Andermatt Swiss Alps invested over 170 million in 2017
Andermatt Swiss Alps AG invested CHF 172 million in Andermatt during the business year. In the same period, real estate amounting to 55 million was sold.
According to Andermatt Swiss Alps AG, investments since the start of the project amount to 900 million. Financing was provided in the first phase through a combination of equity and shareholder loans as well as external financing. According to the company, sales of 72.6 million (previous year: 80.7 million) were achieved in the 2017 financial year. The bottom line was a deficit of 29.8 million (previous year: -36.1 million).
Investments of 172 million in 2017
The high construction volume of the past year is divided between the Andermatt Reuss vacation village and the SkiArena Andermatt-Sedrun. "In the Andermatt Reuss vacation village, we were able to inaugurate three new apartment buildings and open the parking lot. We are close to completing the first stage of development with the buildings around the Piazza Gottardo as the central element," says CEO Franz-Xaver Simmen. However, the largest construction volume has been mastered in the SkiArena Andermatt-Sedrun: Here, three new lifts, the associated stations, slopes and snow-making equipment were built for the Andermatt-Sedrun ski area connection.
By the end of 2017, more than two-thirds of the apartments in completed and occupied apartment buildings had been sold, it adds. The vacation homes rented out throughout the year had an average occupancy rate of 47 percent.
The five-star deluxe hotel The Chedi Andermatt was open for eleven months in 2017, including the low season. According to Andermatt Swiss Alps AG, it achieved a full-year occupancy rate of 54 percent in 2017 (previous year: 39%). Sales rose by 17.4 percent year-on-year to 22.4 million. Two-thirds of guests came from Switzerland.
New station building and apartment buildings
Under the name "Central", the new main building north at the train station with apartments and commercial spaces on 9,000 sqm is currently under construction. For the construction and management of the building, Andermatt Swiss Alps, Schmid Holding and BVZ Holding have founded Andermatt Central AG. The new train station in Andermatt will act as a link between the historic village "Andermatt Center" and the vacation village "Andermatt Reuss".
2018 will see the handover of the apartments in the Alpenrose apartment building to the owners and the start of construction for the Fuchs and Eisvogel buildings. In fall 2018, the Radisson Blu Andermatt Hotel with 180 rooms and the Gotthard Residences with 90 apartments are scheduled to open. The first concert in the new concert hall is planned for December 27, 2018.
As the last stage in connecting the Andermatt and Sedrun ski areas, the Oberalppass-Schneehüenerstock gondola lift, the Schneehüenerstock Express, will be built in the summer. In addition, the snow-making facilities and slopes in the Gütsch-Schneehüenerstock-Oberalppass area are to be completed and construction of the new Gütsch mountain restaurant is to begin.
Behind Andermatt Swiss Alps AG is Samih Sawiris' Orascom Development Holding (ODH). ODH reported revenue growth of 2.9 percent to 244.4 million for the 2017 financial year, compared with 237.4 million in the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA increased to 33.4 million from 19.6 in 2016.
