Warteck Invest comes through the Corona crisis well
The real estate company Warteck Invest reports a "solid half-year result" 2020, with the operating result increasing by a good 3% to CHF 8.4 million.
At CHF 15.9 million, the half-year profit was almost 23% below the previous year's figure of CHF 20.6 million. However, the main reason for the decline was the special tax effects due to tax reforms in the previous year, Warteck Invest reports.
Despite the Corona crisis, net rental income had remained stable at 15.2 million, while net income from property revaluations reached 8.9 million (previous year: 8.5 million). The Group's operating profit (excl. revaluations and reversal of provisions) increased in the first half of the year byTP2T 3.11 to 8.4 million (previous year: 8.2 million) compared with the same period of the previous year. Return on equity decreased fromTP2T 121 toTP2T 81 due to the capital increase last year.
With tenants who were affected by the lockdown, temporary rent reductions have been agreed, Warteck Invest further announces. These rent reductions amount to 0.4 million or 2% of the target rent. These have therefore fallen from 18.6 to 18.2 million. At the same time, vacancies decreased from 5.3% to 3.4%. According to the real estate company, this was able to compensate for the corona effect on rents, so that actual rental income was on a par with the previous year at 17.6 million.
The gross return of the portfolio decreased slightly during the period to 4.6% (year 2019: 4.8%). The net return was 3.8%, in line with the full year 2019, and performance reduced to 4.9% (year 2019: 5.3%).
The value of the real estate portfolio increased to 819.6 million as a result of investments of 2.5 million and appreciation due to revaluations. This is 1.4% more than at the end of 2019 (808.2 million). For the next five years, Warteck Invest has a pipeline with a total volume of around 230 million.
Overall, Warteck Invest is optimistic about the future. The financial situation is very solid; the capital base was further strengthened by last year's capital increase. The real estate portfolio is well diversified and of high quality in terms of location and property condition, which was confirmed during the Corona crisis. Together with the full project pipeline, this ensures sustainability on the earnings side, even though the challenges posed by the pandemic and its expected medium- and long-term consequences for the economy and the real estate market have increased once again. (ah)
