HIAG Immobilien: Earnings and profit increase
HIAG Immobilien AG increased its real estate income by 3.8 percent to CHF 26.1 million in the first half of 2016. Profit according to EPRA rose by 13.7 percent year-on-year to CHF 14.5 million.
At CHF 26.7 million (30.6.2015: CHF 26.2 million), operating income before revaluation effects exceeded the previous year's figure by 1.8%. In contrast, net profit fell from CHF 24.2 million to CHF 21.6 million; however, profit according to EPRA (European Public Real Estate Association) increased by 13.7% to CHF 14.5 million.
After two properties were sold in the first half of 2016, the overall portfolio consisted of 113 properties at the end of June and was valued at CHF 1.2 billion as at the reporting date. In the first half of 2016, revaluation effects amounted to CHF 7.4 million, compared to CHF 15.2 million in the same period of the previous year.
The vacancy rate in the overall portfolio remained almost stable in the first half of the year at 15.9 percent (31.12.2015: 16%). However, HIAG Immobilien announced that it had succeeded in replacing non-renewed temporary rental agreements from the previous year with long-term rental agreements. The net yield in the existing portfolio reached 5.5 percent (31.12.2015: 5.4%).
Development portfolio worth billions
As of the reporting date, HIAG Immobilien's development portfolio consisted of around 50 projects comprising 679,000 square meters of usable space and an expected investment volume of around CHF 1.9 billion. Of these, nine development projects with a usable area of approximately 37,000 square meters and an investment volume of CHF 83 million are to be launched in the next three years.
The general building permit for the Papieri project in Biberist (SO) has become legally binding, meaning that the high-bay warehouse can now be repaired and the rental agreement signed last year with annualized rental income of around CHF 1 million can be implemented from the end of 2016.
The construction of around 8,000 square meters of office space for the EMEA headquarters of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP in Meyrin (GE) is progressing according to plan and the premises should be ready for handover in the third quarter of 2017.
At the Cham Nord site, the operator of a private education and training center for top athletes has become an anchor user for the quarter. HIAG Immobilien now intends to tackle the realization of around 200 apartments. A building permit is being sought for 2017.
Building permits have already been issued for the Walzmühle site and the central building in Frauenfeld (TG). In Bremgarten (AG), where around 4,900 square meters of new industrial space and 2,500 square meters of office space are being built at the Swiss headquarters of Jeld-Wen, the first phase of development has been completed and the first hall has been handed over. The handover of the new office building is scheduled for October 2016.
HIAG Group launches HIAG Data
With the newly founded subsidiary HIAG Data, HIAG is targeting IT service providers who are to be provided with an innovative IT infrastructure platform. The platform consists of a carrier-independent, Switzerland-wide fiber optic network, the anchor locations in Biberist, Menziken and Lugano as well as IT infrastructure based on open source technology and Microsoft Azure, which enables flexible scaling of computer and storage capacity, HIAG announced. HIAG is convinced that the IT infrastructure platform will set new standards in Switzerland in terms of speed, connection stability, security and scalability. HIAG's management assumes that HIAG Data will make a significant contribution to the consolidated result for the first time from the 2017 business year. (ah)
