Plazza: profit increase of almost 40%
The Plazza real estate group reports increases in both profit and property income for fiscal 2018.
Operating income increased by 53% year-on-year to CHF 16.4 million, according to a Plazza statement. This was "even better than expected" and mainly due to early first-time lettings and re-letting. The vacancy rate across all portfolio properties fell from 8.3% to 4.3%. In commercial properties, the vacancy rate decreased from 19.5% to 7.3%.
Profit increased by 39% to 23.6 million (previous year 17.0 million), also due to the revaluation gain of 14.5 million, Plazza further announces. Profit before revaluation increased from 8.8 to 13.7 million.
Rental income increased by 31.7% to 20.7 million in the reporting period - in particular due to the first-time occupancy of the Im Glattgarten residential property in Wallisellen and thanks to success in re-letting vacant commercial space, the company said.
26.1 million (previous year 44.2 million) was invested in the year under review, mainly in the completion of the property in Wallisellen, but also in the development project in Crissier near Lausanne and in other portfolio properties. The portfolio value reportedly increased by 40.6 to 631.2 million (previous year 590.6 million).
Third-party investors for project in Crissier?
Planning of the construction project for the first stage of the development site in Crissier began at the beginning of the year. Plazza estimates the total investment for the project at around 300 million. The company said it was considering involving third-party investors in the project. The construction application for the first stage will be submitted from 2020. From today's perspective, construction is not expected to start before 2021.
On the basis of the good results, the Annual General Meeting is to resolve to increase the dividend to CHF 5.00 per class A registered share (previously CHF 4.00) and CHF 1.00 per class B registered share (previously CHF 0.80).
For the 2019 fiscal year, Plazza expects a further increase in rental income of around 15%. The main driver is likely to be the newly added rental income from the Im Glattgarten property in Wallisellen, which will take effect for the first time for the entire fiscal year in 2019. In terms of profit before revaluation, Plazza expects growth in the order of 10% compared to 2018. (ah)
