Aevis Victoria: Sales up, profit down
The Aevis Victoria Group posted sales growth of 8.2 percent to CHF 291 million in the first half of 2015. Ebitda decreased slightly from CHF 36.1 million to CHF 33 million. There was a net profit for the period of CHF 70,000 compared to CHF 2.8 million in the previous year.
Aevis explains the decline with lower Tarmed and DRG tariffs and fewer foreign patients in the hospital division. In addition, the first-time consolidation of the hotel activities since the first quarter of 2015 had a negative effect. In 2014, the hotel business was only consolidated from the second quarter. A financial expense of more than CHF 11 million as a result of investments, acquisitions and the issuance of three bonds in the recent past also had a negative impact on the result, the company said in a statement.
The Swiss Healthcare Properties (SHP) division acquired several properties and projects in the first half of 2015 and generated rental income of CHF 18.5 million, 16.7 percent more than in the previous year. SHP's real estate portfolio now comprises 29 fully leased properties with a rental area of 126,195 sqm. As of the end of June 2015, the portfolio had a market value of CHF 740.7 million. In the course of the second half of the year, the properties of the hotel segment are to be transferred to the real estate segment, which will grow the real estate portfolio to a value of more than CHF 900 million, Aevis Victoria informs.
The Victoria-Jungfrau Collection (VJC) hotels suffered a 3.5 percent decline in revenue to CHF 32.9 million in the first half of 2015. The first quarter is usually the most challenging period for hotels in Switzerland, according to Aevis Victoria, and this was confirmed again in 2015. Since April, results had gradually improved and there had been significantly above-average demand in the summer months....
Aevis expects to generate sales of around CHF 600 million with its current investments in the current 2015 financial year. Despite the seasonal impact on profitability, the company continues to aim for an Ebitda margin of more than 20 percent of sales in the medium term, he said. (ah)
