Züblin: Return to the profit zone
Züblin Immobilien Holding generated a profit of CHF 29.9 million in financial year 2016/17. In the previous year, a loss of 18.9 million had been incurred.
According to Züblin, improvements in Swiss asset management, cost reductions as a result of restructuring measures and the positive market environment contributed to the good result.
But also the decision, to sell the German portfolio, has already had a positive impact, the company said: The planned sale, which is expected to be completed in a few months, contributed CHF 13 million to the result. Züblin expects a net cash inflow of 55 million from the transaction, which will be reinvested. The German property portfolio is on the balance sheet at 167.8 million.
As Züblin further reports, EBIT amounted to 5.8 million. Profit before taxes from continuing operations in Switzerland increased by 4.4 to 3.8 million (previous year: -0.6 million).
The market value of the Swiss portfolio is 198.5 million, which is 1.3 percent more than in the previous year. The overall vacancy rate of the Swiss properties improved by two percentage points to 10.6 percent as of March 31, 2017, with the persistently high vacancy rate at the "Arco West" property in particular lowering the rate. Without the property, the vacancy rate would be just one percent, according to Züblin.
