Warteck Invest: Half-year profit rises to record level
Warteck Invest reports a consolidated profit of CHF 8.4 million for the first half of 2018. This is around 29% more than in the same period of the previous year and, according to the company, the highest half-year result in its history.
According to a statement, Warteck Invest generated an operating result (EBIT) of CHF 13.9 million in the first half of 2018, which corresponds to an increase of 17% compared to the previous year (CHF 11.9 million). The main growth drivers were a five percent increase in rental income to CHF 14.4 million (previous year: CHF 13.7 million) and the revaluation result of CHF 1.6 million (previous year: CHF 0.2 million).
At 8.4 million, consolidated profit reached a new record level in the company's history. Excluding revaluations, profit rose from 6.4 million to 7.2 million (+12.5%) compared to the same period last year. The return on equity was reported at 5.7 percent.
Target rental income rose by just under seven percent to 17.3 million in the reporting period (previous year: 16.2 million). Warteck Invest cites both acquisitions and the completion of projects in the previous year and in the reporting period as reasons for this. The vacancy rate increased from 3.8% to 4.7%, in particular due to longer absorption periods for new construction projects, but actual rental income nevertheless rose by 5% to 16.4 million (previous year: 15.6 million). The majority of rental income (43.4%) came from apartments and office use (26.7%).
The gross yield of the portfolio (target rental income in relation to market value) amounted to 4.9% in the reporting period (previous year: 5.0%). The net yield (gross yield less vacancies, bad debt losses, operating costs and maintenance) fell from 4.2% to 4.1%. By contrast, the performance (net return plus revaluation result) increased from 4.3% to 4.4% due to the income from revaluations.
Market value of the portfolio increases
The market value of the portfolio rose by 1.5% to 728.2 million in the reporting period (31.12.2017: 717.7 million). According to Warteck Invest, this increase was primarily due to investments in renovation and new construction projects with a volume of 9.3 million as well as the positive result of revaluations (1.6 million). The real estate company did not acquire any properties in the reporting period, but in the second half of the year it acquired a fully let residential and commercial property on Hauptstrasse in Binningen (BL) with a target rental income of CHF 230,000 per year.
The new construction project at St. Gallerstrasse 25-31 in Wil (SG) was completed on schedule in July. According to Warteck Invest, the 81 apartments will generate annual rental income (after deduction of building lease interest) of around 1.5 million. The construction costs for this project amounted to around 29 million. At the time of completion, more than half of the apartments were let.
The "Hagnau-Schänzli" site development in Muttenz (BL) has cleared an important hurdle: The municipal assembly approved all three neighborhood plans in June. A residential and commercial building with a gross floor area of 12,000 square meters is planned on the Warteck Invest plot. However, due to a temporary expropriation of the plot by the Federal Roads Office FEDRO, the real estate company has announced that the project cannot begin until 2022 at the earliest. (ah)
