Zug Estates almost doubles its result
The Zug Estates Group reports net income of CHF 76 million for the financial year, which is CHF 96% more than in the previous year. The reason for the increase is special effects.
Real estate income rose by CHF 7.3% to CHF 54.5 million. According to Zug Estates, this growth was due to the full-year rental income from the Suurstoffi properties S22 and construction site A, the move into the first construction phase of construction site 1 and the rental space in Aglaya. Real estate expenses increased byTP3T 7.71 million toTP7.8 million, mainly due to the overall growth in the real estate portfolio.
Operating income before depreciation and revaluation rose from 42.2 million to 53.4 million, an increase of 27%. According to Zug Estates, the increase is attributable to the proceeds from the sale of the first phase of the Aglaya apartments. The sale of the first 36 of a total of 85 condominiums resulted in a pre-tax profit of 7.9 million. According to the company, the remaining 49 apartments have now also been sold. The associated proceeds will be recognized in the 2020 financial year.
In the 2019 financial year, Zug Estates recorded a significantly higher revaluation gain of 19.6 million, an increase of 76% or 8.5 million on the previous year. The sale of a non-strategic investment property resulted in a pre-tax gain of 1.0 million. As a result, EBIT increased from 49.8 million to 70.5 million (+421TP3k). The reversal of deferred taxes also resulted in a one-off positive tax effect of 20.3 million. This led to the significant growth in consolidated profit. It increased by 961TP3 thousand from 38.8 million to 76.0 million. Excluding revaluation and special effects, Zug Estates' net income rose byTP3T 9.61 million toTP31.4 million.
Zug Estates made portfolio investments of 85.9 million in the year under review, while a further 40.9 million was invested in the Aglaya promotion project. The market value of the entire portfolio reportedly increased by 6.2% from 1.54 billion to 1.63 billion.
The vacancy rate rose from 2.9% to 3.3%. Due to the completion of buildings A and B in plot 1 and the rental space in Aglaya, around 22,600 square meters of additional commercial space were included in the vacancy calculation in 2019, Zug Estates reports.
The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting an increase in the dividend from CHF 28.00 to CHF 31.00 per series B registered share. In addition, the promotional profit for 2019 is to be distributed as a special dividend of CHF 13.00 per series B registered share. (ah)
