, an increase in the dividend to €0.08 per share is planned for the current 2018 financial year.
